Product Description

The D-Link AirPlus Xtreme G DWL-G650 Cardbus Adapter is a wireless cardbus capable of transfer rates up to 108Mbps and features the latest technology to protect wireless communications. The DWL-G650 also works with 802.11b-compliant devices and when used with other D-Link AirPlus Xtreme G products delivers throughput speeds capable of handling heavy data payloads including real-time MPEG video streaming. The D-Link AirPlus DWL-G650 also includes a configuration utility to discover available wireless networks and create and save detailed connectivity profiles for those networks most often accessed.

Product Details

• Brand: D-Link
• Model: DWL-G650
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00" h x 7.00" w x 10.00" l, 1.00 pounds
• Networking: CardBus

Features

• Up to 108 Mbps with AirPlus Xtreme G products
• Backwards compatible with 802.11b and 802.11g
• Great for video streaming
• Enhanced security from 802.1x and WPA for better encrypted key management and authentication
• 3-year warranty

Customer Reviews

Good performance and compatibility
I purchased this card with a D-Link DI-624 router/WAP; as a pair, they perform flawlessly, and offer the advertised performance, which is on-par with wired Ethernet.

Compatibility of this card with other access points was good in my testing. It connected just fine to all the WAPs I normally use (all of which are B protocol), and offered the expected performance.

The only complaint I have is that I attempted to install the card using the latest drivers from D-Link, downloaded from their web site. Despite carefully matching the hardware revision of my card with the offered download, my attempts to use the card failed. The drivers installed fine, but it would not "sniff" any wireless networks (there were two within range), including one a few feet away.

After uninstalling the downloaded drivers, and using the earlier version supplied on CD with the card, it fired-up just fine, and operated perfectly.

Unfortunately, this is something I've encountered before with D-Link products, both with device drivers (as for this card) and with firmware updates for various D-Link products I've owned. It's not always the best advice to stay fully current on updates, as they occasionally introduce anomalies. If you're technically inclined, this is a minor annoyance that can be dealt with using a combination of patience and judicious back-ups. Average users may not have as much tolerance for this as I do.

With the installation stabilized, I find myself quite satisfied with the DWL-G650, and definitely recommend it -- though less technical users should stick to the drivers on the packaged CD.

Make sure u have the latest revision - read for more info...
First, you must know that D-Link has the annoying and unprofessional habit of releasing unfinished, not so ready hardware to market. It seems that their engineering team is under pressure from marketing (typical) to deliver products before they are completely tested and ready. There are several revisions (internal designs) of this and other D-Link products. As of this writing (April 2004), the DWL-G650 has 7 of them, A1, B1, B2, B3, B4, C1, and C2 each representing a correction to a "Oops" of some sort! The DWL-G520 has 2, A and B, while the DI-624 router has 3, A, B, and C. The latest revision is what you should look for, it is usually on the sticker on the back of the box - just below the serial number.

OK, so I had the DI-614+ router, DWL-650+ PC Card, and DWL-520+ PCI card, and they worked great. I just needed the higher speed to stream music and video from my server upstairs, and wanted to use the more secure WPA protocol (not yet supported on the DWL-520+ *stupid D-Link*), so I upgraded to the DI-624 router (rev. C), DWL-G650 PC Card (rev. B4), and DWL-G520 PCI Card (rev. B). I upgraded the firmware on the router right away to 2.42 and the driver for the G650 to 2.48. The router seemed to work fine, but the card was not seeing it. My older 802.11B card (DWL-650+) was able to see and connect to the new router, but not the new card. I tried many things to no avail. I then installed the older driver 2.42 and the card started seeing the router but had trouble keeping the connection..I played with many settings and nothing helped. I tried two other laptops (different brands) and experienced the same symptoms.
Finally, I went to the a store and purchased another DWL-G650 and made sure it was the newer rev. C2 (the latest). Guess what, it worked right away and kept the connection solid. I tried FTP between the server (wired to the router) and the wireless laptop and got a transfer throughput of about 2400KBytes/sec... This is while using WPA-PSK with Super G enabled and using a short preamble. The same results were obtained with the PCI version of the card (DWL-G520).
I returned the bad PC Card (rev. B4) back to the store and kept the new one! So, just make sure that you have the latest version of the hardware.

One more thing, if you compare the signal quality/strength between DWL-650+ and DWL-G650 or between DWL-520+ and DWL-G520 you'll find that the new cards have a much lower number (worst). For example, my old 650+ used to get around 70% quality compared to 36% for the G650 at the same exact spot/direction. The difference is identical when comparing the 520+ to the G520. I have not experienced any performance issues though, the TxRate is typically at 72Mbps (not 108Mbps)! I think the new AirPlus XtremeG utility calculates the quality number differently and hence the difference, and future driver updates may further enhance the signal measurement.

D-Link's release of faulty hardware is wrong and must be stopped. The problem is that their competition are not much better. So go for what works, and buy from a place that has a good return policy. Someday another vendor will make better products and offer better support, and I will abandon D-Link :)

Very Easy to Install and Plays well with Ubuntu!
I decided to dust off a 5-year old laptop (Winbook Z1) the other day and install Ubuntu on it. I selected this card because of the Atheros chipset. I can't believe how easy it was to get it working. I plugged it in, installed Ubuntu and the new OS recognized the card. With in minutes I was on the internet, thanks to my neighbor's open WiFi. After a few hours of reading some wiki's and messages, I had WPA running and my "new" Linux laptop was on my network. Piece of cake! Great card and great chipset!