| D-Link DWL-G730AP Wireless Pocket Router/AP w/ Client Mode, 802.11g, 54Mbps |
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Model: DWL-G730AP
Brand: D-Link
Manufacturer: D-Link
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 88
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
Enables 802.11g Wireless Connectivity
Supports Access Points, Router, or Wireless Client Mode
Supports Power over USB
Includes Convenient Travel Case and Necessary Accessories (Cables and Power Adapter)
Enhanced Security with WPA-PSK |
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| Description: |
| The DWL-G730AP is a portable and convenient wireless solution for the traveling business person delivering 802.11g wireless connectivity with a maximum wireless signal rate of up to 54Mbps*. Use it in conference rooms, hotel rooms, or even at hotspots. The Wireless Pocket Router/AP might be small in size, but is huge in functionality. The DWL-G730AP supports multiple operation modes including: Access Point (AP) mode to create a wireless connection; Router mode to share an Internet connection; and Wireless Client mode to connect an existing wireless network. Easily switch between these modes by using the 3-way configuration switch located at the bottom. In AP mode, the DWL-G730AP can be used to create a wireless network in a room where a single Ethernet port is provided. Now multiple wireless clients can connect to the network at the same time to share resources and files. The Pocket Router/AP supports WPA-PSK to secure your wireless data communications. In AP mode, the DWL-G730AP adds support for 802.1x user authentication with an external RADIUS server. For setup and configuration the DWL-G730AP can be accessed via D-Link's user-friendly Web-based utility. |
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| User Reviews (88 total): |
Page 1 2 3 4 5 of Total 5 Pages
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Using in "client" mode, works well., August 19, 2008
By user (Steelton, PA United States)
I've had this unit for about 3 weeks and have used it in multiple locations as a client to connect to wireless networks on a hard-wired NIC. Just set the mode switch, run the wizard, enter the appropriate information and you're connected. The wizard will list all available wireless networks it detects and allow you to chose the one you want.
I have not tested the Access Point or router functions but the client mode works very well.
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Great router, August 12, 2008
By user (Farmington, CT USA)
It is a wonderful product, very compact, powerful and convenient. Please be not fooled by its size, it has all the function you need. I bought one for myself when I was traveling. Very unfortunately, my advisor saw it when I took it to office, and he love it very much and bought it from me:)
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Who needs a WiFi device driver?, August 2, 2008
By user (Arlington, VA United States)
This device saved my laptop's Ubuntu installation. Before I got it, everyday sites like yahoo!mail and Angie's list would hang and stall, because the Ubuntu device driver for my Broadcom WiFi was really flakey. Well, an OS that can't handle the web sites I need to browse is just about useless.
But my laptop's "wired" ethernet works fine under Ubuntu. So I use the DWL-G730-AP in client mode, and suddently Firefox has no problems. Life is good.
Setup of the device is thru the web browser, so there is zero-install.
The trickiest part of installation is that before configuring the device you must give your ethernet interface a static IP address. But after the device is configured, you must give set your ethernet card to use dynamic IP assignment.
The DWL-G730 is sleek and stylish, and comes with a case to hold the device, its cables and charger. I'm very pleased. The only down side is its need for a power outlet.
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Awesome travel router!, July 27, 2008
By user (Saudi Arabia)
I am actually writing this review using the DWL-G730AP access point. It's super tiny and works flawlessly.
I've used it a a hotel conference where the conference room had 1 lan port and using this router I managed to securely share that connection with over 20 attendees. Performance was more than acceptable and signal strength, despite it's dimunitive size, is impressive.
Overall a well balanced product. My only beef is that I wish they had made the power adapter even smaller, and oh yeah, the thing looks ugly. I wish they made it more stylish looking.
But those 2 caveats do not affect the performance of the router in any way, they are just my comments.
Go ahead and buy it! You'll be satisfied!
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Excellent product that could use better instructions, July 22, 2008
By user
Most importantly, this product does what it says it does and it works perfectly once it's setup. I've used it while traveling across Asia Pacific and it did just what I wanted: It gave me an quick and easy to establish portable wireless presence with all of the convenience and freedom that comes with that.
My only complaint with the device -- and the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars -- was that the setup documentation is lacking. I'm an IT professional and quite knowledgeable in this space. But I unnecessarily spent time trying to deal with setup because the documentation was not clear as to some options. To make matters worse, the D-Link support line was completely useless and, if anything, tried to lead me into choices that clearly would have made for more problems.
