| Hawking Hi-Speed 54M Wireless G Router (HWR54G) |
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Model: HWR54G
Brand: Hawking Technology
Manufacturer: Hawking Technology
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 21
Operating system: Macintosh
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
Fully Backwards Compatible with 802.11b Networks
Up to 5X Faster than 802.11b Products
4-Port Ethernet LAN
Easy Installation using Setup Wizard |
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| Description: |
| The Hawking HWR54G Wireless-G Access Point plus 4-Port Auto Sensing Switch is the perfect solution for sharing a single broadband Internet service among the computers in your home or office. By combining wired networking with wireless networking, the HWR54G gives you the freedom to connect however and wherever you want. Using state-of-the-art wireless technology, Hawking delivers the fastest possible wireless networking. At a blazing 54mbps, transferring files, audio and even video has never been more enjoyable. Along with standard security features, the HWR54G comes equipped with advanced firewall functions to protect your internal network (LAN) from unwanted intruders and attacks. By combining a Firewall Router, with a Wireless Access Point and a 4 Port Switch, the HWR54G is all you will need to network your computers, share Internet service, and go wireless! Installation of the HWR54G is very simple. In a matter of a few clicks on your mouse, the new Setup Wizard will automatically configure your Wireless Router for Internet access. Another great feature is the removable external antenna. For those that feel the need to extend the range of their wireless network, the HWR54G allows for easy upgrading. By adding one of Hawking's Hi-Gain 24 Series Wireless antennas, the range of your wireless network may be increased by up to 100%. |
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| User Reviews (21 total): |
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unreliable, drops connection for no reason, August 27, 2007
By Thomas Lambrecht (Copenhagen)
I thought I saved 50$, but instead I spent hours reading FAQ, upgrading firmware etc. etc.
Do NOT buy this product.
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What a relief..., August 11, 2007
By a journeyman.. (Phoenix, Az)
This product did exactly what I needed it to do - it unleashed me from my office desk and allows me to work/surf on my laptop throughout my house. It was really easy to set up and was up and running within maybe 30-minutes.
The signal has been strong throughout my house (not that it is that big of a house) but my download speed has been pretty high which was important for me.
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pathetic wireless function, January 3, 2007
By puterfx
I took over as an IT manager position for a small company and inherited a HWR54G router. We had a fully functional Linksys WAP11B working but I thought it would be a better idea to utilize the wireless G because of the speed. After replacing the WAP, I noticed that we were getting 54 Mbps instead of the 11 we were getting with the WAP ... but my elation was short lived. It would cycle from 54 to 1 at any given time, regardless whether I used Windows, Intel or Belkin to control the wireless function. We have 3 notebooks, 2 that are about 60' away and one that's about 12' away. It doesn't matter which notebook I'm working with, the result is still the same. I went back to the Linksys because it's reliable and the 54M went into the trash ... probably where it should have been in the first place.
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very poor performance, September 17, 2006
By S.S.REDDY (USA)
This is the poor quality wireless router ever i have seen. signals drop very often. technical support also very poor. i suggest not to buy this router.
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The Timex of wireless routers, June 28, 2006
By Gregory Powers (Philadelphia, PA USA)
I've had mine running for a few years now without any problems at all. Not fancy, but it works. As others suggest, don't let Windows control your networks, use the OEM software. No connection problems, no range problems, just keeps on ticking. I don't use IM of any kind so I can't respond to problems with that. Their PCMCIA adapter beats the D-Link and Netgear cards too, we use all at work and the Hawking consistently gets better connections and range. There are other good 54g routers out there, but keep this one on the list too.
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Easy setup!, June 10, 2006
By Snowbell (Bloomington, IL USA)
I purchase this wireless router after reading countless of reviews from several website. It was between the WGR614 Net Gear or this and I decided to pick this. Why? Because after reading Net Gear's customer reviews, it seemed there were more cons than pros to it although PC Magazine ranked it as one of the best buys.
So far, I have been very happy with my Hawking purchase. The setup is very easy and like other reviewers mentioned, make sure you let the manufacturer control your wireless instead of Win XP and you will encounter no problems at all.
