D-Link DWL-G120 Gripes

Won't Install

March 18, 2007. Using a brand new DWL-G120 network adapter that had never used before. Running Windows XP SP2 with USB v1.1 ports.

Technical Details
P/N DWL-G120
S/N B288158013711
MAC ID: 001346BA747E
H/W ver: B1

The WiFi adapter doesn't work at all. The drivers can't even be installed.

At first I used the driver on the included CD, but the install failed with:

Device cannot start. Code 10.

I uninstalled and rebooted a few times, not that it made any difference. The second and third attempts were with a new G120 driver downloaded from D-Link's web site.  The latest available driver is: 

  From Globespan Virata Inc. version 1.0.5.0 dated November 11, 2003 

The driver is not certified for use with windows XP. No surprise. 

Others had the same problem when using Windows Vista. 

Someone at amazon.com said there is a version 1.12 of the driver, but it didn't show up as an option on the USA tech support site. The live driver is 

c:\windows\system32\drivers\prisma02.sys    version 1.00.05
Product name: Prism 802.11 Wireless Lan

 

---

I contacted tech support at DLink. 

The DWL-G120 WiFi adapter fails to install. The error is "Device can not start [code 10]". It have downloaded the latest driver and uninstalled and rebooted a few times. The driver it is using is from Globespan Virata Inc. It is version 1.0.5.0 and is dated 11/11/003. This is a new product, I have never used it before on this machine or any other. The computer has USB version 1 ports and the ports are known to be good.

They responded with a fix for a different error message. They said to get the latest drivers, which I already did. They said to make sure the device is connected to the computer correctly, but Windows does recognize it. 

They also said to update the drivers using the airplus.inf file that is part of the driver. But there was no such file in the .zip file that is the drivers. After the failed install of the drivers, there was no such file in the folder it created. There is no such file anywhere on the C disk. Neither is it on the included CD disc. 

Then they said to uninstall the D-Link software and try again. Blamed it on background utilities such as antivirus, crash guard, or firewall. But, there were no background utilities at all. The machine has no anti-virus, anti-Spyware or firewall software. 

Then they said to try and install it in Safe Mode. This worked! The problem is not physical. But, after rebooting, the adapter was not operational. It had a yellow exclamation point in Device Manager. Disabling it and re-enabling it just resulted in the original error about not being able to start with a code 10. 

There were no errors on the event log. 
 

Second Computer 

March 19, 2007. Tried the thing in a second Windows XP SP2 machine. This one was the Home Edition rather than Pro and the machine had USB v2 ports. 

The Prism Profiles Server Module crashed during the initial install. I re-booted and saw the power light blink for the first time. The entry for the G120 in Device Manager showed that all was well. 

But, I couldn't connect to public network, one using no security at all. Using Windows to control the WiFi connection, it said I was connected, but I wasn't. The IP address was the default one used when nothing is working and there was no gateway IP address (this point is a gripe against Windows, not D-Link). 

Then I tried to connect using the D-Link supplied software and noticed there were no options for WPA encryption. 

Finally, I tried using Windows to connect to my personal WiFi network which uses WPA. Didn't work. 

 

Not As Advertised

I checked the box and there was nothing about WPA encryption. But NewEgg, where I purchased the network adapter, said it did support WPA. And the product page at D-Link's web site also said it did WPA. 

I told NewEgg that the product description was wrong and the person that wrote back said he submitted a description error report to investigate and make the corrections on the website. 

I told D-Link that the product description was wrong and the response was a question: had I tried using Windows XP to control the WiFi connection instead of using their supplied software. 

Then again, it turns out there are different versions of the G120, a fact not made public by either D-Link or NewEgg. A user comment at NewEgg.com said there is a Hardware Version B1 and Version B2 edition of this adapter. Mine is version B1 (see above). What's the difference? I'll ask D-Link... Some commenters at NewEgg said that it does support WPA, this may explain the difference. Also, Tivo rates WiFi adapters and says that version B1 does not work with Tivo whereas version B2 does. See Tivo forum entry. 

I wrote D-Link about this and they said "The difference between the B1 and B2 are minor since they use the same chipset and driver. The B2 was released at a later time as far as features and functionality they are the same."
 

Registration 

While downloading drivers, a window popped up asking me to register. I started to register, but immediately got an error that the server certificate for support.dlink.com expired on September 30, 2006. Six months ago! This is a company that does not have its act together. 

And it went downhill after that. 

I registered, but I didn't. 

During the registration process it didn't ask me to chose a password and it didn't generate one for me either. After registering, you're prompted for a userid and password. The userid is the email address you just provided, but what's the password? 

Like many websites, there is link to email your password to yourself. To do so, D-Link requires an email address and zip code. Mind didn't match, so I'm locked out just after registering. Locked out of what? I don't know. 

And the nail in the coffin (I'm never buying another D-Link product) is the obnoxious nature of the registration. By default, you are registered to be spammed by third parties. And the option for this is buried in the middle of a ton of text at the bottom of a very long webpage. And there are other related options at the top that make you think you are safe after turning them off. D-Link is playing Three Card Monty with their customers. Now you see the option to be spammed, now you don't. 

And they ask the most personal questions there are: how much money you make, your hobbies, how many kids you have, and the like. 

Can't Uninstall 

On the second machine, I tried to uninstall the D-Link driver. As if I needed any more reason never to purchase another D-Link product, the program would not un-install. Instead it caused a loop and CPU usage was at a constant 99%. The looping programs were services.exe and removedev.exe (from a company called GST). Both were using about 50% of the cpu. 
  

FYI 

The D-Link support page for the DWL-G120 and the main product page. 

D-Link 24 hour tech support:   877-45DLink