How to set up a dwa 131 for a wireless network. miniature adapter. Dimensions and appearance

Very often, you need to connect a regular desktop to your home network (home not laptop) that does not (in 99% of cases) have a Wi-Fi adapter. There are quite a few inexpensive USB adapters on the market today. One of these, the D-link DWA-131 Wi-Fi adapter, I want to consider in this article.

Start

Low price, small size, fairly well-known manufacturer, support for almost all Wi-Fi network standards (802.11 b/g/n) - these are the reasons for the interest of users in the D-Link wireless USB adapter, a rather successful adapter in its "niche".

The new version of this adapter (the so-called DWA-131 / E) fixes almost all the shortcomings of the previous version, which cannot but please the user (see the review of the previous version of the DWA-131 rev.A adapter http://tele2life.ru/1/content/ view/459).

Dimensions and appearance

The DWA-131/E is a very compact device, only one and a half to two times the size of a standard wireless mouse adapter.

Device size: 30 x 16 x 8.5 mm

Weight: 27.22g

In the new version, the device has a branded "cap" (for the absence of which DWA-131 was scolded by some "esthetes" of online online magazines)

The branded cap of the adapter is painted to match the adapter body.

In addition, now the LED located on the body of the device and signaling network activity is now green, which does not irritate the human eye.

Equipment

The Wi-Fi adapter is packed in a fairly large (in comparison with it) box.

In addition to the DWA-131 / E, the delivery set also includes a couple of instruction documents.

Specifications

The new D-link DWA-131 modification supports the maximum Wi-fi speed up to 300 Mbps, which is twice as much as the previous one.

The D-link DWA-131/E adapter uses a PIFA antenna. The features of this type of antenna, in addition to quite small sizes, are: a fairly wide bandwidth of used frequencies (up to 10% of the resonant carrier frequency), high antenna efficiency (the ratio of radiated power to input power, sometimes reaching ~ 65%), and support for multi-range (though unfortunately not within this adapter).

All this allows you to count on:

Good signal reception, despite the small size of the device

Twice the speed of the DWA-131/E than its predecessor.

Drivers and software

The USB adapter comes with a CD with drivers for the Windows OC family (Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7/Windows8/Windows8.1/Windows10) and the D-Link Portable Wi-fi Application utility.

There are also drivers for this device for Linux and Mac.

http://ftp.dlink.ru/pub/Wireless/DWA-131_E1A/Drivers/rev.E/5.02/20151229_DWA-131E_V5.02b04.zip

After downloading the drivers from the ftp server of the manufacturer's official website, unzip the archive, open the resulting folder and activate Setup.exe.

Do not connect the USB adapter to the computer before the program prompts you to do so. .

When installing the driver, it is possible to refuse to install the proprietary utility D-Link Portable Wi-fi Application (on the first screen when you start installing drivers). This is also one of the conveniences of the new version of the DWA-131 / E1 device.

Adapter testing

I tested the DWA-131/E1 Wi-Fi adapter and an adapter from another manufacturer (also with 802.11n support), so measuring the speed should not be difficult. On the one hand, a personal computer with OC Windows 7 installed was used, on the other, a laptop with OC Windows 8. Both computers (with wi-fi adapters) were connected to a DIR-825 router.

Testing showed that the maximum data transfer rate between computers was about 90-95 Mbps, which was still much less than the 300 Mbps promised to me by the "box".

The whole thing turned out to be the features of Wi-Fi, more precisely, the features of taking into account the W-fi speed (300 Mbps) that is written on the box of the device. This speed is rather marketing - the maximum achievable under absolutely ideal conditions, therefore, to get the real speed of Wi-fi, the numbers on the box must be divided by about 2 and subtract about 5-10% more (for service data).

In any case, the speed of the adapter obtained in the test should be more than enough for almost most ordinary everyday tasks.

The D-Link Wi-Fi adapter works seamlessly with any Wi-Fi 802.11n networks. No problems were identified during the tests.

The lack of sensitivity on the "old" Wi-Fi b / g standards was also checked, which was blamed on the previous modification DWA-131 (A1)

As a router with support for old standards, the "old man" DIR-300 A1 was used.

As a result, no signal drop was detected.

The DWA-131/E adapter showed the same "great signal" as the laptop's built-in Wi-fi adapter.

conclusions

pros DWA-131: Low price, Small physical dimensions, Supports all 2.4GHz Wi-Fi standards (802.11b/g/n)

Minuses DWA-131: No.

