Price : Too low to display
This review is from : Hawking Technology PN7127P 1-Port Mini-Internet Print Server
Lousy documentation . This print server installs flawlessly in Windows 98, It installs with a bit of effort in Windows XP, but in Linux I gave up. Documentation stated the obvious and left everything else unanswered and I am still waiting for their tech support to return my e-mail. A [inexpensive] Print solution if you don't need ease of installation or any tech support.
Lousy documentation . This print server installs flawlessly in Windows 98, It installs with a bit of effort in Windows XP, but in Linux I gave up. Documentation stated the obvious and left everything else unanswered and I am still waiting for their tech support to return my e-mail. A [inexpensive] Print solution if you don't need ease of installation or any tech support.
Hawking Technology PN7127P 1-Port Mini-Internet Print Server Reviews
Solid Product Terrible Set-up/Documentation . I bought this product so I could network my parallel-only HP 722C deskjet. As others have noted, the documentation is pretty awful and quite confusing. After two calls to tech support (not toll free!!), I found that it's actually a very easy print server to set-up -- far easier than the documentation suggests. And it absolutely works perfectly if you know how to install it. Basically, the trick that is NOT mentioned in the documentation is to install the driver for your printer first. But make sure you DO NOT set it up as a local printer. Essentially, you want the driver on your system but not yet bound to your printer (if that makes sense). Then install the software for 7127P (once you have the server attached to your printer, powered-on and connected to your network). This is the proper way to set up the unit. Then you simply let the Hawking software locate the server (which it does flawlessly), and select the network port, etc. Kudos to Hawking for a building an economical, solid product that has continued to work flawlessly for several months now. But this is not for the techno-ignorant. And the instructions and documentation ....In fact, don't bother following them because you won't get it working. Expect to call tech support and speak with a few morons before you get to someone who can help you. It's also very helpful if you understand the basics of networking protocols, IP, Ethernet networking, etc. You don't need to be an expert, but you do need knowledge that most home users probably don't have. I give it 5 stars for the technology, 1 star for the terrible, awful, obscenely stupid documentation and tech support, for a final rating of 3 stars.
Solid Product Terrible Set-up/Documentation . I bought this product so I could network my parallel-only HP 722C deskjet. As others have noted, the documentation is pretty awful and quite confusing. After two calls to tech support (not toll free!!), I found that it's actually a very easy print server to set-up -- far easier than the documentation suggests. And it absolutely works perfectly if you know how to install it. Basically, the trick that is NOT mentioned in the documentation is to install the driver for your printer first. But make sure you DO NOT set it up as a local printer. Essentially, you want the driver on your system but not yet bound to your printer (if that makes sense). Then install the software for 7127P (once you have the server attached to your printer, powered-on and connected to your network). This is the proper way to set up the unit. Then you simply let the Hawking software locate the server (which it does flawlessly), and select the network port, etc. Kudos to Hawking for a building an economical, solid product that has continued to work flawlessly for several months now. But this is not for the techno-ignorant. And the instructions and documentation ....In fact, don't bother following them because you won't get it working. Expect to call tech support and speak with a few morons before you get to someone who can help you. It's also very helpful if you understand the basics of networking protocols, IP, Ethernet networking, etc. You don't need to be an expert, but you do need knowledge that most home users probably don't have. I give it 5 stars for the technology, 1 star for the terrible, awful, obscenely stupid documentation and tech support, for a final rating of 3 stars.
Hawking Technology PN7127P 1-Port Mini-Internet Print Server Opinions
Reliable? Yes. Easy to install? Not really... . To be fair, it's not *all* their fault. Yes, the manual is terrible. But the "mainstream" operating systems get in the way, too --- a *very* large part of the blame must go to Microsoft.How can I say this? Well, printing from a Mac --- using either TCP/IP (under MacOS X) or AppleTalk (OS 7/8/9) works lickety-split fast; printing from Win98 works, yes, but get yourself an extra-large latte and savor every drop before you wander back to the printer.Bottom line: don't follow the manual's instructions for Win95/98setup; instead, use the Print Wizard to add a *local* printer (on LPT0, say), then change its properties to map the printer to a new network port.Oh, and for those of you using MacOS X or UNIX: you can set the IP address by entering the following command as the superuser: arp -s <IP address> <MAC address>(On MacOS X, try for example "sudo arp -s 192.168.254.254 00:00:00:00:00:00")The MAC address is on a white label on the back of the print server.Once you've set the IP address, you can configure using the embedded web server.A final word of warning: don't set a password, which it tends to forget.
