| D-Link DWL-G820 Wireless Gaming Adapter, 802.11g, 108Mbps |
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Model: DWL-G820
Brand: D-Link
Manufacturer: D-Link
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 39
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: Game console
Data link protocol: Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
Enables 802.11g Wireless Connectivity for any Ethernet-enabled game console
Transfer rates up to 108 Mbps
Plug & play installation
Use for multiplayer online gaming or head-to-head gameplay (2 adapters required)
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and 128-bit WEP encryption |
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| Description: |
| The DWL-G820 High-Speed Wireless Gaming Adapter adds 802.11g wireless connectivity to your Ethernet-enabled gaming console. The DWL-G820 Wireless Gaming Adapter works with any Ethernet-ready game console, making it ideal for both head-to-head and online gaming. Use Wireless Gaming Adapters to connect two game systems to each other or use one to connect your system to a wireless network.In addition, you can use the DWL-G820 Wireless Gaming Adapter to make any Ethernet-enabled device, such as a media set-top box, wireless. The DWL-G820 is a true plug and play device that requires no configuration and is ready to work right out of the box.The DWL-G820 Wireless Game Adapter is also highly configurable, using any Java-enabled Web browser. With support for several advanced features including Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and 128-bit WEP encryption, the Wireless Gaming Adapter also protects your wireless signal.The DWL-G820 Wireless Gaming Adapter uses D-Link 108 Technology for data transfer rates that are 15x faster than standard 802.11b rates and works with all 802.11g networks. The device is also backwards compatible with 802.11b wireless networks. This Gaming Adapter provides lag-free performance and allows your gaming console to join your wireless network. |
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| User Reviews (39 total): |
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DWL-G820 is a piece of crap, September 10, 2005
By Robert L. Williams
Do not buy this for your xbox. It sucks. The unit was functional (well, not defective) and by 'dialing in' to the unit it was able to communicate (with and w/o wires) with my computer. The first red flag was when the xbox did not recognize the DWL-G820 as a wireless adapter. This is normal. It has to be configured with an IP address, which is ridiculous because the wired router connection is normally plug and play. However, no amount of configuration in the xbox dashboard would allow the xbox to connect wirelessly. This was even with the assistance of tech support, which is spotty at best. The folks are nice enough, but getting through can take a very long time. I'm okay with networks - all of my other stuff works great - but definitely not an expert, and I could go on and on about the changes I made. I won't, though. If you prefer painless set-up it's probably best to match brands when designing a wireless network. I'll give D-link the benefit of the doubt and admit I was using a router of a different brand, but with all of the configuration options on both ends, this should not matter. Oh, and I read some of the earlier reviews and I agree that this thing runs real hot. Who knows what that'll do for the product's longevity because I don't plan to keep it. If I ever got it to function properly and I had small children, then I'd probably mount it out of their reach.
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Beats trying to use Windows XP wireless drivers, June 4, 2005
By H. Thompson (Seattle)
I got this unit after fighting with disconnects and networks dropping with different XP USB wireless cards. Windows XP wireless auto-discovery was always switching on and off random networks and I couldn't ever make it stay connected for more than a day. This D-Link bridge solves all of these problems because you bypass Windows wireless implementation. Not a single problem since. The D-Link, other than its awful Web UI, boots quickly and works flawlessly for months at a time.
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Nice features, poor implementation, April 30, 2005
By Michael V
To summarize what everyone else pointed out but I ignored:
* this unit runs very very hot
* this unit just stops working every few days and requires a full restart which _may_ make it work again.
Don't get it. You'll worry in the back of your mind about the heat, and you'll be irritated with the constant reboots.
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Problems with DI-624, March 26, 2005
By Lovemytoys (Seattle)
As others have stated, the thing locks up every couple of days and requires several reboots to get going. D-link is of no help. There are several threads on the internet about this issue
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Worked fine for 5 minutes, February 26, 2005
By Snakebit (Texas, USA)
Another reviewer indicated that his unit required 2 or 3 reboots to start working again....dunno if I should have tried that. I figured if it slowed down to a crawl and stopped working altogther, plus it ran at 120 degrees (measured with an IR thermometer)....well I just don't need that kind of aggravation. No problem returning the unit for full refund after a conversation with D-Link tech support. It smelled and felt like it cooked itself. Too bad I had high hopes, I ended up getting the Microsoft (groan) version for my son's X-Box. $119.....OUCH!!!!
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Not bad for XBOX Live, January 23, 2005
By Ed Perez (Boston, MA)
I decided to upgrade to a better and newer wireless setup. I previously had a dell wireless router and internal wireless card for the laptop. I purchased the D-Link DI-624 because it is XBOX LIVE compatible and could not resist the Xtreme G features. I decided to also go with the DWL G650 for the laptop and the DWL G820 for my XBOX. The Router was not that bad to configure but I was getting several drops from the Xbox Live server while playing Halo 2, from a wired Xbox. Two phone calls to tech support and problem fixed, internet was working on the desktop, and XBOX LIVE was stable. I aslo got the laptop to work with the G650 adapter and I'm getting speeds within my network of 108.0mbps, wheather I'm on the first floor or basement.
