Hawking Broadband Booster (HBB1)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer
The average home or work network has two or more computers accessing the internet simultaneously. Whether they are sending email attachments, making internet VoIP phone calls or playing games online, their applications will have an effect on one another as each application fights for bandwidth in a specific network. The result is a slowdown in ALL applications called "internet lag."

The Broadband Booster is a plug and play device that is placed between your internet modem and router that eliminates "internet lag" in your network. It manages and "boosts" your internet applications as they exit your network onto the internet for a more efficient usage of your network's bandwidth. The result is a "lag-free" experience from all internet applications!

The Broadband Booster streamlines and manages data traffic for these spplications for an overall better experience for all users:

Features


Product Description:

The average home or work network has two or more computers accessing the internet simultaneously. Whether they are sending email attachments, making internet VoIP phone calls or playing games online, their applications will have an effect on one another as each application fights for bandwidth in a specific network. The result is a slowdown in ALL applications called "internet lag."

The Broadband Booster is a plug and play device that is placed between your internet modem and router that eliminates "internet lag" in your network. It manages and "boosts" your internet applications as they exit your network onto the internet for a more efficient usage of your network's bandwidth. The result is a "lag-free" experience from all internet applications!

The Broadband Booster streamlines and manages data traffic for these spplications for an overall better experience for all users:

Features
Hawking Broadband Booster (HBB1)
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Dramatically improves VoIP quality
  • Excellent Product
  • Vonage audio problem
  • Money Well Spent!
  • OK but there is room for improvements
 Hawking Broadband Booster (HBB1)

Manufacturer: Hawking Technology
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

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Product Features:
  • Broadband booster
  • Eliminate Internet lag
  • High-speed performance
  • Plug and play installation
  • Two year warranty

ASIN: B0009PLO0Q

Product Description

Improve the overall performance of your network. The Booster utilizes new StreamEngine technology to significantly eliminate lag in internet gaming, improve the quality of VOIP internet phone calls, increase data transfer speeds and overall push your internet experience to where it should be: seamless. A typical home or office network has multiple users accessing the Internet at the same time. Whether it's gaming, Internet phone calls, streaming video, daily emails or internet browsing, the overall speed of the network is crippled as all these applications attempt to access the internet simultaneously. The Hawking Broadband Booster intelligently prioritizes and boosts these applications through the Internet to ensure that each application runs smoothly and without lag, ultimately raising the Internet experience of each user.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Dramatically improves VoIP quality.......2007-07-01

I have Vonage phone service with their Linksys WRTP-54G router, which is supposed to implement QoS to prioritize voice traffic, but appears to do so very badly, if at all. I still found that during periods of heavy activity - Mozy online backups, sending large email attachments, etc. - voice quality got very very choppy.

[...]

Before the HBB1, quality was reasonably bad, and the second my PC began the upload test, he immediately complained that he could only hear every fourth syllable I said. After installing the HBB1, we both found that call quality was perfect before, during, and after the speed test. It was amazing.

I then upgraded the firmware from 1.1 to 1.2 and called him back, and call quality wasn't as good, though definitely better than before. I went into the HBB1 configuration screen and manually configured it for my upload speed, and quality came right back up.

I believe if you leave the HBB1 in auto-configuration mode it periodically tests your connection to determine your upload and download speeds, and it seems there was network congestion at the time I upgraded the firmware (speed test showed much lower numbers), so I suspect the new firmware is just fine, but it may have auto-configured my connection speed at a bad time. Configuring manually may have thus solved the problem.

Though all my tests, at its worst it was always better than not having it, and at its best, it was really dramatically better. I haven't even tested with multiple PCs online, but I assume it will handle that situation just as well. Highly recommended.

