Hawking HPS1U (H-PS1U) Print Server

Pros: Cheap price. Compact size.
Cons: Serious compatibility issues. Very little documentation. Pathetic tech support. Known issues not communicated to buyers.

I bought this unit quite frankly because it was the least expensive print server I could find. On the box, it claims compatibility with any USB printer. In reality, it has serious compatibility issues with any printer that requires bidirectional ...

Pros: small and inexpensive - may be okay for Window's users with non-multifunction printers
Cons: Does not support multifunction printers, poor Mac documentation

I was heartily disappointed to find how low the “Mac-compatible” bar can drop. While the Hawking Tec ...

Pros: Inexpensive (I had a rebate from CompUSA).
Cons: Difficult to configure and get working. Unstable; needed to reboot frequently. Does not work consistently.

I spent 5 years doing tech support (which included PC troubleshooting and networking) for a company while I finished my degree. I have a Bachelor's degree in computer science and I've been a Software Engineer for a networking manufacturer. I spent ...

Pros: Cheap.
Cons: Worthless.

Bought it before reading the reviews, that'll teach me. Got 90% of the way through the installation before getting an error code. There's no discussion in the manual of errors, or troubleshooting of any kind. So effectively, once you're derailed, ...

Pros: Easy installation; Less expensive than name brands; worked perfectly out of the box.
Cons: None that I am aware of

I bought this product and installed it before reading any of the other reviews. I came to this site to give it kudos and I was surprised by the other reviews. I can only speak for myself, but it has worked perfectly for me. I am using a Netgear router and HP Photosmart 7150 printer. I also connected a Netgear Powerline Adapter for mobility in the house with the same result - prints like a charm from my PC or laptop.

Pros: none the units do not work
Cons: software does not work, hardware does not work, upgrades do not help

This is my third and last attempt with Hawking Print Servers. All HPS1U units are not dependable.

The latest attempt was very upsetting. I used a Netgear router to assign IP address by DHCP initially. The print server was assigned an IP and it responded to pinging. It identified the printer. However, I could not get it to configure the printer as part of the admin set up. Without this working, client set ups are not going to work either.

I uploaded (from www.hawkingtech.com) to the Version 7 firmware successfully with no help.

I also uploaded the latest operating software from the Hawking site and this did not even work.

I then assigned a static IP address to the device. It recognizes the static IP address by ping but the router does not show the device as an attached device. Admin configuration also not successful.

I had trouble with 2 of 3 I ordered 3 months ago; they replaced the 2 and I got one of the replacements to work.

I gave them a final try - won't do it again

Pros: Product does seem to work with Windows 2000
Cons: Doesn't seem to work with Mac OS as indicated on box.

First of all the product does seem to work for me using Windows 2000 Professional Edition printing with HP 1012 LaserJet. The package claims that it it works with Mac OS X yet it has no documentation on how to configure it.

I checked their website for driver updates. They do have an update to fix a problem with Appletalk, but the driver is compressed and after I downloaded the update it wouldn't uncompress.

After working with it for several hours I gave up.

If I only had windows machines I would be fine, but this doesn't seem to work with Macs as indicated on the package.

Pros: None.
Cons: Support, support, support... I'd never recommend this company.

I purchased the HPS1U Print Server for networking my Epson printer to my home network. I'm trying to connect the HPS1U through an available Port on my NetGear (wired) router. During installation of the HPS1U Administration program, I was never successful in getting the new Print Server found on the network. I checked the DHCP table on the router and found there was no IP assignment for the HPS1U. Tried calling Hawking technical support to no avail, call is never answered (9:00 AM PST on a business day) let alone routed to any sort of answering or queue system. Tried calling the main # and was referred back to the worthless technical support line, for all technical questions. I've seen enough, this product is going right back to Comp USA and will purchase a comparable D-Link product.

P.S. I consider myself relatively savvy when it comes to troubleshooting and working on home networks. This is the 1st time I ever had difficulties installing a network appliance (wired, wireless...you name it). Avoid Hawking at all costs!!!

Pros: cheap
Cons: can't get it to work

I bought the unit because it seemed perfect for my need, and it is inexpensive. However, I could not set the unit up on my home network for any of the computers to see the server. Contact their technical support didn't get me anywhere. So I returned the unit.

Pros: Cheap, and can be made to work with Windows and Linux
Cons: Hard to setup. Buggy DHCP. Buggy SMB from Linux. Inadequate documentation.

Finally got this hps1u printserver working, on a D-link router, can print from Microsoft and Linux (Debian) operating systems.
I had to work around some problems or defects:

1) Used a fixed IP address on the printserver because its DHCP functionality did not work with my ordinary wireless router.
2) Hooked up my USB printer to the machine that I loaded the Hawking CD on, so their driver could extract printer details
3) Had to use lpd://123.456.789.012/lpt1 as the Linux CUPS printer URL -- use your printserver's IP address, not 123 etc

So, I never got SMB (workgroup shared printer) to work with Linux, and had to set CUPS to use the "lpd" option. Worked OK from Windows.

Pros: easy setup
Cons: limitations not mentioned on packaging

I bought this product to connect a Lexmark X83 USB Multifunction printer between two pc's on a home network. I discovered off the Hawking web site, after much difficulty trying to install the X83, that Lexmark MFP's are not compatible. Why isn't that fact stated on the packaging for the consumer's to be aware of this limitation? Other than the mentioned problem I found the setup to be quite easy.

Pros: cheap and small
Cons: no tech support, no troubleshooting info

I spent two hours trying to configure this print server. My D-Link router shows it in the IP list, but the admin software won't detect it. So i did a direct connect to the pc for the install. Tried switching back to the router, ps can't be found, even with IP & port manually input. I finally gave up, will return it today, it's not worth wasting another night on what should have been a straightforward setup.

Pros: Cheap, looks nifty, blinking lights
Cons: Requires users manually disconnect after each print job.

Biggest problem with Hawking's Print Server HPS1U is that it doesn't automatically disconnect after each print job. So user1 sends a print, user2 (from the same machine or any other) can't print until user1 manually disconnects. Vista compatible, my hairy a**!! When I contacted Hawking Tech Support, they recommended upgrading the software, then the firmware -- no good. Instead of fixing it, they updated the manual to say that isn't supported. Garbage. Bought a Linksys PSUS4 for a few dollars more. PSUS4 works beautifully!

Pros: None.
Cons: Incompatibility with common printers.

This unit would not install on a Win XP SP2 machine. The Utilities could not identify the print server, and there was no way to go around that.

Tech support (in India, I believe) was "knowledgable" and helpful and had me getting IP addresses from everything I own, and hooking the "server" directly to a machine to manually configure it. Then she had me searching for a reset button which does not exist. Then she said it could not be configured. Then she told me that the unit is not compatible with the Minolta QMS PagePro 1250w which is my main printer.

Then she told me that it was not compatible with my Canon i450 bubblejet. At that point I said goodbye and hung up.

I will never buy anything from Hawking again.