USB Wi-fi Adapter D-Link DWA-131/E left me with only positive feelings.

Small dimensions, low price (compared to competitors), almost all the shortcomings fixed (unstable operation on old Wi-fi standards, unobtrusive LED, branded cap).

It can be seen that the company listens to user requests and eliminates shortcomings.

About 10 years ago, Wi-Fi adapters worked only as an “internet receiver”. Now they can not only distribute the Internet directly from a laptop, but also expand the coverage of surrounding routers. The D-Link DWA-131 model is no exception.

Overview of D-Link DWA-131 Wi-Fi adapter

Unlike its counterparts - D-Link DWA-125/140, comparable in size to the Huawei E1550 3G modem - the DWA-131 adapter takes up at least three times less space.

Wi-Fi module is several times smaller than a 3G modem

There is no cap - this is not a flash drive or modem, and "micro-devices" do not need it. The device asks for a permanent place of work in one of the USB ports. And big packaging is useless here.

Could do without CD and box

However, the developers have attached a driver disk to the DWA-131. At the moment it is not needed - developers from Microsoft have released a stable version of the universal driver for adapters of the DWA-13x line.

The price of the DWA-131 adapter ranges from 300 to 800 rubles. - depending on the store or distribution network and the region of delivery (when ordering online with delivery by mail). The cheapest way to order in China - with free delivery to Russia.

Table: Wi-Fi module specifications

Wi-Fi speed of 300 Mbps covers almost all the needs of a modern user. However, routers that support gigabit Wi-Fi technologies, including the 5 GHz band, will be useless for the DWA-131A.

In practice, the DWA-131 showed a maximum WLAN speed of no more than 45 Mbit / s - it is too small, with such antennas the signal loss increases dramatically. In order for the adapter to gain a speed of 300 Mbps, you will need to open the DWA-131 and re-solder the antennas.

Driver installation for DWA-131

The drivers are officially available on the D-Link website.

Attention: if you have a DWA-131 device, then the driver from other DWAs of the “130th” line will not work. D-Link has drastically restricted the use of "wrong" drivers. Use the "native" driver from your device.

Driver installation via proprietary D-Link DWA installation package

Download the installation package with the driver specifically for your model. The sequence of actions with different DWA modules, despite the incompatibility of drivers from different models, is the same and simple. For the convenience of users, all commands are translated into Russian.

Run the installer from the driver archive file.
Proceed to configure the D-Link installer.
Press the button to continue installing DWA-131
Wait for the D-Link DWA Setup Wizard to complete and insert your adapter into a free USB port.
Insert Wi-Fi adapter to continue installation
If the adapter is not inserted, damaged, or the USB port failed (for example, a power draw) - the D-Link DWA installation wizard will ask you to check if the connection between the PC and the Wi-Fi adapter is working. If everything is in order, continue with the installation.
Check if the USB connection to the adapter is good
If everything is in order, the DWA Installation Wizard will prompt you to install the driver in the default folder (for example, C:\Program Files\).
It is advisable to copy the driver files to the Windows program directory
Select the interface language of the program itself.
Select Russian language D-Link Installation Wizard
Confirm the installation of the program by clicking the "Install" button.
Confirming the installation of D-Link Connection Manager

The D-Link DWA Setup Wizard will begin installing your Wi-Fi adapter driver.

Wait for the files to copy and DWA-131 to install

Do not remove the adapter (or USB extension cable - from the PC port or from the adapter itself) until the driver is installed. If the D-Link DWA installer detects that the connection between the PC and the adapter is broken, the driver will not be fully installed or the entire installation process will be rolled back.

Installing the DWA-131 adapter through Windows Device Manager

If you do not want to go through the installation of the Wi-Fi adapter through the D-Link installer, use the device manager.

In Windows 10, give the command: right-click on the "Start" button - "Device Manager".
Find your Wi-Fi adapter in the list of unknown devices and give the command: right-click on the device icon - "Update driver".
Command the 802.11n driver to update
Select manual driver installation and specify the folder where the (unpacked) archive with the driver is located.
Find the driver manually if you know the location of its folder
Confirm the driver installation by clicking on the continue button.
Make sure the path to the DWA-131 files is correct
Wait until the installation of the DWA-131 device is completed.
Driver for DWA-131 adapter updated

The Wi-Fi adapter will be installed.

