Hawking Technology Hi-Gain Outdoor Wireless-300N Multifunction Access Point, Bridge, Repeater (HOWABN1)

I have read other reviews for these on Amazon stating power, range and setup problems. I did not experience any of these. I originally purchase one and installed it at the church where my wife works to provide internet access in the courtyard and the hall. I normally configure devices on a network manually, but this unit seemed to need the software that came with it for initial setup. After that I reconfigured it directly with no problem. It has been on line continuously for more than a year. Since then I purchased 2 additional units and have them installed and covering the entire church grounds. The coverage is terrific and they have been on line continuously for the last 6 months without a problem. I would like to address what I read in a couple of the 1 star reviews: "Unfortunately, they're range is very limited" - I don't know how the unit was mounted, but the 3 I configure have extremely strong signals as far as 50' away transmitting though multiple walls. I can connect to all 3 access points at 100'. "...mounted it about 10 feet above the ground. Inside my house 30' away the signal was so low I could not get a connection" - even on a completely flat property, 10' is not an adequate height for a wireless access point. Transmitting through walls is also an issue as every construction is different and contents of the walls (electrical wiring, cable, telephone...) as well as other factors (fluorescent lights, cordless phones, other access points...) will have varying effects on the signal. "When I hooked the ant up to the unit it shorted it to ground and burnt it up. Nowhere in the manual does it say that you cannot hook up an external antenna" - I changed out the antennas on the units for testing. I used several different antennas while attempting to cover difficult areas of the grounds. I did not have any issues due to these antennas. Shorting the antenna could have occurred due to the unit being powered up while removing/installing the antenna. As with any electronic device, the unit should be completely powered down before removing or connecting antennas. One review I read complained about the limited distance for the POE. I have one run that is 140' from the POE injector to the unit and have not had any issues with power. I would definitely purchase this again.

This is now the 4th of these devices I have installed. I am happy with the performance and the price. It is also nice that they can be used in multiple roles as an AP, Repeater or Bridge. I have used this device as an outdoor unit for a hotel that I administer and inside in a huge furniture store for mass coverage, so far so good. NEW EDIT! After using for quite some time, I have found that this product is constantly needing to be reset. It seems like this product loses internet connection more often than it should. I have replaced a couple of them with Ubiquiti products and they have a stronger signal and rarely if ever need to be reset. I have taken a star off the review because it is just an ok product.

I didn't find the setup confusing at all but I have a lot of experience configuring routers. The CD takes you through each step. It even asks if what mode you want to put it in (access point/repeater/bridge). I gave it a name and setup the security options then I handed it to the maintenance guy who mounted it on the exterior wall of the local community center. We just had to run an Ethernet wire to a router inside the building. Since it had power-over-Ethernet there was just the one cable which made wiring easy. The community center sits behind the end-zone of a football field so once I connected my phone (Motorola Milestone3 with 802.11 b, g, n) to the WiFi I started walking across the football field to see when the signal ended. I was still able to browse the Internet from the opposite end-zone before I had to stop because I ran into a fence. The signal was weak, but stable/functional. Your distance may vary. If your phone/laptop only has 802.11g or if there are any obstructions or if the device isn't mounted high you might not get the same coverage. So far I am really pleased with this access point. If we have to set up another outdoor access point would purchase another one of these. EDIT: We had a county festival and mobile phone traffic was so high that I couldn't upload a single photo to Facebook. My friend was on a different phone network and she had no access either. However to connect to the access point from the street at the opposite end of the football field. So, the signal went from the building, across a stage area, across an entire football field (end zones and all), to the street. I was able to upload a half dozen pictures quickly. This device works great, and it is at a very nice price.

I was replacing the same unit model after a lightning strike took it out. Seems like this thing is behind the times. The facility to locate the device was intermittent through the equipment it was connected to and in my opinion lacked features. Just didn't feel solid. Then once I had it all working, it had spotty coverage. Maybe a lemon all around, but based on the other review I recommended returning this unit and trying a different brand. Went to Ubiquiti. Its in and working better than this model but the configuration system is very very sophisticated and though it worked its was difficult to navigate- way overkill management for one device.

I bought this to relay my internet connection from the building my business is in to the house, about 70 yards. For that purpose, I have to say I am extremely satisfied. The end of the house closest to the access point gets great reception and the other end of the house furthest from the access still gets passable reception even through several very thick walls (not sure about the metallic content). Installation was straightforward. I had to make a trip to a hardware store to get a wall feedthrough, and I made my own Ethernet cables both for the link to the hub and to replace the power+network cable that runs the unit. I wish there was a little project box or something to house the interface, but I improvised with something from the hardware store. The RJ-45 weather protection seems like it will be okay for a while, but the sun is eventually going to fry all of this plastic. I pulled back a half star for the plastic and another half star for the interface. The software loads okay, but when I tried to set it up in repeater mode instead of access point mode, the function to set a password didn't seem to work. You basically had a wide-open access to the existing secure WiFi network. Maybe something I didn't understand? In any case, the instructions didn't cover it, so I went back to access point mode. Secure enough, I guess, though I wish it had WPA2 instead of just WPA.

This device would not configure for me. I tried hard wire and wireless. I called tech support and I was connected to a call center in India. The volume was so low that my first obstacle was I could not hear. Then the accent was so strong that I could not understand most of the instructions. After two hours the lady in India came to the following conclusions: I needed a new computer, I was not connected properly, or the product was defective. I may be slow but I do not need a new computer and I know my connections were correct. My conclusion, the product was defective.The set up process seemed to be very simple and if it had worked properly I would be writing a very different review. Do not waste you time on this and try a different brand. Check on your tech support and make sure they can speak English. I am not being rude. Business is business!

We installed this bridge in September of this year. It has been functioning with amazing performance. Setup was simple. No issues whatsoever. The device was installed to provide wireless access for our security cameras and other devices scattered around our 5 acre property. We get an amazing signal on our laptops even at the furthest boundary of our property. Our average number of devices connected at any time is > 20. Pros: Simple setup. Works great! Amazing range Strong signal CONS: None so far Some of our devices used: xbox 360 desktop computers laptop computers cell phones WII Nintendo DS Wireless IP Cameras

I've had mixed results with this device. Have three set up on a farm for cameras and WiFi access. I bought the first two because the software can be configured to fit you needs. You will need to add tape to antenna to keep water out. The device stops working in damp conditions until it dries out if you don't. Also leave the cord grip a little loose so condensation can get out of device housing. Had to replace Ethernet connector because it corroded from water sitting on terminals. My biggest issue is the spread of the WiFi signal. Need to install antenna at same level of devices receiving signal. I placed one 30 feet up on a power pole to clear building roof and had poor signal standing 40 feet from pole on ground with line of site. Happy with device software and flexibility, purchased another one after a lightning power surge threw the phone and Ethernet lines cooked this one. The WiFi signal spread is my biggest issue but I can work around this.