D-Link DWL-900ap 802.11b wireless access point @tigerdirect.com for $99.99 after $40 MIR. Expires 4/30/02

[Scaredwitless]

This is an 802.11b wireless access point. The D-Link DWL-900ap internally is practically the exact same hardware as the popular Linksys WAP11, there are reports that the firmwares are interchangeable. So like the Linksys WAP11 you can also use this access point in bridging mode. It's also possible to hook up an external antenna to this access point by using a reverse SMA pigtail.

So at $99.99 this is a hot price in my humble opinion. Now if I know these forums, at least someone is going to mention looking up resellerratings of tigerdirect.com, which is a valid point. But at the same time there are a lot of people out there who have never had a single problem with tigerdirect, myself included.

and now for the links:

D-link DWL-900ap $139.99 - $40 rebate = $99.99

Direct link to $40 rebate

If you're building your network from the ground up, tigerdirect also has a number of nice deals on cheap $50 wireless client cards. There's a wavelan card which is basically a Orinoco gold card available. For details on those do a search for the thread topics dealing with them.

Enjoy

 

[Scaredwitless]

Forgot to mention in the text that the rebate expires 4/30/02.

 

[Dre]

I think the D-Link 713P is a better buy. It's a Wireless Broadband Router, w/ 3-Port Switch + Print Server

You can get it from Dell for $158.00 - 10% coupon - $10.00 off coupon - $20.00 mail in rebate = $112.20

 

[kerokeroppi82]

yup, jus ordered one yesterday with a new pcmcia cards for my apt network. Its a steal from dell at that price!!!

 

[dman]

DLink had a factory rebate a few weeks ago (scroll down to my post) (Ended 4/1/02) and both amazon and buy.com had this unit for about the same price after rebate. I purchased it and it works rather well. Buy.com had free shipping so, my final price was ~$95.

You can also (still) get the IBM Wireless PCMCIA card for $49.9x at tiger direct still -- save on shipping maybe by ordering them together. The IBM adapter is OEM of the lucent / orinco hardware and the ratings are very high.

Overall I'm very pleased with the Dlink. Note that you need to have a USB port to set it up initially.

----

AS far as being hardware identical to the Linksys, it appears to be very similar but I was unable to find any specific information on that subject. Does anyone have any info about the DLINK and hacking it? I was curious because there are utils for the Linksys to boost the power and I used one of the SNMP utils for the DLink but the variables were set at different defaults than the Linksys was listed as so I didn't want to risk changing anything yet.

[EDIT]FYI, You AMEX folks can maybe buy from Tiger Direct (where the rebate is valid) and then PM w/
Amazon.com who has it for $125.99 (cheaper than their used price!). [/EDIT]

 

[Scaredwitless]

That certainly is a nice price for the D-Link DI-713P, but the fact remains that some people have different useages in mind then others. IF you are building a network from the ground up, yes the 713p would be great since it is also a switched router. Access points like the DWL-900AP are great for those who already own routers and don't want to get rid of their old ones. But here's some other points: General consensus of claims seem to indicate that stand alone access points usually have a little better signal then most integrated solutions(the wireless routers). Also the router you listed does not have the ability to do bridging capabalities such as the 900AP is able to do. This is a big plus for some people. I think some others would also be interested in knowing that the 900AP is also able to be hacked to 100mw power transmission the exact same way that the Linksys WAP11 is able to be hacked. I however don't recommend doing this as testing has shown that the signals emmited under this hack are very dirty signals that bleed across channels sometimes even so far into the HAM radio range. But for occassional experimentation its kind of an interesting feature if you're trying to test siginal gain and such.

 

[Scaredwitless]

<< AS far as being hardware identical to the Linksys, it appears to be very similar but I was unable to find any specific information on that subject. Does anyone have any info about the DLINK and hacking it? I was curious because there are utils for the Linksys to boost the power and I used one of the SNMP utils for the DLink but the variables were set at different defaults than the Linksys was listed as so I didn't want to risk changing anything yet. >>



Hey dman,

Thanks for the addition to the thread. Here's some information to anwser your questions.