But, again, once setup this router is a winner.
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Great Product, July 21, 2008
By user (Alvarado, TX)
This is a spectacular product in every aspect. It works just like it should with no complicated instructions or cumbersome programming. The storage of components is perfect...everything is available in one place...small...compact. In a time when most things don't work like they should or are purported, it is a pleasure to find something that does.
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Poor performance and connectability, July 21, 2008
By user (Seattle, WA United States)
I had high hopes for this little thing to hook up to my (original) Xbox since it's in a room with no other connections. Unfortunately it barely worked at the best of times. First off, the setup instructions were useless, and I had to find better ones online that actually worked. Once setup, however, the device would refused to stay connected to the wireless signal for more than a few minuets, even though the router is only one room away and other wireless devices have never had any trouble with it. It also seems to randomly forget it's settings when turned off, requiring it to be setup again. Save your money and look elsewhere.
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Not compatible with PocketPC, July 10, 2008
By user (Windham, CT United States)
I bought this because my PocketPC has only wireless access to the Internet and I wanted to try using it on a trip rather than lugging my ancient laptop that's on its last legs. I had read the reviews that said the router was somewhat difficult to set up, so I set aside some time to do it and followed the instructions step by step. After several unsuccessful tries, I called the support personnel. It took at least an hour on the phone for us to make it work with my laptop, but we were never able to make it work with my PocketPC. It's too bad, because it is a compact little item and would have made it easier in the hotel where there was only wired access above the ground floor, but I survived without the laptop.
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Resets itself - not recommended, July 10, 2008
By user
Like other people here, I have found that the unit repeatedly resets itself every 5 minutes or so.
Even though the setup can be quite confusing (read the manual carefully), it is a very versatile device.
Pity it is flawed.
Not recommended.
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Great Product, July 7, 2008
By user
I travel all over the world and have been looking for a small wireless router to free me from the hotel room desk. The product is smaller than I expected and works as promised. Set up is quick and easy and security is good (I turned off the SSID broadcast and used built in WEP security so my computer is the only one that even sees the signal). Added bonus, the power supply can even plug into 220 volt systems and function perfectly meaning no need for a power converter.
Overall a great product.
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Great Device, June 18, 2008
By user (Summerville, South Carolina United States)
I've only used this at home as an Access Point but it works great there. The Documentation needs alot of work though, if you enable encryption the screenshots in the QIG don't match what you see on you screen.
Neither the box it comes in or the QIG mention anything about OS campatability but the installation wizard does, Vista (I have Vista Home Basic) isn't listed but since I already had the wizard up I gave it a try and it works.
It also doesn't mention that the keys have to be of a certain length.
It may be obvious to others but it wasn't to me, when you first enter the IP address to start set up hit "enter" like it says and not "go" on the address bar.
In any case once it was set up I've had no proplems.
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For those with an XBOX 360, looking for Microsoft alternative, June 11, 2008
By user (IL)
Why we bought it...
I specifically bought this item to be used with an XBOX 360 from my son that we wanted to move out of the family room. His bedroom did not have a wired connection like the family area so we opted for, rather than pulling more cables through the wall, for a wireless connection. Since my son(s) are extremely active on XBOX Live we needed the connection.
Since the XBOX will not be used by him to stream large HD video over the home network we did not need anything wired and the DSL connection at 1.5MBPS is BY FAR less that the available bandwidth of this router. Conclusion: a basic 11 mbps OR BETTER ethernet bridge / client would be more than sufficient for Live play.
We also frequently travel, either with the family and for business, and want to share 1 wired internet connection in most hotel rooms with everyone that has their laptop with them (my kids drag their Compaq bricks around everywhere to play Runescape).
After looking at the MS wireless adapter that is 'made' for the XBOX 360 we decided that that was a rubbish solution at 90$. We looked for alternatives by simply specifying:
- wireless gaming adapter
- wireless ethernet bridge
- game adapter
Using those searches you will find a range of products that satisfy the requirements of the XBOX and provide superbly stable connections to XBOX Live.
I ended ordering several of the options (reviewed elsewhere) over a series of months but ended up giving them away to needy fellow XBOX friends of my son who did not have the $ to buy their own.
Alternatives...
