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D-Link DCF-650W Compact Flash 802.11b adapter
D-Link
Score: 2 out of 3
Review Type: Hands On
Reviewer: Chris Kaminski
Date: Sep 22, 2001
DCF-650W
D-Link is shipping an 802.11b
wireless Ethernet adapter in a Compact Flash format bringing wireless LAN
connectivity to a whole new group of devices. This product is aimed at the
PocketPC line of PDA’s that have a compact flash type 2 port.
Features
The 650W is a full featured 802.11b wireless
Ethernet adapter. It features speeds up to 11Mbps and can fall back to
slower speeds (5.5, 2 and 1 Mbos) to maintain a good connection. Both
64bit and 128 bit WEP are supported plus the three common communication
modes – infrastructure, ad-hoc and roaming. The driver configuration
application is a breeze to use and makes all the settings readily
available. The configuration screens are probably the best we have seen.
Also included is a cool little PING utility to test connectivity.
The Good |
Brings 802.11b to CF-2 devices
Great software that makes configuration a
breeze
Cool ping
utility
Supports both 64bit and 128bit
encryption
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The
Bad |
Most devices are CF-1, not
CF-2
Power Hungry for a CF card
Large antenna that sticks out of
PocketPC |
Your PocketPC without
wires!
The first time you transfer some large files between
your computer and a PocketPC you will be sold, but there is so much more
you can do!
Web Surfing
The first obvious use is portable web surfing. You
are probably already sharing your Internet connection on your wireless
network so it will probably just be a matter of opening your Pocket
browser!
MP3’s
Do you have a collection of MP3’s? Setup up a
streaming MP3 player on your PC and listen to them wirelessly on your
PocketPC! No longer are you bound by 64 or 128Mb of MP3’s – your whole
collection is accessible wirelessly.
Streaming Video
Combine the 650W with a SnapStream PVC streaming video server
and you can watch pre-recorded movies and TV shows on your PocketPC.
This is the ultimate in convenience. Read more about SnapStream PVC here.
Form Factor:
CF Type II The 650W works only in devices with a
compact flash type 2 (CF-II) slot. The HP Jornada and many other
PocketPC’s only have a type 1 CF slot and are therefore incompatible with
the 650W. The Casio 125 and any iPaq with a CF sleeve have CF-II slots and
can use the 650. In short, check your devices documentation WELL before
you purchase this product – It must specify a type 2 CF slot.
802.11b still power
hungry
My excitement about a
compact flash 802.11b adapter was mostly wrapped up in a hope for lower
power consumption. Devices with CF slots often have smaller batteries than
their PCCard counterparts. According to D-Link’s documentation, the 650W
consumes <380mA in transmit mode and <17mA in sleep mode. Their
PCCard 802.11b adapter consumes 30mA less power in transmit mode than the
CF 802.11b adapter.
 Note to IPAQ Users: IPAQ users should pay attention
to their battery needs and the form factor of 802.11b cards they select.
The iPAQ PCCard sleeve costs more but comes with a built in batter to
power the PCCard adapters. The CF sleeve does not come with a battery
leaving your main batter powering any adapters. Other Notes
We experienced a little bit of a problem getting the
650W to jump back up to 11Mbps after it fell down to slower speeds. Moving
the PocketPC back into a short range did not solve the problem. The only
thing that worked was reseating the card. This was intermittent but
annoying.
OS Support:
Windows CE version 3.0 is the only OS officially
supported but I am sure PocketPC 2002 will be supported very soon. Be sure
to check HERE (link) for driver updates.
DCF-650W
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D-Link DCF-650W CF-II adapter
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