I was skeptical about this product due a lack of reviews on the net but decided to take the plunge...
My wireless network consists of a Belkin Wireless N Router (F5D8233-4)using WPA,WPA2 w/ TKIP+AES security and the Hawking range extender has no problem communicating with it.
I chose to forgo the setup CD and went directly to the web interface to set things up. The interface is simple and pretty self explanatory. Out of the box the ip is 192.168.1.240. Login is: admin, pw:1234
Initially I was getting intermittent and/or limited connectivity when trying to connect to the internet; this is usually due to the security/encryption settings so make sure to enter your info carefully to match your parent router exactly. To remedy this here's what apparently worked for me (my security settings were matched up)
-Updated the firmware. Mine came shipped with ver. 1.10 There is a new one out 1.13 that you can find on the Hawking Technology website.
-In the "Advanced Wireless setup" I unchecked the WMM option...possible conflict with parent router?
-Set CTS protect to auto (as suggested in manual)
-Unplug the power for 10 seconds and plug back in.
After that I was all connected!
The am VERY impressed with how much my overall network range has increased, especially considering the 5 or so walls this it has to go through...where there used to be no signal, I have full bars and an excellent signal. In contrast, the belkin g range extender it's replacing did little to improve my range. On a plus note is that you can upgrade the antennas if needed.
Primary use is for my Direct TV HR-21 for VOD. As far as I know there are few marketed "N" options available to do the job...two are:
-Linksys WGA600N- Wireless bridge that reportedly works very well.
-D-Link DAP-1522- includes 4 LAN slots. (I was concerned w/ compatibility issues with my router)
I chose the Hawking because it advertises to work with "any" AP or router and for roughly the same $$ of the Linksys, I can extend the range of my signal too. If I need another LAN port I'll just buy a cheap 10/100 switch.
I can't give it 5 stars because I have no long-term experience with the product.
In short, if you're looking for a "N" WURE solution for your network, give it a try. I would do it again in a heartbeat!
UPDATE 1/15/10...
Well it has been over a year and I am still thoroughly satisfied with this product and has performed flawlessly for me. Over this time I have swapped out my parent router for a D-Link 655 and have added a 10/100 switch to the Hawking to also connect a new PS3 Slim. I am still running the same firmware since I have not had any issues with it; going with the philosophy of, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I'm considering picking up another one when the price is right to further extend my network. On a side note, my apologies for not addressing questions over the year; I didn't select to receive notifications for comments on my review. Hawking HWREN1 Hi-Gain Wireless-300N Range Extender
Once you get it working it is great. My router is in the basement and the signal is not the best on the second floor. Using the HWREN1 I now have full signal for the entire second floor. My connection speed more than doubled. I'll share a couple setup tips that will save you a headache and a call to tech support.
1) the auto setup CD does not correctly set WPA passwords with spaces in them. It accepts them, then truncates everything after the space and fails. Use the web interface setup instead (see the manual on the CD).
2) Don't leave your router's channel selection set to auto. You have to set both the router and the HWREN1 manually to the same channel. Their tech support recommend channel 2.
I tried the Hawking HWREN1 WiFi repeater at the urging of a helpful, knowledgeable, non-troll clerk (!) at the superstore whose name begins with F and rhymes with "dies", which is what my three previous Linksys WRE54G repeaters did-- those were total junk. I'd had some previous experience with Hawking's products via a printer server several years ago. That was a somewhat entry-level device, and support and documentation had been pretty pathetic, but it had mostly worked, so while I wouldn't have placed Hawking at the top of my preferred-vendor list, they didn't seem awful. I'd done some googling on this item and the reviews were mixed, but so they were for all its competition. So: shrug, decided to try it.
Setup requires connecting the Hawking and your PC to your router with Ethernet cables, one of which is supplied with the Hawking. This might be a problem if your router has only one Ethernet port, and it won't work at all if your router is wireless-only.
With my PC and the Hawking cabled to my router, the (Windows-only) CD setup wizard and poster-sized quick-setup guide resulted in a working system in about five minutes, but with a separate SSID that would have confused and annoyed my family as they roam about our house with their laptops. That's kind of a silly result; after all, you'd think most purchasers shopping for a WiFi network extender would want to extend their WiFi network, not set up a second one.
A bit of googling suggested that others had had good luck with setting the SSID and channel the same as their main wireless access point/router. So I tried that, using the device's browser-based configuration page, and it worked. Hm. But I remembered a bad experience when I'd bought a new WiFi router and set it up but forgot to unplug the old router it was replacing; the battling SSIDs on the same channel brought my network to its knees until I figured out what was happening, so I decided to try setting the Hawking's channel to a different one than the main router. That didn't work at all, although googling revealed that others had set things up similarly with good results. Worse, after several tries, something went sour in the Hawking, and it took some real effort over a couple of hours to restore it to a state where it wouldn't crash my network. Eventually, after many hard-resets and more than a bit of cursing, I got it back to where I'd had it: same SSID and channel as my router.
My experience underscores a perennial frustration in wireless networking: what works for my setup might not be optimal--or even work--for yours. In my case, my router uses a late-model Atheros chipset. Whatever is inside the Hawking seems to want to connect to my router in a particular way; with your router it might be different. Another lesson: If it's working well, don't touch it!
Setup hassles aside, the net result is a happy one: my WiFi network now extends strongly throughout my house and into my patio, where I'd previously had no connectivity at all. Practical throughput is unimpeded, though there's usually a theoretical throughput hit for this type of repeater (not that most folks would notice, as the net WiFi speed would still far exceed even the best broadband connection's capabilities). In my case, maybe that theoretical throughput hit is avoided by the fact that the Hawking seems to connect to my router via 802.11n whereas my computing devices utilize 802.11g? (I say "seems to" because my router's client log shows a MAC address one digit different from the MAC address documented for the Hawking device in its browser-based configuration page, which shows the same MAC address for both its WAN and LAN interfaces. I suspect this is a bug in the Hawking's browser utility; the two MAC addresses have got to differ.)
My Hawking HWREN1 came running firmware 1.50, the current version per Hawking's website. Its hardware is rev. A.
Performance testing via VisualWare's superb MySpeed facility (http://myspeed.visualware.com/) shows:
o Broadband Internet throughput, both up and down, is identical to my pre-extended network's performance, even though I'm now sitting in a former dead zone. Conclusion: the Hawking repeater imposes no bandwidth penalty for Internet usage.
o Quality of service (QOS) and latencies are also identical to before. Conclusion: the Hawking repeater does not degrade the responsiveness or consistency that are important for Internet streaming, VOIP and gaming applications.
o I'm an Internet security nut, and the extender fully supports my WPA2 encryption and my router's dual firewalls. It also offers MAC filtering and supports WPA Radius authentication and WPS, though I am not using these features.
o My router, the superb D-Link DIR-655 (highly, highly recommended) seems happy with the extender.
o My corporate VPN tunnels right through it with no problem.
So far, only the configuration hassles keep me from giving it five stars. I've only had it a short while, so those memories will fade, and if this device proves stable and reliable then my overall-positive estimation will only go up. Its connectivity has already survived much microwave-oven activity in the nearby kitchen.
Certainly, compared to Linksys' WRE54G competitor, the Hawking repeater is light-years better. Another alternative would be to purchase a second access point that supports a repeater mode; D-Link has a few of these, and this would have been my first choice after giving up on the Linksys unit and the salesman convinced me to give this a try. So far, no big regrets, and it's working well.'
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