In the Windows wizard, installing a driver for DWA-131A from another adapter, for example, from DWA-140B3A ... B3G, may work, but this is not always the case. This technique is prohibited in the D-Link installer - this is how the manufacturer insures users against improper operation of their equipment. Your unauthorized actions in this case are under your own responsibility.

Video: DWA-131 adapter auto-install test

Working with DWA-131 adapter

You can configure the DWA-131 module either using the standard Windows wireless connection wizard or with the support of the D-Link DWA software interface.

Connecting to a Wi-Fi Router Using the D-Link Wizard

The setup using the D-Link wizard is the same for all DWA adapter models.

Launch the D-Link Connection Wizard and select WPA-2 password connection.
Choose to enter a WPA-2 key when creating a connection
Enter the SSID of your router (gadget or other adapter that acts as a Wi-Fi hotspot) that you are connecting to.
Enter exactly the name of your Wi-Fi network set in the router
Enter the Wi-Fi password set in your router settings.
The WPA-2 key must match the key in the router settings
Follow the next steps to connect to the router.
D-Link Connection Manager Wizard completes DWA-131 setup
The D-Link Wizard will automatically connect the DWA-131 device to the router and exit.
D-Link Connection Manager saved data about connecting to the router

The Wi-Fi Connection Wizard will launch the D-Link Connection Manager and display a list of networks and information about the router you are connected to.

DWA-131 is in the coverage area of several neighboring routers

You are connected to the web. To change the router, select another network and enter the WPA-2 password for it. If the router is open to everyone, you can connect to the Internet without entering a password from this router.

Switching Between Wi-Fi Networks Using the Windows Wizard

Working with the D-Link DWA-131 Wi-Fi adapter is no different from working with a regular laptop network card: the same list of wireless networks, the same connection using the WPA-2 password you enter. By clicking on the wireless network icon, you will find a list of routers operating near you.

It is easier to use the network list in Windows 7 to configure the DWA-131

Select the router you know and enter the password for its network.

Connect by entering the correct password for your Wi-Fi network

The disadvantage of monitoring networks using Windows is an approximate display of the signal level “by sticks”: compared to the built-in wizard for new connections, the D-Link Connection Manager program shows the exact signal value in percent.

Using the DWA-131 module as a Wi-Fi hotspot

Every Wi-Fi adapter released today is guaranteed to work as a Wi-Fi hotspot. This reduces the waste on a new router or hotspot by several times.

It is cheaper to buy a Wi-Fi module for 300–700 rubles than to spend money on a new router - even the cheapest one for 2000 rubles. such as Xiaomi Router Mini, or any of the budget TP-Link models.

For the DWA-131 to work as an access point, you need a version of Windows no older than Vista/7. The fact is that in Windows XP there is absolutely no support for Wi-Fi Direct technology. Thanks to the latter, the “sharing” of Wi-Fi adapters is implemented, which initially did not have the ability to work as a repeater for Internet access already available on the PC.

Operation of the DWA-131 module as an access point using the D-Link wizard

You can organize Internet distribution from your PC or transfer files via Wi-Fi to your gadget by “sharing” the adapter as an AdHoc point.

Internet distribution from your PC is ready, you can connect from your gadget to the network of the DWA-131 adapter.

Internet distribution on DWA adapters using Connectify Hotspot

The Connectigy Hotspot program is the most omnivorous: working with it will not cause any difficulties in setting up the distribution of traffic from the DWA-131, and indeed from any Wi-Fi adapter, even if it is a standard network card in a laptop.

When finished, click "Stop Hotspot".

The 2018 version of Connectify Hotspot (Hotspot Max) will turn your DWA-131 into a repeater. Thus, there is no need to buy a professional router of the "Internet center" category for 10 thousand or more rubles.

Distribution of the Internet on DWA-adapters using the command line

This method is troublesome - but also trouble-free.

Now you have several ways to turn your Wi-Fi module into a full-fledged point or even a router.

If the laptop has a built-in 3G/4G network card, it also functions as a fully wireless 4G/Wi-Fi router.

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Wireless USB adapters allow you to access the Internet by connecting to Wi-Fi. For such devices, it is necessary to install special drivers that will maximize the speed of receiving and transmitting data. In addition, it will save you from various errors and possible disconnections. In this article, we will tell you about the ways by which you can download and install software for the D-Link DWA-131 Wi-Fi adapter.

