Home > Consumer Reviews > D-Link DWL-G120 Wireless USB Adapter, 802.11g, 54Mbps

I purchased 2 D-Link DWL-G120 802.11g adapters from Amazon through Office Depot to use on two Tivo DVR's. I wanted the extra speed of these adapters, which were the only 802.11g adapters recommended by Tivo. I bought them specifically to make use of the Tivo To Go features that allows you to watch a show on one Tivo that was recorded on another one via the network and to transfer recordings from a Tivo to my PC. Neither feature worked with these adapters. If you read the Tivo website carefully, you will see they recommend D-Link DWL-G120 version B2. The Amazon website did not indicate what version was being sold. I was shipped the B1 version and they keep losing the connection whenever I try to transfer recordings from one Tivo to the other or to my PC. A Tivo person on their community forum verified that a different chipset is on the B2 and that the B1 causes hangups and freezes like what I experienced.

By the way, I don't think the 802.11g makes the transfers any faster than 802.11b. Even when the transfers were working before freezing, the speed was about the same or slower than real time. I've read technical reviews on other adapters and they all say the same thing. Of course, Tivo doesn't mention this in all their hype about Tivo to Go.

I emailed Office Depot to see if I could get a refund or exchange them for the proper version. So far, no reply from Office Depot. To be fair, the first adapter was defective, but Office Depot shipped me a replacement within 3 business days after I phoned them, not that it mattered as it turned out. I'll give them a great review as a merchant if they take back the two I still have.

My advice, pay the extra cost and buy adapters direct from Tivo. Then you only have one vendor to deal with if problems develop. If I ever get the B2 version and they work well, I'll post a new review, but for now I'm giving these adapters the lowest rating possible - 1 star.

I'd read the reviews and debated about buying this. I work in IT so my working knowledge of computers is pretty good. Lots of people complain about DLink but I've worked with products from all the major brands - Netgear, Linksys, DLink, Cisco, Hawking, Belkin - and have had both good and bad experiences with all of them. So despite the poor reviews and because it was on sale I figured it was worth a shot.

I installed it on a Dell Dimension running Windows XP Home on a home network with a Linksys WAP545G wireless router. I simply followed the instructions - didn't try to do anything fancy - and had no problems getting it to work. First I installed the drivers from CD, rebooted, then connected the card via the provided USB cable. Upon reboot the PC detected the card right away and I let Windows automatically install the driver files. It picked up the wireless right away and has been connected since.

The only thing I did differently was disable the DLink software and let Windows manage the wireless connection. This took no more than just right-clicking on the DLink icon in the system tray and choosing "exit", then removing the DLink software from startup via the msconfig utility.

I gave it 4 stars because the DLink gets a slightly weaker signal than its predecessor, a Linksys PCI card that was in the laptop that I replaced. The card itself also gets a little hot compared to other wireless USB adapters I've used. In any case it still works and does what it is supposed to do. So, 4 stars.

I got mine from CompUSA for $60 (...)

PROS:

- They give you a nice long 6 foot USB cable, so you can put it wherever you want.
- Supports WPA and WPA-PSK.
- Small form factor.
- Easy set-up.
(...)

CONS:

- Signal is very flaky. Expect it to fade in and out as you use it. Where you place it is very important -- don't even think about putting it on top of your computer (if you have a desktop) because it will suck. It didn't seem to like being on a desk shelf either. For some reason, it works better on top of the monitor.
- D-Link's configuration software is horrible. If you're using Windows XP, you're better off using the Windows Zero Configuration service. If you're not using XP, good luck.

CONCLUSION:

Most wireless cards on the market don't support WPA yet, though a lot of the newer routers are starting to. If you're using it for a desktop (as I am), the increased security of WPA outweighs the inconvenience of having to place it in that "perfect" spot to get good reception. If you plan to use your wireless adapter with a laptop, get a different one.

This adapter is not worth $55.

Purchased so I could do the daily updates on my TiVo over WiFi, and the products works very well with no trouble setting it up. I'm not sure if it works with "TiVo to go," but for just doing the schedule updates it is great.

This NIC does not support WPA2. Also, WPA is *only* supported by downloading the driver, version 3, at D-Link's Taiwan site.