This is a thread talking about how the firmware from the 900ap and WAP11 are interchangeable, and how the hardware in general was licensed from a Taiwan company:

D-Link 900ap to Linksys WAP11 discussion

and here's a link on how to perform the linksys WAP11 hack. This is the same procedure for the 900AP. But I suggest you read as much info about it as you can, if you delve far enough you'll find out why it may not be such a nice thing to do(to your neighboring frequency neighbors):

Linksys WAP11 100mw hack(same for D-Link 900AP)

Also wanted to point out that while the IBM card listed above is good(being a rebranded Orinoco silver card), this card is even better:

Lucent Wavelan card for $49.99 (There is some question now whether this card really is a gold or if it isn't a silver. The photo does not match up to the description, I'm trying to find out for sure once I know I'll let you all know)

Wavelan was the name before Orinoco. Judging by the fact that the card supports 64 and 128bit WEP(I.e. 40/104), that would make this card a Orinoco gold card.

So as always, enjoy.

 

[linster]

You guys have any recommendations for a desktop wireless NIC? I don't care if it's internal PCI or the external USB ones as long as they work well.

 

[KLineD]

<< You guys have any recommendations for a desktop wireless NIC? I don't care if it's internal PCI or the external USB ones as long as they work well. >>



There is a linksys usb model that works really nicely... don't know if a pci card would be better...i mean usb = 10MBit, while PCI is faster, wireless is only 11MBit anyway, so there's not much of a bottleneck....besides, USB doesnt use up IRQs and space etc...and ucan attach stuff on the fly...so i'd say go with the usb im sure u can find it on ebay for ~$70

 

[linster]

Actually isn't USB 12 Mbps? I think I'll go with the USB ones since the internal PCI ones don't appear to be cheaper. Thanks.

 

[Scaredwitless]

Hi Linster,

While I'm not aware of any great prices on PCI or USB 802.11b adapters, I'll keep my eyes peeled and post back here if I find any.

I recommend that you go with the USB adapter if you have the USB port available for one. Generally the USB wireless devices get the best signal of all the adapters(PCI and PCMCIA). The reason is because they are on cords which means that they can be placed away from the computer itself which tremendously improves the signal strength because computers are full of electrical noise. Also since it's on a cord you have a little bit more leeway in just plain positioning it where the antenna can get a better signal.

But in general I recommend that you stick with the Orinoco brands. These cards are among the best.

I'll let you know if I see any good prices on the desktop variety of adapters.

 

[linster]

Scaredwitless,

I suspected as much about the internal ones. I'll stick with the USB as open ports aren't a problem. Practicallynetworked.com seems to like Orinoco as well. Thanks.

 

[Mawashi]

Has anyone tried the 3Com Airconnect 11 Mbps Wireless LAN Access Point priced at $100 + shipping at tiger? You can add the 3Com AirConnect 802.11b Wireless LAN PC Card for $50 and have a great alternative to the DLink. On paper, this combo is truly remarkable, see for yourself : http://www.practicallynetworked.com/reviews/3com_airconnect.asp

 

[Scaredwitless]

<< Has anyone tried the 3Com Airconnect 11 Mbps Wireless LAN Access Point priced at $100 + shipping at tiger? You can add the 3Com AirConnect 802.11b Wireless LAN PC Card for $50 and have a great alternative to the DLink. On paper, this combo is truly remarkable, see for yourself : http://www.practicallynetworked.com/reviews/3com_airconnect.asp >>



Actually to be honest I've been eyeing the Airconnect for at least a week now myself. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any reviews for it that aren't 2 years old. The nicest thing about this access point is that it has an incredible amount of ways to access its settings. You can connect to its web server, you can telnet to it, it supports SNMP, you can even dial into it's 28.8 modem. A lot of places still have this access point selling for $600+, I take it that it was a enterprise AP back in its prime. The disadvantage of this AP of course is that I believe it's an end-of-life product from 3com, so support/firmware updates may not be the best.