The methods below will allow you to easily install the software for the adapter. It is important to understand that each of them requires an active Internet connection. And if you don’t have any other source of Internet connection other than a Wi-Fi adapter, then you will have to use the above solutions on another laptop or computer from which you can download the software. Now let's proceed directly to the description of the mentioned methods.

Method 1: D-Link website

The latest software always appears first on the official website of the device manufacturer. It is on such sites that you must first look for drivers. This is what we will do in this case. Your actions should look like this:

We disable third-party wireless adapters during installation (for example, the Wi-Fi adapter built into the laptop).
We do not connect the DWA-131 adapter itself yet.
Now we follow the provided link and get to.
On the main page you need to find the section "Downloads". Once you have found it, go to this section by simply clicking on the name.

On the next page, you will see a single drop-down menu in the center. It will require you to specify the prefix of the D-Link product for which drivers are required. In this menu, select the item D.W.A..

After that, a list of products with the previously selected prefix will appear. We are looking for the DWA-131 adapter model in the list and click on the line with the corresponding name.

As a result, you will be taken to the technical support page for the D-Link DWA-131 adapter. The site is made very convenient, as you will immediately find yourself in the section "Downloads". You just need to scroll down the page a little until you see a list of drivers available for download.
We recommend downloading the latest version of the software. Please note that you do not have to choose the version of the operating system, since software from version 5.02 supports all operating systems, from Windows XP to Windows 10. To continue, click on the line with the name and version of the driver.

The steps described above will allow you to download an archive with software installation files to your laptop or computer. You need to extract all the contents of the archive and then run the installer. To do this, double-click on the file with the name setup.

Now you need to wait a bit until the preparation for installation is completed. A window will appear with the corresponding line. We wait until such a window simply disappears.
Next, the main window of the D-Link installer will appear. It will contain the welcome text. If necessary, you can check the box next to the line "Install the SoftAP". This function will allow you to install a utility with which you can distribute the Internet through an adapter, turning it into a kind of router. To continue the installation, click the button setup in the same window.

The installation process will begin. You will learn about this from the next window that opens. Just waiting for the installation to complete.

At the end, you will see the window shown in the screenshot below. To complete the installation, simply click the button "Complete".

All necessary software is installed and now you can connect your DWA-131 adapter to your laptop or computer via USB port.
If everything goes without errors, then you will see the corresponding wireless icon in the tray.

It remains only to connect to the desired Wi-Fi network and you can start using the Internet.

This completes the described method. We hope you will be able to avoid various errors during software installation.

Method 2: Global software for software installation

Drivers for the DWA-131 wireless adapter can also be installed using special programs. There are many of them on the Internet today. All of them have the same principle of operation - they scan your system, identify missing drivers, download installation files for them and install software. Such programs differ only in the size of the database and additional functionality. If the second point is not particularly important, then the base of supported devices is very important. Therefore, it is better to use the software that has proven itself in this regard.

For these purposes, such representatives as Driver Booster and DriverPack Solution are quite suitable. If you decide to use the second option, then you should read our special lesson, which is completely devoted to this program.

For example, we will consider the process of searching for software using Driver Booster. All actions will be in the following order:

Method 3: Search for a driver by ID

We have a separate lesson devoted to this method, in which all actions are described in great detail. In short, first you need to find out the ID of the wireless adapter. In order to facilitate this process for you, we immediately publish the value of the identifier, which refers to DWA-131.

USB\VID_3312&PID_2001

Next, you need to copy this value and paste it on a specialized online service. Similar services search for drivers by the ID of the device itself. This is very convenient, since each equipment has its own unique identifier. You will also find a list of such online services in the lesson, the link to which we will leave below. When the desired software is found, you just have to download it to your laptop or computer and install it. The installation process in this case will be identical to that described in the first method. For more information, see the tutorial mentioned earlier.

Method 4: Standard Windows tool

Sometimes the system cannot immediately recognize the connected device. In this case, you can push her to this. To do this, it is enough to use the described method. Of course, it has its drawbacks, but it should not be underestimated either. Here is what you will need to do:

We have described to you all the methods by which you can install drivers for the D-Link DWA-131 wireless USB adapter. Remember that you will need internet to use any of them. Therefore, we recommend that you always store the necessary drivers on external drives so as not to end up in an unpleasant situation.