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Linksys WUSB11 Wireless-B USB Network Adapter

Linksys WUSB11 Wireless-B USB Network Adapter

List Price: $59.99
Your Price: $41.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Connectivity is spotty at best
Review: Great idea for a product... just plug this into any PC, notebook or any other networkable device that can use an IP address. There is a 6' USB cable included, and the installation is easy. Windows 2000 will recognize the device upon plug-in and wizards will prompt for installation... but, I think using the CD and the installation setup.exe is much better b/c the installation SW will also auto-detect the wireless LAN settings and not just use defaults.. there is a better chance of getting connected right away. However, although the installation was simple... this unit kept disconnecting on me constantly and INCONSISTENTLY.

This disconnecting manifested itself in a 3 ways:

The 2st manifestation was where the adaptor would suddenly be faulty, where it would state that the network cable was unplugged (you can see this in Windows 2000 by opening "Network Connections" you will see the list of adapters and a few columns, including status and description. The status will say "network cable unplugged." The only way to solve this would be to unplug the USB cable and plug it back in, or disable, then re-enable the adapter from the right-click menu, or reboot the machine.

The 2nd manifestation was where the adapter seemed fine, but, I wouldn't suddently lose my IP address. Same solution

The 3rd manifestation was where I had an IP address, but, could not ping anything, not on the LAN or outside the firewall/WAP-router. Same solution.

I recently purchased the new PCI 802.11g card which works on b & g networks at 11mbps & 54mbps... no problems at all...love it... going to write a review about that too.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Not Linksys's fault...
Review: This wireless USB adapter (ver. 2.6) is not compatible with Windows 98, despite the fact that the listing for it here shows it to be Win98 compatible. The Linksys package it comes in plainly shows it to be only compatible with 98SE, ME, 2000, and XP. It may be compatible with 98SE, but I have plain old Win98. So, I couldn't get it to work. I needed to upgrade my OS anyway, so I upgraded to WinXP Pro, and it installed just fine and works like a champ!

I am getting almost full signal strength and 11 Mbps, even though the BEFW11S4 router is in the basement (two floors down) and on the opposite side of the house.

The other one I bought for my laptop works just as well, but it is a little awkward carrying something the size of a deck of cards on a 3-foot string around with me as I work. I would have gotten the PCMCIA version, but I read some bad reviews here on it and decided to go with the WUSB11 instead. I just wish I could attach it to my laptop somehow...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Easy to use
Review: My setup:
* BEFW11S4 (router) connected to Road Runner cable modem
* WPC11 (PCMIA card) connected to a Dell Inspiron Laptop 1Ghz 512 meg ram
* WUSB11 (USB wireless network adapter) connected to a generic desktop with a 1Ghz AMD Athlon/256 meg ram.

As many other reviews will attest, this product simply worked out of the box (well, pretty much). I did have one problem. I was trying to use Windows 2000 Advanced Server and I could not get an IP address from the router...however, the communication between this device and the BEFW11S4 was getting 90% signal quality at 11Mbps. When I tried 'ipconfig' it reported my IP as 0.0.0.0. So I called Linksys at 11:00 PM Saturday night and waited for probably 40 minutes before I got a tech. The FIRST thing I told her was I was using W2K Advanced Server and asked if that would be a problem. She glossed over that fact and went into uninstalling/re-installing the drivers...unfortunately it wasn't such a clean re-install (I had device conflicts that were not there previously). She decided that the CD didn't include the proper drivers so she was going to e-mail them to me within 30 mins. Well I never got them so I went on the website and downloaded it myself, ran it, same problem. BTW, when I would run 'ipconfig /renew' I would get "internal error...disconnect the network interface or reboot". After re-installing from the downloaded drivers and rebooting I got the blue-screen-of-death and had to power off the computer...but this device never stopped communicating with the router (I just never got an IP address from it). Finally I installed Windows 2000 Professional and it DID work perfectly out of the box, first try.