If anyone buys this AP, please post your experience with it here, I'd love to find out how it went. I unfortunately was too chicken to give it a shot.

 

[wintermute908]

Scaredwitless,

If you hit "Click To Enlarge" for that Lucent Wavelan card you'll notice it says "SILVER" in big white letters. I have a feeling it was just a typo on the part of TigerDirect.

I picked up my Orinoco Gold cards on ebay for about $65, shipped.

Still shopping around for an AP, however.

 

[Scaredwitless]

<< Scaredwitless,

If you hit "Click To Enlarge" for that Lucent Wavelan card you'll notice it says "SILVER" in big white letters. I have a feeling it was just a typo on the part of TigerDirect.

I picked up my Orinoco Gold cards on ebay for about $65, shipped.

Still shopping around for an AP, however. >>



Wintermute, Good catch-- I guess that either means that the info is wrong, or the picture is wrong. I almost want to say it is the picture. But I've fired off a email to tigerdirect in hopes that they may be able to clear up the confusion. I'll let you guys know once I found out.

 

[dshodson]

how about adding the ebates to the dell deal
im thinking about getting a wireless switch with a print server
how good of a deal is this?
Is d-link a good brand and shouldnt the title be changed now that this is the focus?

D

 

[Scaredwitless]

Just thought I'd give you guys a heads up:

One person over at the dslreports forums reports that the WaveLAN card he recieved was indeed a silver.

Also thought I'd point out that tigerdirect has a SMC wireless access point for $79.99:

$79.99 SMC access point

I know nothing about this access point so I can say nothing over it, but the discussion on it is going on over here:

**HOT** SMC Barricade Wireless Broadband Router w/ Print Server >> only $79.99 (AR)

Though now that I look at it, I wonder if this is the same SMC that they are talking about? Theirs seems to suggest a $20 rebate to bring it to $79.99 but the one I linked to seems to just be set at $79.99. Plus theirs doesn't show on the site anymore. Strange?

 

[linster]

Scaredwitless,

I don't think the one you linked to is the one everyone is talking about. Yours doesn't have the router functions, it's just a network wireless access point.

I saw the SMC7004WBR deal from Tigerdirect last night, but they didn't have it in stock. I ended up ordering the Dlink DI-713P from Dell along with 2 Dlink DWL120. With the discount and coupons from Dell, I think I got a decent deal.

 

[Scaredwitless]

Congrats Linster,

Welcome to the wireless club.

I guess you're right about the SMC, I didn't realize the one they spoke of was also a router, their thread didn't really seem to say. Though if you ask me $79.99 is still a very decent price for a wireless access point, though maybe not so much if you now compare it in value to what you could've gotten for $79.99 a day ago!

Anyway I think the access points are getting shrugged off for not having built in switched routers, but I'd just like to say that there are a number of reasons some of us prefer the access points over the integrated solutions. Some of which I named above. They just make sense in expanding an already established wired network into wireless. Plus these are the devices you're probably going to want if you want to have multiple wireless radios in your house/site in order to expand coverage with better signal spread. I currently have a device in my basement, and a device in my attic. Which gives me very thorough coverage of my whole house, whichever radio provides the strongest signal my laptop automatically roams between. I also have the attic AP hooked up to a bit stronger(gain wise) external omni so that I can get reception on my back porch and gazebo. The walls of my house are made of solid stone, so this was the only way that I was able to pipe the connection outside.

 

[linster]

Agreed. It all depends on your needs. My uncle has an always on computer with a cable connection. I'll probably recommend a non-router access point for him since he can just use ICS. He may need a few access points since he's got a pretty big house.