Hawking HWREN1 Hi-Gain Wireless-300N Range Extender

Other products by Hawking Technology
(241 customer reviews)
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List Price : $99.99 Buy Low Price

Product Description
Hawking HWREN1 effectively doubles the operating distance of your entire wireless network. Whether it is an area in your home that has limited or no wireless coverage or a warehouse in your office, the Hawking wireless-300N range extender takes the signal from your wireless access point and retransmits it at a higher rate. Simply place the range extender halfway between your wireless access point and wireless trouble spot. The HWREN1 is the only wireless repeater on the market that supports most wireless 802.11b/g/n networks and devices so you never have to worry whether the wireless network at your home or office will work with the range extender. The HWREN1 also features a new software setup wizard for hassle-free installation. To setup the range extender, you simply load the setup CD and scan for a network to extend. Package contents include one hi-gain wireless-300N range extender, one power adapter, one CD with PC setup wizard, one RJ-45 cable, and installation guide.

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Customer Reviews
(241 customer reviews)

 Hawkins 300N Wireless Extender, 2010-03-11
1. The setup disk that came with the product did not work.
2. I had to call Technical Support, and be talked through setup on phone.
3. I've had to repeat the setup process 4 times in a month because the product stopped transmitting after each setup. The first two times I had to call Technical Support, while the last two times I simply went through the same procedures that Tech. Support had used.
4. Some of my computers cannot log in via the extender even after typing in the password. So, even though all the computers can detect the extender, some cannot log on through it.
5. Overall, I have not found it to be all I expected it to be.

 Technical Support Sucks, 2010-03-08
After spending hours with technical support over the phone, and getting no help and no response from e-mails to technical services, I have to recommend against any product from Hawking. I really don't need to spend two hours with technical support telling me to unplug the device and/or push the reset button over and over. If their products interface with yours, I'm sure they are great. If not, don't count on any support from their technical services, just package it back up and return it.

 IF you're a computer geek, this is great., 2010-03-05
I have tried to like this range extender, but have finally given up. I have no doubt that if you know how to set up networks, etc., then you can get this to work well. At times, I loved it. However, the constant problem was that it had to be rebooted daily (because it lost its signal) which meant taking it back to the router, reconnecting it, and rebooting it.
The solution to my problem (my house has three floors) was a powerline adapter (D-link DHP-301)---- I set up my modem to wireless router to powerline adapter(basement) to powerline adapter(upstairs) to a second wireless router. Now I have a strong wireless signal everywhere in my house from two wireless routers with the same signal. The powerline adapters work good without the second router, but then you need additional adapters for each computer in the house. I am now very happy.
Along the way, I did call Hawking customer service, but was unable to communicate well enough with the representative to solve my problem.


 After some setup problems, it works great, 2010-03-04
I had a Linksys WRT54GX2 wireless G router in my basement that provided an 80 percent or better wireless signal to a room on the second floor in the opposite corner of my house. When the Linksys router died, I replaced it with an D-Link DIR-825. I also bought a D-Link DWA-160 wireless adaptor, thinking that it would enable me to get wireless N speeds with the PC on the second floor.

However, the signal strength from the new D-Link router wasn't nearly as strong as the old Linksys router. I would sometimes lose the connection and it was less than half the speed at which wireless N is capable of operating. It was barely as fast as my old wireless G setup. I wasn't getting anywhere near the performance I should for the money I'd spent. That's when I started looking into the Hawking HWREN1.

Part of my wireless network problem was that between the router in the basement and the PC on the second floor, there are two floors, three walls, a refrigerator, a stove and a brick chimney. For whatever reason, this situation affected the wireless N signal of my new D-Link router far more than it affected the signal of my old Linksys wireless G router (and that was at 2.4GHz, not the weaker 5GHz signal the DIR-825 can also use).

I tried using the setup disk that came with the HWREN1, but when I got to the final step, it said it couldn't find my router. I ended up configuring the HWREN1 manually through the Web interface. Because I had MAC address filtering turned on with the router, I added the HWREN1's MAC address to the list of allowed devices. It still didn't work. I had to turn off the router's MAC address filter to get the HWREN1 to connect with my router. (Later, thanks to another review found here, I learned that adding 1 to the last number of the MAC address solved that problem.)

The other thing I discovered was that I had to use the same password for the HWREN1 that I did for my D-Link router, even though they had different SSIDs. Initially, I tried using a different password for the Hawking. I didn't see anything in the instructions that said not to. Only when I made both passwords the same was I able to get the router and the HWREN1 to communicate.

Contrary to what an earlier reviewer wrote, I was able to use WPA2 AES encryption, which D-Link says you must use to get 300mbps speeds with wireless N. Perhaps the problem was fixed with a firmware update.

I hung the HWREN1 high on a wall in the basement in a spot that enables it to get a good, strong signal in a direct line from the router. The HWREN1 retransmits the signal without the kitchen appliances and the chimney between it and the wireless adaptor on the PC. This enables me to receive an 80-90 percent signal in the second floor room and operate at a wireless N speed of 270mpbs. It's not full wireless N speed, but compared to the 108mbps speed I got with the wireless G setup, it's a huge improvement. I've had absolutely no issues with dropped connections in the week that I've been running the range extender.

I'm happy with the Hawking HWREN1. It does what it's supposed to do once it's properly configured and has no issues with my D-Link router. I knocked off one star because the setup isn't quite as intuitive as it could be and the instructions aren't as clear as they should be. Other than that, it's a great product that solved my wireless network problem. I highly recommend it.

 Hawking range extender, 2010-02-28
Based on some other reviews, I was prepared for a difficult installation. Although other reviewers said not to use the set-up disc, I went ahead and used it anyway. It worked flawlessly. I was up and running in about 15 minutes. One reason might be that my router, a D-link DIR-655 doesn't have MAC filtering, which is where some encountered problems. The range extender works really well. My laptop was losing its connection to the router four or five times a day. That has not happened once in the two days since I got the extender. Speed is also better, though I see from the reviews that has not been true for everyone. Time will tell if this thing is really reliable, but at least for now, I'm impressed.
Update 3/6/10: Been using this thing for ten days now. I have had absolutelly no problems with it. With the setup ease and the great performance, it's a winner.