Bottom Line: I don't think this is compatible with Windows 2K Advanced Server. Other than that, it worked 100% perfectly as expected. Good documentation, easy install. Highly recommended.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Serious problems with tech support
Review: While in the process of setting up my second Linksys wireless network, I ran into problems connecting my wireless pc to the internet. My first network set up had been a piece of cake with excellent Linksys' clear instructions and no need to call for help. But this was my first time using the wireless adapter. After a 20 minute wait to talk to someone, I spent the next two hours with the "helper" going through routines that even I knew made no sense. Not once, not twice, but 10 times we tried the same thing until I finally said enough. I knew it was a simple problem, something I was overlooking, but this "helper" wouldn't listen. Finally she said my adapter driver was defective and she would email me an upgrade. It took 4 days of waiting until I realized that I had been kissed off. Today, after a 30 minute wait I got someone at the help desk who quickly undid all the convoluted configurations the first one had set up, and we realized that I had to uninstall the firewall, not merely disable it. Now it works fine. The product is great, but don't rely on Linksys tech support if you can't get it going yourself.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fast, Reliable and Easy Wireless Connection
Review: This is a great product. I'm using it to connect my laptop (Windows 2000) to my home LAN, which shares my DSL line among several PCs. Configuring the wireless USB adapter was easy. The default settings worked well, and clear and concise instructions showed me where I needed to set custom settings to sync the wireless unit up with the Linksys BEFW11S4 router. I get perfect reception (100% connection quality, and the full 11MBPS) from everywhere in my house (a small two-story of about 1700 square ft). Web pages paint quickly and reliably. The USB adapter does not conflict with the ethernet adapter my laptop has in it, which is configured to access the LAN at work, so this is an ideal solution.

The only glitch I had to overcome was that the laptops power management system would shut down the wireless driver if it was idle for more than a few minutes. I was able to manually turn off that feature pretty easily, which has resolved that problem. If you're looking for a wireless networking solution for a PC, and a PMCIA card isn't an option, you won't go wrong with this alternative. It's extremely lightweight and remarkably reliable. I highly recommend it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Does the job, could be better.
Review: I am using the Linksys WUSB11 802.11b Wireless USB Adapter on a new Dell running Windows XP Home. The best thing about this device is that you don't need to open your PC and install a card. However, you may get better performance from your PC using a wireless PCI card. USB does take more CPU power to run.

I wanted the USB device since its portable and I can easily use it on another PC or laptop if I needed to. The first thing I noticed about this device is how small and lightweight it is. Also, it is very lightweight. Its not something I recommend you drop, the plastic is very thin. It looks and feels very cheap. There is a fastening device on it if you want to mount it.

Right now, I have it in the room next to my wireless router. The signal is at or near 100% usually. Getting out to the internet is easy.

It comes with installation software, but here is where it gets tricky. It does not work fully with Windows XP. You need to use XP's built in Zero Configuration Utility. Hopefully, when you plug in your WUSB11 it will detect it, ask you for drivers, you just point it to the CD thats included, and it's installed. Linksys provides these instructions. From here on out, you are on your own. I also recommend updating the drivers from linksys.com.

There are no pictures or instructions included about the XP Zero Configuration Utility. It is simple enough for most. It will detect your SSID, just select it, and you should be on your way. Setting up WEP may be a challenge. You will need to use your HEX keys.

I was able to install the Linksys software by stopping the Zero Config Utility in SERVICES, and then installing the software. Again, the software is NOT needed, but I wanted to see how it worked anyway.

I was able to install this on a Windows98 machine without a problem. The Linksys software installed just fine.

If you are comfortable configuring things in Windows XP, go ahead and get this. If not, you may want to find a product that gives better Windows XP support. Linksys Help Support will NOT support the Zero Config Utility if you have problems with it. They will tell you to call Microsoft (good luck with that!).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Super
Review: It works with Windows XP just fine, I use it on my laptop and all over the house and on deck with no problems. Great buy and easy set-up.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Frustration By The Hour
Review: If you want to spend three hours of utter frustration this is the system to buy. The tech's at Linksys did their best, but to no avail. After three hours he said, "I am sorry, you will have to ship them back."

I bought, brand new from Amazon.com, three of these Wireless USB Network Adapters for three computer. None of these Wireless Adapters were recognized by two computers. I have three Dell computers, one running WP 98 SE and two, one a laptop the other a desktop, which are running Windows XP Professional. Both of these Window programs have addressed other USB hardware, but not this one. I think there is a severe flaw in this USB...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: First time a charm
Review: Installed on a desktop (win98) a floor below the Linksys WAP router; in 10 minutes it was up and running at top speed. Ner enjoyed the internet so much, this wireless stuff is great.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Do not buy if you are using XP operating system
Review: I have 3 of these USB adaptors. Two on Win2000 machines work flawlessly. The third is on a XP machine and will not work. Linksys was to send me a new driver via email and it never arrived. They said if that didn't work to send back to the retailer which I am going to do. What a pain.


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