Hawking Hi-Gain USB Wireless-G Adapter Model: HWU54D

This USB 2.0 54G adapter seems to get rave reviews for speed and range,
partially because it has a 6dbi antenna built into the design. Supposed to
have horrible documentation and web site is mediocre. But the hardware is
claimed to be first rate.

Any recommendations from real users?


http://www.hawkingtech.com/prodSpec.php?ProdID=208

http://reviews.cnet.com/Hawking_HWU5...2.html?tag=top

On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 06:43:43 GMT, "Gary" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>This USB 2.0 54G adapter seems to get rave reviews for speed and range,
>partially because it has a 6dbi antenna built into the design. Supposed to
>have horrible documentation and web site is mediocre. But the hardware is
>claimed to be first rate.
>
>Any recommendations from real users?
>
>
>http://www.hawkingtech.com/prodSpec.php?ProdID=208
>
>http://reviews.cnet.com/Hawking_HWU5...2.html?tag=top
>

The only difficulty I've had is with cloaked networks. The HWU54D
has some trouble maintaining the connection if the AP is not
broadcasting the network SSID. It doesn't seem to matter whether you
use the Hawking provided software or WZC so I'm guessing the problem
is in the driver.

I spoke to Hawking about the SSID issue, but I got no indication that
they would fix it ... cloaking the SSID is non compliant with the WiFi
standard so Hawking technically doesn't have to support it as a mode
of operation.

Apart from that, I'd say the product is excellent. At the beach where
the airwaves were quiet, I was able to leach off an open 54G network
from over 2/3 mile at 11b speeds. In my very noisy neighborhood where
I am surrounded by a dozen other wireless networks, its effective
range is still about 500 feet.

George
--
for email reply remove "/" from address

That's phenomenal. Would you say the unit can maintain a connection and is
fairy free of drop-outs?

Also, regards the SSID issue, have you played with settings on your client?


"George Neuner" <gneuner2/@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 06:43:43 GMT, "Gary" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
> >This USB 2.0 54G adapter seems to get rave reviews for speed and range,
> >partially because it has a 6dbi antenna built into the design. Supposed
to
> >have horrible documentation and web site is mediocre. But the hardware is
> >claimed to be first rate.
> >
> >Any recommendations from real users?
> >
> >
> >http://www.hawkingtech.com/prodSpec.php?ProdID=208
> >
>
>http://reviews.cnet.com/Hawking_HWU5..._G_adapter/450
5-3380_7-30825857-2.html?tag=top
> >
>
> The only difficulty I've had is with cloaked networks. The HWU54D
> has some trouble maintaining the connection if the AP is not
> broadcasting the network SSID. It doesn't seem to matter whether you
> use the Hawking provided software or WZC so I'm guessing the problem
> is in the driver.
>
> I spoke to Hawking about the SSID issue, but I got no indication that
> they would fix it ... cloaking the SSID is non compliant with the WiFi
> standard so Hawking technically doesn't have to support it as a mode
> of operation.
>
> Apart from that, I'd say the product is excellent. At the beach where
> the airwaves were quiet, I was able to leach off an open 54G network
> from over 2/3 mile at 11b speeds. In my very noisy neighborhood where
> I am surrounded by a dozen other wireless networks, its effective
> range is still about 500 feet.
>
> George
> --
> for email reply remove "/" from address

On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 15:24:40 GMT, "Gary" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>That's phenomenal. Would you say the unit can maintain a connection and is
>fairy free of drop-outs?

Apart from the cloaking issue (see below), the unit has worked
flawlessly for me. I have knowingly used it with Netgear, Linksys,
Belkin and Cisco APs.

It has no problem with either flavor of WEP. I have not tried it
with WPA and the Hawking provided Envara software (at least the
version I have) does not support WPA. However you can ignore it and
use WZC instead.


>Also, regards the SSID issue, have you played with settings on your client?

I have never seen a cloaked network in the wild ... I only discovered
the SSID thing because I am an engineer and I had a new toy. I tested
it in various configurations with my own Netgear equipment and then on
a friend's Linksys gear. I didn't try cloaking without WEP as I
figured that was a pointless combination that I would never run into,
but I did try both flavors of WEP. In every case the HWU54D worked
flawlessly as long as SSID broadcast was on and acted up if it was
off.

