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Review on Wireless-G USB Print Server from Hawking Technology HWPS1UG by John Brazington

Revainrating 1 out of 5

My device worked but required patience and some expertise

I found this print server very difficult to set up. However, if your device works and your printer is compatible, the product is really doing what it was designed to do. and play, installation without problems. If you don't know how to make changes to your router's LAN gateway and DHCP settings (among other things), stay away from this or any additional print server. Save yourself a major headache and hours of frustration and buy a router with a built-in print server (and just put up with the inconvenience of having the printer next to the router). If you're still reading and know what you're doing, here are some tips (assuming you've made the necessary changes to the gateway and DHCP on your router): 1) Make sure your router's SSID is broadcast during the print server installation . During install retrieval, the print server considers a non-broadcast SSID the same as an empty SSID; and when it first searches for your router after setup, it expects an empty SSID (even though you could enter the SSID manually). Oddly enough, it seems that you can disable the router's SSID broadcast after installation, since the print server now seems to be looking for a router with a hidden SSID. 2) If you did step 1 and still can't see your router while querying the site with the setup utility, ignore the results of the site query and just type in the SSID and channel number manually the utility. Although my router didn't show up in the site's survey results, the print server worked after I manually entered the information. 3) If you just can't get the configuration utility to work, try connecting to the print server from a web browser and use IPP to set up the printer as a network IP printer. 4) If possible, keep the printer/server combination within range of the wireless router. This thing HATES interference or a weak signal and seems to easily turn itself off in poor wireless conditions. to other negative comments about poor documentation, but here's another disappointment: Hawking's support page for this product does not include a download of the installation guide or user manual SO DO NOT LOSE THESE ITEMS. Although the documentation is short, it contains important information about the default settings. If your print server requires an inevitable hard reset and you haven't saved the manuals and written down the setup information, you'll be crying like a baby.

Pros
  • Quick change
Cons
  • Almost never