Reliable? Yes. Easy to install? Not really... . To be fair, it's not *all* their fault. Yes, the manual is terrible. But the "mainstream" operating systems get in the way, too --- a *very* large part of the blame must go to Microsoft.How can I say this? Well, printing from a Mac --- using either TCP/IP (under MacOS X) or AppleTalk (OS 7/8/9) works lickety-split fast; printing from Win98 works, yes, but get yourself an extra-large latte and savor every drop before you wander back to the printer.Bottom line: don't follow the manual's instructions for Win95/98setup; instead, use the Print Wizard to add a *local* printer (on LPT0, say), then change its properties to map the printer to a new network port.Oh, and for those of you using MacOS X or UNIX: you can set the IP address by entering the following command as the superuser: arp -s <IP address> <MAC address>(On MacOS X, try for example "sudo arp -s 192.168.254.254 00:00:00:00:00:00")The MAC address is on a white label on the back of the print server.Once you've set the IP address, you can configure using the embedded web server.A final word of warning: don't set a password, which it tends to forget.
A good little print server but... . I had tough time understanding the manual provided. It says the PSAdminis for Netware environment but it is required for Windows users as well. If you don't install PSAdmin you can't do jack (like locating printerserver. configuring IP to prt server, etc). The manual's horrible and confusing at best. They didn't mention how to upgrade the firmware either. You just need to move the *.bin file to Printer Monitor or whatever directory where your PSAdmin is installed before doing upgrade. You just need to figure everything out yourself for this one...But I do agree that the printer server itself is solid and reliable if you know what you are doing.
Rock-solid print server - instruction manual hard to read . At first, I must admit I was a little afraid from other reviews that the PN7127P's instruction manual was difficult to understand. It is difficult to understand (and I'm an experienced network engineer), but once you follow the tips from other reviewers on Amazon.com, it works great and is very easy to install. I would highly recommend the PN7127P. I can now print from any of my 4 computers on a peer-to-peer basis, regardless of operating system and regardless of what other systems are turned on. The print speed is very fast. A little refinement on the instruction manual will make this product perfect. I'm a happy PN7127P owner!
Fast and Reliable . I think the Hawking is fantastic. Has taken the drain off my computer/server, freeing it up to do much more work. Printing starts almost immediately. Only draw back is the Epson status monitor cannot tell me how much ink is left in the printer attached to the Hawking.
Fantastic Product . I have printed to this server from Windows 95, 98, 2000 and xp. It did take some work but I have a Linux firewall setup in my home and just for grins I did get it to print just fine. The other reviews about documentation were correct but the product itself is solid. The IPP(Internet printing works but I didn't see a need for it.
Economical reliable print sever . I agree that the documentation is not the best, but it really isn't that tough to set up. Once you get it set up this thing is bulletproof. My print server has been running for several months now with no problems. It is truely a set it and forget it item. This is the perfect addition to any home network.
Cons Review
Consider this a Windows-only product . This product may be simple and straightforward to install for Win9x platforms. However, any claims of support for MacOS and Linux/Unix should be taken with a LARGE grain of salt. Essentially, I was unable to talk to this device for configuration purposes by any means, except for the little proprietary Windows-only configuration gadget that ships on two floppies (how quaint).Useless to me, because I have no Wintel systems at home. I did run a little test on Win98 at the office, and it seemed to work OK, though I don't understand why they went the closed-proprietary route in the first place. (If anyone's curious, the config utility apparently uses UDP broadcasts to port 20560, and the (unconfigured) print server responds with a completely bogus 1.2.3.4 IP address.)The documentation is among the worst I have seen in my many years in the business. It is incomplete (to the point of some sentences being cut off in the middle) and semi-grammatical at best.I suppose that Mac users with simple requirements (Laserwriter emulation via AppleTalk only) may find this product satisfactory as well. Me, I'm going to replace it with an HP JetDirect.
Poor overall documentation and reliability. . After a difficult initial setup caused by the lack of good product documentation the 7127P worked well for 6 months. The 7127P recently died in the middle of a print job and the printer starting endlessly printing mostly blank pages. Now the 7127P is useless. The unit gets a valid IP address but I can only sporadically access its configuration page. PSAdmin only shows the product at certain times and it's now impossible to configure the 7127P. When I restart the print server it works briefly, if at all, and then dies within a few minutes. I upgraded to a Netgear PS101 and it works without a hitch. I recommend you buy that product instead of this one.
Feature Hawking Technology PN7127P 1-Port Mini-Internet Print Server
- Compatible with most printers
- Supports Bi-Directional printing
- Compatible with most Networking Systems
- Remote Web Management
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Product Details
EAN : 0603992502707UPC : 603992502707
MPN : PN7127P
Brand : Hawking Technology
Weight : 2 pounds
Height : 3 inches
Length : 9 inches
Width : 6 inches
Binding : Personal Computers
Manufacturer : Hawking Technology
Model : PN7127P
Publisher : Hawking Technology
Studio : Hawking Technology
Where To Buy
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