HWU54G - as in gee, I wish it still worked,
This was originally purchased in 2007, but I feel the review is still relevant as the item is still available for purchase. Amazon has 2 different pictures under the item description, the 1st item pictured is actually the HWU54G revision Z, the 2nd picture (the one I currently own) is HWU54G revision Z2. You can view more information on Hawkings website.
So this product gets 2 stars for the 2 things that it actually does. The unit does connect wirelessly to your router. I had to use the USB port in the front of my computer to connect to my router because the rear USB ports were too far out of range from my office to the living room < 8 feet. Connectivity wasn't terrible, but was only 'good' according to windows wireless network detection, for the short distance I was expecting a bit more.
Secondly, the product just quit on me after 1 year. I'm no expert at computers or wireless networking but I was able to figure out the little yellow exclamation point in the device manager means that something strange is afoot. I received the Code 10 error: Device will not start, so I contacted tech support who told me I needed to update the drivers. I updated the drivers, same problem. Tech Support had nothing else to share with me after I emailed them back. Our IT guy at work said these thumb drives used for networking can be a big buggy so I since purchased a more permanent network card that I've not had any problems with so far and connectivity is quite a bit better.
If I'm able to cash in on the supposed 2 year warranty I will edit the post but so far that has been a no go. This product may work well for those traveling that don't leave their computer hooked up their LAN 24/7, but for the money you may as well buy a PCI card (if you have the space) and not occupy the USB port on your desktop.
So this product gets 2 stars for the 2 things that it actually does. The unit does connect wirelessly to your router. I had to use the USB port in the front of my computer to connect to my router because the rear USB ports were too far out of range from my office to the living room < 8 feet. Connectivity wasn't terrible, but was only 'good' according to windows wireless network detection, for the short distance I was expecting a bit more.
Secondly, the product just quit on me after 1 year. I'm no expert at computers or wireless networking but I was able to figure out the little yellow exclamation point in the device manager means that something strange is afoot. I received the Code 10 error: Device will not start, so I contacted tech support who told me I needed to update the drivers. I updated the drivers, same problem. Tech Support had nothing else to share with me after I emailed them back. Our IT guy at work said these thumb drives used for networking can be a big buggy so I since purchased a more permanent network card that I've not had any problems with so far and connectivity is quite a bit better.
If I'm able to cash in on the supposed 2 year warranty I will edit the post but so far that has been a no go. This product may work well for those traveling that don't leave their computer hooked up their LAN 24/7, but for the money you may as well buy a PCI card (if you have the space) and not occupy the USB port on your desktop.