The alternatives we used were:
- Netgear WGA11B (bought on auction site for <30usd) , wireless B @ 11mbps
- D-Link DWL-810+ (bought used for <40usd), wireless B @ 11 mbps
- D-Link DGL-3420, wireless G @ 108mbps if used with matching router
- D-Link DWL-G730AP, wireless G @ 54mbps if used with matching router specs
I will not go into individual reviews of these items here but the key is:
- They all worked 100% flawless with the XBOPX 360 and the XBOX Live
- There is NO performance difference in online play, regardless of the touted speeds of these bridges as the lowest 11mbps already far exceeds the internet bandwidth you have via your routers WAN port
Why I kept the DWL-G730AP... and bought another...
This hardware is capable of running as a full fledged router (router mode), a gaming adapter (client mode) and Access Point (AP mode).
Router mode: functions as a full featured router, e.g. you can connect it to a DSL model or Cable Modem and it will function as a wireless router.
AP mode: if you connect it to a router that does not have wireless ability then this will functions as an access points for multiple wireless devices to connect to.
Client Mode aka Gaming Adapter aka ethernet bridge: you can use it to connect ANY device with a ethernet port (wired) to this product and it will then in turn connect to your wireless router or AP.
Given the wide usage of this item I decided to buy it. Nothing, I mean NOTHING, in the market comes close to the capabilities described above at the price it goes for new (roughly half of the MS product).
What's in the box...
It comes in a fake leather purse, size of a paperback, with DLink pressed into it. When you open it it has the router/ap/client-unit, a small AC Adapter, 1 ethernet flat-cable (a thin and flat ethernet cable of about 2 feet), a CD with manual etc and a Quick Install booklet.
Installing it...
If you haven't done this before it might take a few minutes but the concept is simple:
1. The unit is preset at 192.168.0.30 (common for clients) for the client (that is the mode I set up).
2. Ensure that the PC you do the setup with is in the same subnet (255.255.255.0) and has a athernet address in the same subnet as the unit, i.e. 192.168.0.31
3. If the PC does not have that then go into the TCP/IP properties of the network connection and use these settings (I'll stop now because this is not intended as a setup manual, the booklet is more than adequate)!!!
4. Put in the needed settings to connect to your router. Then save and reboot the unit.
The rest is easy: you connect it to the XBOX 360 and boot it up and watch the connection take place. The Quick setup is quite excellent and it took me a whole 5 minutes to configure the whole unit with wireless encryption and all.
Other considerations...
Consider that wireless B in a wireless network setup can reduce the overall performance of your wireless network.
The antenna is strong: my sons wireless laptop has a 47% connection in his bedroom and when this unit is connected he gets a 87% with his laptop. There are 2 floors and MANY walls between router and unit.
Do not use this if using the XBOX 360 as a media player as wireless in general is not good enough for good performance. This is excellent for XBOX Live.
I put in some photos to complete the review. I have used many D-Link products over time and realize that D-Links can be quirky but they tend to be loaded with capability. This is one of the better executed units they have ever done but they failed to properly advertise what it can do (and anyone not looking for this will get lost in the forest of D-Link product type codes).
As you can see in the photos: this unit is small. It looks amazingly tiny to pack so much power and has some conversation value once people understand what this little giant can do.
Even though I cannot always agree with D-Link quality and support and there are people rating it 1 because they cannot get it to work / connect I say that this is a 5 if you have a working unit and a bit of understanding of networking.
Most of the time, hate to say it, the problem with the low raters is PICNIC: Problem In Chair Not In Product.
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It works as advertised; documentation needs work, May 27, 2008
By user (Bala Cynwyd, PA USA)
i've had the D-Link DWL G730AP for about 6 weeks and I'm very satisfied. Either as a portable wireless gateway or fixed, it works as advertised. My only complaint is that the documentation while simple is incomplete and missing some details (specifically regarding the need password for each mode of operation and more specifically for "client mode").
Quick notes:
The range is surprising for so small a device.
I've not been able to make the USB power work, so that's somewhat useless (at least for me).
The internal "help" should be more in sync with the supplied documentation. Once you get past the documentation the device works.
If not for the documentation and the USB power I'd give it 5 stars. Except in client mode, once you get it configured, it's basically set and forget.
Bottom line: it works, I highly recommend the device.
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Great for hotel rooms with paid wired Internet connections, May 9, 2008
By user (Cartersville, GA USA)
I bought this travel router to solve one problem: sharing a wired Internet connection in hotel rooms that charge per day for access per connected computer. Everyone in our family brings a notebook PC along on trips. Many hotels charge daily rates for each PC connected for Internet access.