5 out of 5 stars Excellent Product.......2007-02-03

I originally purchased a Linksys OGV200 in an attempt to solve my online gaming lag problem. I was so disappointed with the performance of the Linksys that I returned it within 15 minutes of powering it on. I then ordered the Hawking HBB1 and I couldn't be happier. Overall, the quality seems be much better and the performance is worlds apart. The Linksys gobbled up over 80% of my available download bandwidth while the Hawking does it's thing with no noticable bandwidth penalty. The real test came when I attempted to play an online game while two other PCs in my network were simultaneously downloading streaming video and sufring the internet. My game never gave the slightest hint of a lag and this is something that I could never have done before. I am extremely pleased with this product. Definately 5 stars.

5 out of 5 stars Vonage audio problem .......2007-01-06

I tried everything to improve my Vonage service, port forwarding, MTU timing, Qos, etc. Nothing worked. If you have an extremely busy home network or several computers and use a P2P or online gaming this device is what worked for me.

This is an Email I sent to Vonage customer svc to advise them of the fix I found.

On my network I have 360kbps of uplink speed but with multiple computers, online gaming and P2P programs the choppy audio was present especially with P2P such as Bittorrent, Azerus. This little $70 gadget works. As a stockholder in your company I would highly recommend that you list this for anyone having audio problems with outgoing voice.

The above item solved all of my audio quality items and seems to have also worked for my friends at work having issues with both Vonage and Skype.

5 out of 5 stars Money Well Spent!.......2006-08-18

I have a 1.5 mbps DSL connection and use Skype as my primary home phone. When my kids are on the internet viewing websites with a lot of Macroflash video, playing games or downloading music, my VOiP quality simply goes down the tubes. Lags, echoes, choppiness, you name it. I tried adjusting the QoS on my router but that didn't really do much. So I tried looking for something to solve my problem and that's when I stumbled across this excellent product by Hawking Technologies. It pretty much does what routers with built in QoS does, only 100x better. It utilizes a proprietary chip called StreamEngine that is dedicated to streamlining and prioritizing the packets sent by all of your internet applications with a focus on real time applications such as VOiP and Games. The key word here is "sent" because it does nothing to your download stream. The result is a much improved internet experience for the whole family!

I've had the HBB1 for about a month now and it did more than just solve my problem! My VOiP quality improved significantly even with all 3 computers simultaneously connected to the internet. It may not have "boosted" my uplink speed by 400% as advertised but it did what I needed it to do. It's cool when callers comment how clear we sound, especially for a free VOiP service like Skype. I also noticed that my other internet applications run smoother. Set up was fool proof and literally took no more than 5 min to get it up and running. The bright blue LED confirms that the unit is connected correctly and packet management is working. Although no adjustment is necessary right out of the box, the GUI was a nice option to have as it shows your up/down stream speed, modem and router IP addresses and it gives you access to a few other manual adjustments. An average user wouldn't have to mess with it though.

As I opened the box, I was greeted by an impressive packaging that complimented the product very well. Hawking included everything you need for a plug and play set up. Heck, they even included a 3 inch converter cable allowing you to plug in the AC adapter to a regular power strip without blocking the socket next to it. Although its a little tough keeping the unit in place because of the power cord and 2 ethernet cables connected at both ends, the added weight was a nice touch. All things considered, I would highly recommend this product to anyone who has more than 1 computer on their network that engages in a lot of internet activity. Thanks Hawking for a wonderful product!

System set up:
1.5 Mbps connection
Linksys WRT54G Wireless Router
Actiontec DSL Modem
10/100 Network Card
Internet Explorer 7

4 out of 5 stars OK but there is room for improvements.......2006-08-08

I connected the device and it works. It shapes the upload bandwidth to prioritize time sensitive data transfers, like Voice over IP.
The problem I found was that after a day or two it caused my connection to fail for some unknown reason and I had to cylce my cable modem, the Hawkings HBB1 and my router to get back online.
Broadband Booster
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Broadband Booster

    Manufacturer: Hawking Technology
    ProductGroup: CE

    CategoriesCategories | Electronics | Accessories & Supplies | Audio & Video | Camera & Photo | Car Electronics | Computers & Add-Ons | GPS & Navigation | Home Automation & Security | Office Electronics
    ASIN: B000H3DIRM

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