One thing I wish the router has is the ability to power off whenever I want to. If you are a home user looking to connect two or more computers, I recommend Hawkings.
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decent product but horrible with instant messaging, June 3, 2006
By Tom (Houston, TX)
This router & company gave me headaches from the start. Iit was easy to setup & connect. The main problem that I had with it was with any form of instant messaging programs (AIM, windows messenger, etc). It kept disconnecting any of these programs constantly. At 1st it was annoying but tolerable but after months go by, it became infuriating. I tried changing the settings & rebooting & everything else that tech support could come up with but nothing fixed this problem. Everyone else who shared my network connection would complain to me & I got fed up. To top it off, it took 6 months for the rebates to finally come in. Other than the instant messaging issue, it was ok. After I hooked up my Linksys router, I wondered why I even bothered straying from that company. Decent if you never use any instant messaging programs - or maybe I got a lemon - who knows? I'm throwing mine away though & never buying from them again - too much headache. Why bother with this when you it's a non-issue with other routers?
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Poor Quality & Service, January 10, 2006
By D. Rose (Jacksonville Beach, Florida)
I purchased the HWR54G RevM from a local store, and it worked great for a day, then the radio signal started bouncing from great to none, and after allowing it to "Rest" for a couple of hours it worked, but the radio signal then started bouncing. I sent it to Hawking and they sent me a replacement, and it did the same thing.
I'm asking hawking for a refund. This is junk, and they obviously don't test them.
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Cheap, but unreliable and has a weak signal, December 25, 2005
By techie (Silver Spring, MD)
Configuration and setup was not too difficult, but not the easiest I've found. The signal seems fairly week, however, and service is dropped about every half hour, even if I'm right next to the router. I then need to disable and reenable my wireless card before I can get service again. I can't figure out the problem, and I'm getting a new router. It works fine as a wired router, but the wireless is very annoying
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So far, so good, December 22, 2005
By CyberDude (Cleveland, OH)
This router has impressed me so far. Installation and configuration were a breeze compared to other routers I have had in the past. The range is very good indoors which is fine by me because I wouldn't want my wireless network going into my neighbors' houses anyway. So far, I have been able to use my laptop and PDA in different parts of my house without any problems. It gets the job done, no question about it.
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Easy to use with a solid connection (so far), November 28, 2005
By Mr. Sparkles (Maryland)
I've been running the router for over 72 hours without a dropped connection. Setup is very easy. I didn;t use the wizard, but set it up manually instead. I am using the WPA-PSK feature which makes protecting my system much easier and more secure than typing a 32 character WEP HEX code. The throughput is very good and the router is much better than my old Belkin 802.11b, which would lose packets all the time when I played HALO or ran SSH/SCP, regardless of DMZ, application gateways or virtual servers.
*People who get dropped connections with this router Pay attention*
One caveat: I did notice that if I let WinXP control my WiFi adapters then I do get frequent connection drops. Perhaps this is why everyone here has dropping problems? Try letting the manufacturer's software control your card. Two of my computer ran the manufacturer's software and they got no drops, another ran WinXP control configs and drop frequently. When I removed WinXP's WiFi control of this 3rd system the dropping abated.
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seems to be working ok, love the 54Mbs, August 23, 2005
By BIT (Orlando, FL)
I paid 9.99 after 40.00 rebate and have found the router to work well even with other manufacture's equipment. I recently upgraded my wireless network from b to g and was very happy with the set up and easy configuration of this router. The quick install guide was a bit short on how to access the router config page but after having previously setup my 802.11b network, I was able to figure it out. I have noticed the range is a little bit shorter than previous D-link b router. I do enjoy the increased file transfer rate between machines and my internet speed seems to be about the same. All in all a decent deal.
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Dropped my connection constantly, August 17, 2005
By Mo (BC Canada)
This router dropped my connection constantly.
Always need to restart the router for unable to connect.
Try with 5 different wireless card but same unstable result.
I put my old wireless router back, all connection back to normal and stable.
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Good performance and value, August 16, 2005
By Jay (Missouri, USA)
I recently purchased this router to set up a wireless network for my daughter. (...) I was a little nervous, wondering if I could get it working properly, so I also purchased a Linksys router, since their ads tout their easy setup. Since my daughter lives in another town I wanted to have a backup in the event that I had trouble getting the Hawking router running.
