many, many problems with D-Link DWL-G820 wireless bridge

  • Thread starter Thread starter OhioGuy
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OhioGuy

While on vacation recently, I was having trouble getting a dependable
wireless signal in a hotel. At the front desk, they gave me a D-Link
802.11b wireless bridge. It worked wonders, and I got a great connection
instantly - all I had to do was hook it up to the power cord, and hook it up
to my LAN connection. No configuration or anything - it just connected. I
think part of my previous problem was the mini pci wireless card in my
laptop - it just wasn't powerful enough, and had no external antenna.

Anyway, I decided to remove that card from my Dell inspiron 1300 laptop,
and replace it with a newer D-Link DWL-G820 wireless bridge, which has
802.11g capability. This thing is small, but external.

I have had nothing but problems with this. Every time I am at a hotel and
try to connect, it won't. It also doesn't seem to come with any management
software, so I'm forced to try to set it up through the web browser, then
manually go through available channels. My built in LAN card seems to see
the wireless bridge, and I'm able to log into it and check all of the
settings.

However, Windows XP (with SP2) doesn't seem to see any sort of wireless
connection. It is nothing but headaches. It is as difficult as the older
802.11b D-Link wireless bridge was simple to set up.

I was unable to find any software on the D-Link website that would make it
easier to get this thing to connect more easily, or seek out existing
wireless signals and lock onto them. If I have to do all of this stuff
manually every time I set it up, then I think I made a major error in
getting this to be my wifi connection at various hotels while I travel.

Can anyone suggest some wireless management software that might do a
better job for me of finding the connections and using the D-Link wireless
bridge to get me connected? If not, I may end up having to return it, or
use it as a doorstop. It is a real shame, too, because according to the
blinking lights on the wireless bridge, it is receiving a wireless signal.
Somehow it just isn't getting from there to my laptop, evidently.

If anyone can suggest anything, I'm all ears.
 
OhioGuy said:
While on vacation recently, I was having trouble getting a dependable
wireless signal in a hotel. At the front desk, they gave me a D-Link
802.11b wireless bridge. It worked wonders, and I got a great
connection instantly - all I had to do was hook it up to the power
cord, and hook it up to my LAN connection. No configuration or
anything - it just connected. I think part of my previous problem
was the mini pci wireless card in my laptop - it just wasn't powerful
enough, and had no external antenna.
Anyway, I decided to remove that card from my Dell inspiron 1300
laptop, and replace it with a newer D-Link DWL-G820 wireless bridge,
which has 802.11g capability. This thing is small, but external.

I have had nothing but problems with this. Every time I am at a
hotel and try to connect, it won't. It also doesn't seem to come
with any management software, so I'm forced to try to set it up
through the web browser, then manually go through available channels.
My built in LAN card seems to see the wireless bridge, and I'm able
to log into it and check all of the settings.

However, Windows XP (with SP2) doesn't seem to see any sort of
wireless connection. It is nothing but headaches. It is as
difficult as the older 802.11b D-Link wireless bridge was simple to
set up.
I was unable to find any software on the D-Link website that would
make it easier to get this thing to connect more easily, or seek out
existing wireless signals and lock onto them. If I have to do all of
this stuff manually every time I set it up, then I think I made a
major error in getting this to be my wifi connection at various
hotels while I travel.
Can anyone suggest some wireless management software that might do a
better job for me of finding the connections and using the D-Link
wireless bridge to get me connected? If not, I may end up having to
return it, or use it as a doorstop. It is a real shame, too, because
according to the blinking lights on the wireless bridge, it is
receiving a wireless signal. Somehow it just isn't getting from there
to my laptop, evidently.
If anyone can suggest anything, I'm all ears.
Click to expand...


http://www.makayama.com/easywifiradar.html you could give that a try..

it finds any wireless network in range and if its successful in cnnecting it
pops up a website saying so!

--
regards dave and katie the dbox and starview people in the uk !
http://www.dbox2repair.co.uk/
for all your dbox2 needs
we guarantee our work and only offer the highest standards.


..
 
