I bought this hoping to expand wireless coverage at my church. We currently have a single Netopia 3347 DSL modem that has okay range. I was looking for a product that would provide much more range and coverage and work with the existing setup.
After opening the package and following the quick-start instructions, I was able to get the Hawking Smart Repeater to "see" the existing wifi connection. It was able to connect quite easily. This is where things got tricky ... the Hawking Smart Repeater then proceeded to create its own separate wifi connection with a different SSID, a different encryption method, and a different subnet.
The end result was that my laptop would see two different wifi SSID connections - the original connection to the Internet, and the repeated one. This configuration technically worked, but it wasn't what I wanted. What I wanted was one seamless area of strong wifi coverage.
So on the Hawking device, I tried changing the SSID and encryption of the repeated wireless connection to match the original connection. And that's where things got really ugly. The Hawking Smart Repeater still tried to act as a DHCP host on its own subnet. I tried disabling the DHCP, activating bridge mode, and putting it on the same subnet. The Hawking Smart Repeater then failed to connect to the Internet. It could still see the original wifi network, but was unable to access the Internet. I tried making a few more changes, and all of them were unsuccessful. Most frustrating however, was that after activating bridge mode, it became nearly impossible to access the web configuration page. Nearly all attempts to access it via the repeater's local ip address ended in errors, but it would sporadically let me see the page. This would get my hopes up that I could make changes, but when I clicked the 'submit' button, it would disappear again.
Even worse, because it was built for the outdoors, there was NO Reset button. The instruction manual said a hard reset could be performed by holding the reset button down for 10 seconds, but doesn't indicate where this button may be located. I think they used the same instruction manual from an indoor version of the smart repeater.
Anyway, I gave up and decided to send it back to Amazon.
Pros:
-STRONG wireless antennae. While I had the internet connection working with two separate SSIDs, my laptop could see and communicate with the box from good distances and through walls.
-Tough exterior box. It says it's built for the Outdoors and it's true. The housing seems to be pretty robust.
Cons:
-Creates a separate wifi network. Attempts to make one seamless network were unsuccessful.
-Expensive.
-NO RESET Button. VERY FRUSTRATING.
I can see this device working well if two neighbors wanted to share one internet connection. One neighbor would host the internet connection, and the second one could use this device to pick up the signal and create his own separate network.
The back of the box also showed other possible uses: sharing/rebroadcasting an internet connection at an RV park, and also for sharing/rebroadcasting internet for boats in a harbor.
For those situations, this device would be great. If you're trying to expand the coverage of your current network and have the same settings across, this is not the device to buy. Hawking Hi-Gain Outdoor Wireless-300N Dual Radio Smart Repeater
I have been using this for about 2 weeks now and it works great. I am boosting a signal thats about 200 feet away and its great. I have tried several repeaters and have never been able to get them to connect from this distance.
i already returned one , after abusing myself with both the inside support guy and the nice folks in India , who regrettably cannot speak English ... and then really do not have the solutions...
the enclosure is fantastic....
the concept of two radios is fantastic..... theoretically to cut down the "store and forward" of the hawking range extender. That device worked with other brands but this thing would connect with a linksys but would not pass internet traffic....
I was on over two hours with India,,, the for the first unit... which they said was defective ...
but I could not believe they were all bad.... so off to Micro Center where I bought another,,, then spent over an hour with the English speaking "guy" in California.... who advised me after not solving my problem that he spent way too much time with me,,,,,
For and outdoor situation the enclosure is the perfect way to go ,,,,too bad I can only get it to pass 400k,,,, with a notebook next to it receiving 20MB from the SAME source..... the latency I got down ,,,but I cannot get it to allow any decent thru put,,,, Don't know if it's the hardware or their software but it is soooo close,,,,too bad they missed the target,,,,
I WILL BET THEY GET MANY RETURNED AND BLAME THE 'IGNORANT' CONSUMER....
AMAZON SHOULD STOP SELLING THIS THING AS IT IS CURRENTLY A BAD IMPLEMENTATION.
as soon as I can get up on that remote silo I will but up a ddwrt LINKSYS box
I'VE ONLY HAD TO GO UP THERE 23 TIMES TO HARDWIRE TO THE REPEATER ,,
,TO RESET IT .
Previously I used the hawking "range extender", successfully for over a year,
but the store and forward technique introduced several issues which this repeater should have solved. This system is over a mile with very BIG antennas,,,
ANY IDEAS ???? - Wireless Range Extender - Range Extender - Wireless'
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