The Hawking router setup program was easy to follow. It auto sensed several settings and was running great within just minutes. I did encounter a problem getting the WEP encryption setup to sync with the roomate's laptop, but this was only because its an Apple Powerbook. I was completely unfamiliar with the Apple software, so I couldn't get the laptop's built-in wireless card configured with the WEP encryption password code. I then called Hawking's Tech Support. This was somewhat frustrating, as I had to remain on "hold" for 30 minutes, then I could just barely communicate with the foreigner tech support person. He was also completely unfamiliar with Apple computers, only able to suggest that I contact Apple.
Out of frustration I then opened up the Linksys WRT54G router. Although it was considerably more expensive, from their ads I expected the installation to be a breeze, but I was wrong. During the setup it could not sense the Cable modem settings, (even though the Hawking did so), so I was then faced with a series of technical manual setup questions. After several unsuccessful trial and error guesses I gave up, never able to get the Linksys router running at all. So much for the "easy setup" advertising hype. I later returned it to the store for a refund.
I then re-installed the Hawking router, getting it going again in just a few minutes. After some subsequent research I was able to learn how to configure the Apple Powerbook so that it would work with the WEP encryption.
Although the Hawking router was just installed about a week ago, so far its working great. Although Hawking's tech support line is less than perfect, this does not seem to be a very unusual situation these days, sad, but true. In conclusion, I recommend buying this Hawking wireless router and would not hesitate to buy other Hawking products.
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It's OK., August 14, 2005
By J. Zhan (Fairfax, VA United States)
I bought it only because it's $5 after mail-in rebate. It took me quite a while to figure out that I have to manually configure the DNS server in order to make it work. Kind of frustrating. The wireless range, as mentioned in many other reviews, is not so good. But enough for my house. Wouldn't recommend it if it costs you more than $10.
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Easy to use MAC filter for 100 computers, August 13, 2005
By P. Sullivan
This was the only low cost router that I could find that will maintain an "allowed" access list for 100 computers. Several wireless access points are wired to this router and it allows only approved computers to access the internet. Most wireless routers only allow 20 MAC addresses to be filtered. The Hawking does not require you to input the MAC addresses. Just let the computers connect and then select them by computer name (it captures the MAC address and computer name automatically when the DHCP assigns an IP address). It is also very easy to select the ports that are open to each group of users. There can be 4 groups of users that each have different port privilages.
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HWR54G is the worst possible product invented, July 21, 2005
By unknown
One Word. Do not buy this unless you want to waste money and tons of time.
This router did not connect to the DSL modem even after repeatedly programming the modem in bridge mode. And if you have a regular full-time job, the tech support is non-existent, as they are only available during weekdays 8am-5pm. If you have free time during weekdays, make sure to set aside half a day, as they will put you on hold for at least an hr, and then provide you with very rude and unprofessinal, useless support.
(...)
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OK, but not spectacular, July 21, 2005
By Ziman (NB Canada)
This router is actually QUITE configurable... Leo PA's review is spot on... and contrary to M.Caine's review it DOES do MAC address access control easily. It's even detailed in the MANUAL on how to do this.
It does do 128-bit WEP encryption (which should be MOST for all home-users) but would get more points from me if it had WPA.
The wireless range on this router is rather short too... but in a small home, it's adequate. Besides I don't intend on sharing my access with my neighbours... and in a strange way, makes it LESS hackable from drive-bys. [*Also to note: Hawking does sell a fair number of signal boosting products, which MIGHT explain the shortfall in the range of the router.]
Regardless, I got this unit for a killer $9 after rebates... and for $9 (tax included) it couldnt be beat. A bargain at twice the price.
However, if you're the spending the $70 asking price... I recommend looking toward a Linksys G with SpeedBooster. (Linksys for exceptional customer support -- and the fact they're made by Cisco... you know the largest name in networking.)