OhioGuy said:
While on vacation recently, I was having trouble getting a dependable
wireless signal in a hotel. At the front desk, they gave me a D-Link
802.11b wireless bridge. It worked wonders, and I got a great connection
instantly - all I had to do was hook it up to the power cord, and hook it
up
to my LAN connection. No configuration or anything - it just connected.
I
think part of my previous problem was the mini pci wireless card in my
laptop - it just wasn't powerful enough, and had no external antenna.

Anyway, I decided to remove that card from my Dell inspiron 1300 laptop,
and replace it with a newer D-Link DWL-G820 wireless bridge, which has
802.11g capability. This thing is small, but external.

I have had nothing but problems with this. Every time I am at a hotel
and
try to connect, it won't. It also doesn't seem to come with any
management
software, so I'm forced to try to set it up through the web browser, then
manually go through available channels. My built in LAN card seems to see
the wireless bridge, and I'm able to log into it and check all of the
settings.

However, Windows XP (with SP2) doesn't seem to see any sort of wireless
connection. It is nothing but headaches. It is as difficult as the older
802.11b D-Link wireless bridge was simple to set up.

I was unable to find any software on the D-Link website that would make
it
easier to get this thing to connect more easily, or seek out existing
wireless signals and lock onto them. If I have to do all of this stuff
manually every time I set it up, then I think I made a major error in
getting this to be my wifi connection at various hotels while I travel.

Can anyone suggest some wireless management software that might do a
better job for me of finding the connections and using the D-Link wireless
bridge to get me connected? If not, I may end up having to return it, or
use it as a doorstop. It is a real shame, too, because according to the
blinking lights on the wireless bridge, it is receiving a wireless signal.
Somehow it just isn't getting from there to my laptop, evidently.

If anyone can suggest anything, I'm all ears.
Click to expand...


The 802.11b wireless-ethernet bridge that the hotel let you use was probably
a DWL-810+.
I've had several of them and they did work very well for 802.11b

The DWL-G820, which I've also used before, has issues. Return it. I

The DWL-G820 is a standalone device, you have to configure it through a web
browser. (You shouldn't have to scan every channel though. Under the
"Wireless" menu, there should be a "Site Survey" button, which opens a
browser pop-up listing all the active SSID's in range. If it doesn't have
this, update the firmware.)

Wireless-ethernet bridges are great for things that are fixed and only have
an ethernet port, but are awkward to be used as mobile clients. I.e., first
having to temporarily give your laptop's NIC a static IP, just so that you
can scan for SSID's, then having to change it back to DHCP...

Make your life simple and just get a new PCMCIA wireless card. Perhaps one
that allows an external antenna to be connected...
 
Eric said:
The 802.11b wireless-ethernet bridge that the hotel let you use was
probably a DWL-810+.
I've had several of them and they did work very well for 802.11b

The DWL-G820, which I've also used before, has issues. Return it. I

The DWL-G820 is a standalone device, you have to configure it through a
web browser. (You shouldn't have to scan every channel though. Under the
"Wireless" menu, there should be a "Site Survey" button, which opens a
browser pop-up listing all the active SSID's in range. If it doesn't have
this, update the firmware.)

Wireless-ethernet bridges are great for things that are fixed and only
have an ethernet port, but are awkward to be used as mobile clients.
I.e., first having to temporarily give your laptop's NIC a static IP, just
so that you can scan for SSID's, then having to change it back to DHCP...

Make your life simple and just get a new PCMCIA wireless card. Perhaps
one that allows an external antenna to be connected...
Click to expand...

[Adding]: If you are having problems keeping a connection, make sure the
connector on the back is snug. The connectors on the back of DWL-(G)81/20's
have a habit of becoming loose. Remove the antenna and make sure the nut on
the connector is tight before putting it back on.

Again, you would be better off with just getting a wireless PCMCIA card.
Especially one that has a connector for an external antenna.

There are USB wireless animals out there too. A card would be better
though. In my opinion, using USB for networking is a bit hokey...

I've had a DWL-G820 before and wasn't too pleased with it. It was the only
piece of DLink hardware that I ever returned. While the DWL-810+'s
(802.11b) gave nice and solid connections, the DWL-G820 was constantly
dropping packets.
 
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