When the network is cloaked the unit repeatedly loses and regains the
association. It works fine for a couple of minutes, disconnects,
reconnects and then repeats the cycle again a couple minutes later.

This sounds a lot like either (A) unwanted beacon scanning, or (B)
failed 802.11 authentication, but it is neither. I don't let my
system scan normally ... I have multiple net profiles, one for
scanning open networks and one for each closed network I use. Each
closed profile is configured for a single prefered network so there is
no scanning once connected. I have 802.11 authentication disabled in
every profile because it's meaningless for an open network and none of
the closed networks I deal with use it. Also, both scanning and
authentication will afflict any connection and this only happens if
the network is cloaked.

I have Netgear (WG511T) and Linksys (WPC11) cards in addition to the
HWU54D. I have run them simultaneously with the Hawking unit and
neither card has any difficulty with cloaking (though it seems to
limit their range somewhat). The cards continue to work fine while
the Hawking goes into fits. Since all of them are configured the same
and only the Hawking has difficulty, I have to assume it's at fault
.... it's difficult to account for the difference in behavior
otherwise.



That said,

I don't think the HWU54D's difficulty with cloaking is a real problem
in practice ... I just reported it because you asked about warts and I
have no knowledge of your intended use ... it might be an issue for
you.

WRT more conventional use, cloaking is a questionable security measure
and is not compliant with the WiFi standard. If I were to run into
the problem in a legitimate circumstance, I would have a chat with the
network administrator.

George
--
for email reply remove "/" from address

On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 07:08:46 -0500, George Neuner
<gneuner2/@comcast.net> wrote:

>When the network is cloaked the unit repeatedly loses and regains the
>association. It works fine for a couple of minutes, disconnects,
>reconnects and then repeats the cycle again a couple minutes later.

Very nice job of testing.

This is a stretch but it kinda sounds like 802.1x authentication is
running and failing when it tries to regularly re-authenticate.
If you're using Windoze XP and either WEP or no encryption, try
turning off 802.1x authentication, and see if it helps.
Control Panel -> Networks -> Wireless Devices ->
Properties -> Authentication
With WPA, 802.1x authentication is required and cannot be disabled.

I haven't played with the Hawking HWU54D. I like the general concept
of supplying a directional antenna on a USB radio instead of the
traditional and inferior omnidirectional antenna. I've tried to push
various companies in this direction for about 3 years without success.
Even the ubiquitous Pringles and coffee can modifications to produce a
directional device has not gotten much attention from the
manufacturers. Although I have some trivial reservations about the
Hawking packaging, the concept is excellent. If successful, I
seriously expect other products to follow the concept and supply
devices similar to the more expensive USB-Ant:
http://www.ydi.com/products/usb-ant.php
where the radio is intergrated with a directional antenna.



--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> If you're using Windoze XP and either WEP or no encryption, try
> turning off 802.1x authentication, and see if it helps.

Windows XP SP2 network connection properties wireless networks
Authentication panel says: "IEEE 802.1x authentication can not operate on
peer to peer (ad hoc) networks or on networks for which data encryption is
disabled."

It is grayed out on a non-encrypted profile. Maybe that is an improvement
with SP2.

---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5

On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 10:33:32 -0800, Jeff Liebermann
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 07:08:46 -0500, George Neuner
><gneuner2/@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>>When the network is cloaked the unit repeatedly loses and regains the
>>association. It works fine for a couple of minutes, disconnects,
>>reconnects and then repeats the cycle again a couple minutes later.
>
>Very nice job of testing.
>
>This is a stretch but it kinda sounds like 802.1x authentication is
>running and failing when it tries to regularly re-authenticate.
>If you're using Windoze XP and either WEP or no encryption, try
>turning off 802.1x authentication, and see if it helps.
> Control Panel -> Networks -> Wireless Devices ->
> Properties -> Authentication
>With WPA, 802.1x authentication is required and cannot be disabled.

If authentication is active then I don't know how to turn it off. It
is disabled everywhere in the connection property pages. If that
doesn't actually turn it off ...

And like I said ... this only happens with the Hawking device, not
with my Netgear or Linksys cards. And it only happens when SSID
broadcast is disabled on the AP.

George
--
for email reply remove "/" from address