I just bought this router and it worked perfectly right out of the box! All I had to do was set the 3-way switch on the bottom of the unit to the ROUTER setting, plug it into the hotel's wired Ethernet port, hook up the power cord, log onto the router using my notebook PC through the default IP address, and then follow the simple wizard to enable security, etc. After the router rebooted, we were able to connect all three of our notebook PCs to our newly-created, secure wireless network and use the hotel's Internet connection, paying just one daily fee to the hotel.
The unit is very small and highly portable. The signal is certainly strong enough to easily reach anywhere in our hotel room. We haven't had any problems with a dropped connection, etc.
My only wish is that the router supported 802.11n, as that is the newer wireless standard that provides faster and more robust wireless network connections, but that really isn't important for what we are using it for: sharing a hotel room wired Internet connection on multiple PCs wirelessly.
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Compact & Light...great for travel!, April 29, 2008
By user (Brea, CA USA)
THis is a GREAT travel router that I've been looking for in stores but nobody seems to carry or even really know about them. It is super compact, super light (less than a pound for the entire kit) and comes with a nice case so you don't have wires stuck all throughout your bag or briefcase. The only issue I had was the set up; I am somewhat tech savy but I had to get the router to adapt to my company laptop and internet connection. Had to have my I.T. help me, which took him about 5-10 minutes to set it all up. THe manual is not quite as descriptive as I think it should be for the initial set up.
Once you have it set up it is a piece of cake to use! Make sure you save the settings and it pretty becomes plug and play. I've used it traveling in hotels for work, on the road in field offices and even home. The router has incredible range and I strongly suggest this unit for anyone! I would say that it is easier to use than you might think and it has about the same range as a regular wireless router that you might use in your home or office.
Again, great purchase and well worth the few bucks it costs!! If you are on the road as much as I am, you need to have something this good with you!
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How did I live w/o this?, April 27, 2008
By user (Miami Beach, FL)
Turn any hotel room into your private wi-fi spot!!! Some hotels only give you LAN access, and CHARGE EXTRA for wi-fi usage!! SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!
Buy this product if you are sick of being tied down to your desk at a hotel room, and love to enjoy wi-fi from your balcony of your room!!
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good things come in small packages, April 26, 2008
By user (Austin, TX United States)
I bought this router because I needed one in my second home (corporate apartment). It works great, and I was surprised how small it is. I haven't taken advantage of the portability yet, but I like that I can power the device with a USB cable (which means that I don't have to take the AC adapter with me when I travel).
The router administration has all the features of a full-sized router. I've set up MAC filtering without any problems. Just a hint, if you're having issues when you first configure the router, restart the modem it's connected to to refresh the IP address. Worked with Time Warner in NYC at least...
Also, I haven't had any issues with the router overheating and stopping (it's been plugged in and on for over a month now). I was also impressed with the travel case the router comes in - very nice and small enough to put in my laptop bag when I'm on the road.
Overall, I'm happy with the purchase (even though this router is more expensive than full-sized ones).
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Great wireless router, April 7, 2008
By user (Southern Maryland, USA)
I use it on my laptop. Got it to use with the new EyeFi wireless SD card. It's a little slow, but works great. Setup was a little complicated, but eventually got it.
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Works great 90+% of the time, March 29, 2008
By user (Simi Valley)
I am able to hook up to wireless networks without installing any software; a great boon since my IT Department at work will not provide computers with Wi-Fi or allow users to install software.
This works great almost all the time. You have to initially configure the travel router so DHCP server is on, then reboot the computer so it gets its IP address assigned from the travel router. Once you do this switch router modes and after the router reboots you can set up your connection to the wireless network. This part works very well. Sometimes, the computer will not get the address from the travel router and I have to retry. While a little inconvient sometimes, this is still a great solution if your laptop does not have Wi-Fi and you do not want to install any software. Unlike other "gaming" routers this one is powered off a USB port so it is as portable as the computer you connect it to.
Buy some velcro with adhesive backing so you can secure the travel router to the top of your laptop so you have one less loose item to worry about.
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Great when traveling, March 29, 2008
By user (Los Angeles)
For work or vacation, I often have only a wired connection available. That's ok except my cell phone has UMA capability (BB Curve on Tmobile) so I need wifi access if there's no cell signal.
I also frequently have to share one wired connection with a work colleague since I'm a consultant. So I just plug this in and we're all set. I used to have to carry a network hub once in a while or if we didn't have one, we'd swap 1 cable back and forth.
It was easy to set up. There's not much to change for any of the 3 operation modes. I just added a password for access, but worked right out of the box.
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