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Personally, I had difficulty, June 2, 2005
By N. Caine (Los Angeles, CA)
I've recently had the opportunity to set up two wireless networks for my friend's and now my home, all on WinXP systems. For my friend, I picked up a Buffalo Airstation on advice of the head of the tech department (not the floor salesguy) at a computer retailer, and it installed flawlessly in minutes, including a firewall, valuable 128-bit WEP security, plus --what is even more important to me to prevent hacking-- MAC filtering. For my own home, I went with a sale and got the Hawking, and I couldn't get it to work. Even with tweaking, I couldn't get the router to connect with my ISP through my DSL connection. I went out and bought a D-Link (also 54M wireless G) on heavy discount at a different retailer, and like the Buffalo, it went up and running right away, including an easy-to-set-up firewall, 128 bit WEP, and MAC filtering. [MAC filtering, for those of you who don't know, allows you to specify exactly which machines are allowed to connect to the router, and all other ones are shut out. This keeps the neighbors and others from hacking into your network, since WEP passwords aren't foolproof.] I was probably doing something wrong in setting up the Hawking, but it does seem to me the D-Link might be "autosensing" something that the Hawking does not.
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Leo, PA, computer professional, January 25, 2005
By Leo (PA, not far from Phila)
I got this one as a replacement for a wireless D-Link DI-784 router that was glitchy and could not be programmed at all. And this was quite a change! While this router is not too sophisticated in terms of either available wireless security protocols or some other features, it has everything one needs to create a home network, and more.
Namely, compared to similar wireless routers from better known brands (DLink, NetGear, Linksys) this one:
1. Is PROGRAMMABLE. That is, it does not stop working or deos not develop glitshes when you change modes and parameters. (Many others present you with a whole spectrum of glitches when you start changing default settings.)
2. Supports any Internet connections, not only cable/DLS. You CAN use it with a leased line, you CAN connect it to another router with a static address, etc.
3. You CAN assign it a static IP address, and it works. (MOST others don't.)
4. It does support opening additional ports for your special applications (such as IP telephony - see below), and it works. (Many others don't do it properly.)
5. You can switch the DHCP feature off, and the router still works. (Many others don't.)
6. VPN pass-through works, and one can really connect to your work networks from home without glitches.
SUMMARY: I have successfully set the router up so that it currently supports 3 wired computers, 1 wireless, and a Vonage IP phone router. I couldn't do it with other routers from manufacturers mentioned above, because all of them were glitchy and actually could not work with static IP addresses and/or other routers and/or DHCP off, etc.
All wireless features work fine, and the speed/range are acceptable. One can use a long WEP key (26 Hexadecimal characters), and communication is fast and stable.
For those who are interested in configuring IP telephony: Vonage offers great phone plans, but it currently sends you a regular Linksys router of of its own with 3 RJ45 ports and 2 phone ports. So IF you have more than 3 computers and/or computers using wireless, you need to set up TWO routers to work together. And I succeeded in doing this with the Hawking one. Namely, I have connected the Hawking HWR54G to the cable modem, and it is the "primary" router with DHCP enabled. All 3 wired computers are connected to it as well as the wireless laptop.
The "secondary" Vonage router is connected to the primary one using a STATIC IP address (outside of the range used by DHCP). That way you can guarantee that it will always have the same address irrespective of the number of reboots. This configuration makes it possible to MAKE calls, but not receive them, because the system (primary router) doesn't know where to send incoming call data packets, and also blocks some of the ports by default (firewall function).
So I opened the IP telephony ports on the Hawking router and set up re-routing of these data packets to the Vonage Linksys router at its static IP address. Also, I had to open port ranges used by Vonage by adding these to the list of custom applications. Ports to be opened on the router/firewall:
69-69 (Vonage 1)
5060-5063 (Vonage 2)
10000-20000 (Vonage 3)
All three apps should be checked.
That way the phone works both ways, i.e. you can receive calls as well!
On the negative side, the only thing that I noticed was as follows: from time to time (once a day if you work intensively for the whole day) the router can "hang", and wireless networking stops working. As soon as you unplug it and then plug it in again, it reboots, and everything works fine. Nothing else is needed (no computer reboots). Generally speaking, this is quite a good result compared to some other models, and I can live with it. Recommended.
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