Now for the DWL G820. All I had to do was change a few default settings to match my wireless connection setup, through the adapters setup wizard and thats was it. I get a very strong connection while playing Halo 2 even if my brother on the third floor is on at the same time in a differnet match room. Now I do experience lag when anybody else starts to download music or large files, but it stops when they're done. I share my internet connection with 2 desktops, 2 xbox's, and one laptop and I'm still able to get very strong signal. Two thumbs up.
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Wireless XBOX with WPA Encryption, January 18, 2005
By Dan Sebastian (Silicon Valley)
Finally a wireless game adapater that works with the Xbox & with WPA encryption. Many game adapters only have the flawed WEP encryption which is almost as bad as having no encryption at all. When I contacted tech support for many of the other products, the techs recommended turning off the encryption which is pointless since my network must be secured & that was the whole reason I upgraded my router to one that supported the WPA TKIP encryption.
The instructions for this router are a little confusing if you have set the router up with anything other than the defaults. For example, if you have have changed the default IP address of your router & the IP range that the DNS will assign, then you may have a little trouble during set up. Once I called tech support, the fix was simple, though undocumented, so don't hesitate to call the tech support if you find you are having similar trouble.
The link is blazingly fast & have not experience any problems with lag. Doesn't have problems with microwaves operating near by or other devices that operate in the 2.4ghz range.
As for anyone that this is not working for, I would say they probably got a defective unit, because I have tried them all & this one is by far the best of the lot.
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Locks up, constantly needs to be rebooted, January 14, 2005
By J. Pugh (Southern California)
The DWL-G820 has given me nothing but problems. The unit constantly locks up forcing you to reboot it, but then it loses all of its settings and reverts to defaults. Sometimes it takes 2-3 reboots for the unit to become functional again. My friend bought one and he has also experienced nothing but trouble. I am sure that the problems are all firmware-related, but D-Link has not released any new firmware revisions (1.00 is still posted on their site).
The only other issue I have is that it runs very hot - much hotter than any of my other networking equipment (my friend's unit also ran very hot). They could also lengthen the antenna a bit, I think it's just too short.
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wireless made easy, January 7, 2005
By Shawn Isley (Brunswick, OH USA)
I purchased this along with the D-Link DI-624 wireless router for use with Xbox Live. The instructions said that it was plug-and-play, and it was. I didn't have to configure it at all for it to work. However, for it to work at maximum speed (108 mbps), you do need to configure it. I was getting poor signal strength while playing Halo 2, and I didn't know why. I decided to configure it, and discovered that the device comes with all of the Xtreme G and Turbo settings disabled. I enabled the Turbo setting, and have had a virtually lag-free gaming experience ever since. Configuration was easy, just follow the instructions at www.dlink.com.
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Works Great But Takes Effort, January 3, 2005
By JKB (Morgantown, WV)
I have a Linksys 802.11b router and purchased this device to hook it up for my kids' X box. The Quick Installation Guide is not detailed enough. The steps I found were as follows:
- hook up the device directly via ethernet cable to your computer
- if your computer does not currently have a static IP address, you must assign it one that is not redundant with your router (I used 192.168.1.2 temporarily since the Linksys router default address is 192.168.1.1)
- then I assigned a range of 192.168.1.100 or 101 since this seemed to work best on a wireless computer card in the same area of the house
- I also entered the Linksys IP address (192.168.1.1)for the wireless Gateway address location, which was optional
- since my x-box is two floors away, I found it beneficial to test it first near the computer I used to configure it
- this can be done by connecting the D-Link wireless device directly to the router and then connecting the computer back to the router as well; you will need to change the static IP address on your computer back to a dynamic address if this was done; next, bring up the MS-DOS window on your computer and type "ping " followed by a space and the IP address you assigned to the D-Link device. Sometimes you need to reboot your router by unplugging it temporarily to see all of your devices on your network.
what a pain...I would give the device a 5 except for the crummy instructions. I have no idea whether the Microsoft wireless device is any less painful. The device works great, the problem that I had was that neither 2 phone calls to live support nor the directions resulted in any quick solutions. Hope this advise helps save time for the next person.
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Works great, although took trial and error configuring it, January 2, 2005
By E. Kline
I use this with my SMC Barricade 2804WBRP-G wireless router and my Xbox. I spent a couple of hours banging my head against the wall trying to get this working with WPA security. Working backwards, I disabled security on my router, and it still wouldn't connect. Ultimately, I got it working by trying out a different wireless channel - I think there was a glitch with my router, as I was able to get it connected on a different channel than what was disabled in my router settings. I then turned WPA security back on, and it worked like a charm.
A note I wish I realized early on - as others have mentioned, this device makes your device (Xbox, PC, etc.) think it is connected via wire, not wireless. Once it was configured correctly, I was able to use it to surf the net when it was plugged into my laptop (which I was using to configure it). Realizing this early on would have saved me trips back and forth to the living room to plug it into my Xbox. I'm no computer genius, and if I had known this from the get go, I would have kept playing with the settings until I got the laptop connected to the internet, before taking it over to the Xbox.
Also, I realized later in the process that you can change the default IP address of the adapter. This is helpful so you can make it compatible with the settings on your network, instead of vice versa.
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D-Link Customer Service Sucks, December 31, 2004
By Hildy
I recently received a D-Link DWL-G820 wireless gaming adaptor for Christmas. I spent a few hours trying to get it working with my home network without any luck. I then called D-Link support 1-877-453-5465 during normal business hours, (not during the Christmas rush) and after waiting on the phone for over an hour I returned the item and bought a Linksys wireless gaming adaptor.
Set up was difficult for me likely because I wasn't connecting to a D-Link wireless router. I'm not a network administrator, however I work in the high end computer industry and I'd say that I'm more knowledgeable than a large portion of consumers. The set up instructions, web interfaces, and wizards were poor.
Needless to say I don't recommend buying anything from D-Link, or any other hardware provider that doesn't take customer support seriously.
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looks good!, December 20, 2004
By C. PEREZ
i bought this adapter like many others because it is very cheap compared to the linksys and microsoft. i have a linksys wrt54g. i have only goten it to work once on my comp but not on my xbox. i never actually tried to connect to xbox live but tried configuring it wirelessy on the dashboard. i recently found out that even though it says it cant find it it works.
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I wish I could GIVE mine away, December 20, 2004
By gopens25 (La Maddalena, Sardegna)
Wow, where to start. I tried this unit with the "compatible" Dlink Router DI-624 and had nothing but problems. Turns out the router was the problem (I checked out many online forums and was not the only person having problems with this unit) so I bought a Netgear wireless router. No probs with the router or netgear wireless card for my laptop. So lets hook up Xbox live, shall we?
I have been waiting for over three weeks for a response back from Dlink on why this won't work. Today I had the day off so I decided to tackle it myslef. 6 straight hours of troubleshooting has led me to the point of total exasperation. Manually configuring this piece is a pain of nuclear power plant proportions (like I said, the AUTO config didn't work since the Dlink router was bad). Customer support from Dlink is non existant...I consider myself to be an advanced network tech and computer geek and there is nothing left for me to try to troubleshoot this.
I don't have any reccomendations for anything better on the market, but if anyone wants one CHEAP, let me know.
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Solid Product, Works Seamlessly, December 9, 2004
By Margaret M. Hepworth (West Chester, PA United States)
I use this gaming adapter to connect to Xbox Live wiht my existing wireless network. My other wireless product are Netgear, so I had to set it up manually. However the instruction booklet gives easy enough instructions to make the set-up a breeze. I notice little if no difference between the connection now and when it was wired. I also tested the unit with my computer and it worked fine there as well. Your Xbox doesn't even know that it is connected to a wireless device because it works like it is connect to a normal cable. I do not have the 108Mbps Access point so I was not able to test that. It has very good reception as well as it picks up the signal of my neighbor's wireles network. Great product.
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Great product, December 2, 2004
By R. Rangaswamy (Orange County, CA)
Over the past 3 weeks I have used the Linksys WET54G and the Microsoft Wireless adapter. Both worked, but they were a pain to setup. I tried following the directions the best I could, but it still took 1.5+ hours to setup the Linksys one and over 4 hours to get the Microsoft one to work. I was able to get the Dlink DWL-G820 running perfectly within 10 minutes. I have had the DWL-G820 for 3 days and have had no problems with connectivity.
Also, a major bonus with the Dlink card is that it supports both WEP and WPA encryption. From the information I had available at the time, the Microsoft and Linksys adapters seemed to only support WEP (although they may, at some point, release a newer firmware update to allow WPA support).
By the way, I paid $80 for this with a $30 mail-in-rebate bringing the total price to around $50. The MS and Linksys adapters were still over $90 when I bought my Dlink!!!
Where's the downside?!? It's cheaper, better, and smaller to boot!
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pretty tie, December 1, 2004
By Shelley Wisner
i just hooked it up on my 3rd floor, and my router is on the first floor. I used it to play xbox live, and it is better than when i bring my xbox down to the 1st floor, and it uses alot less wires. i got 50 dollars worth of rebates so it wus a bargin, this this thing is pimp
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