Rating: 
Summary: Amazing! Linksys is the easiest!
Review: This little network card gets me everywhere around the house in a Compaq 2805US with WinXPPro.Wanna know how easy it is to set up? Slide the PCMCIA card into your notebook, use the setup disk that comes with the card, and that's it! You don't even need to restart the computer! It is absolutely awesome. I can walk from the kitchen to the backyard to the bedroom with no disconnection ever! A must have for all homes with notebooks! Update July 7, 2002: This card will stop working if the notebook has been on for quite a while and is hot. It's almost impossible to keep it running after the first time of disconnection, so you must allow the computer to cool down.
Rating: 
Summary: Good value, bad config utility
Review: I purchased this card to work with a linksys wireless access point (befw11s4 v.2). I have version 3 of this item, which has significant upgrads from the previous cards. The configuration utility in the lower left corner of the XP screen does not work that well. I had to call tech support and go through a series of diagnositics to determine that the correct changes I had made previously were not updating from the configuration software to the card. I had to go directly into the network properties to set up the pass phrase for the encryption, change the channel, etc. The card actually works quite well once configured, I'm using it right now! I would recommend this product, however; linksys needs to update the configuration drivers to match all the possible settings. I don't look forward to the day when I have to add additional sites to the list.
Rating: 
Summary: Initially difficult to set up but works well now.
Review: I got this to hook my laptop into a wireless network to share my cable modem between two computers. I got a Linksys BEFSW114 v.2 to mate with it. Initially I could get it to connect with the router but couldn't transfer data. The install was difficult because the Windows XP drivers for this card do not come on the CD. You have to go tho the website to download them. I have the WPC11 v.3 and it is not easy to find the right drivers for this model. Finally I got in contact with Tech Support and had to manually enter the IP and DNS data to get it to work. It now works fine and is able to cover my entire two story house. I am happy with my purchase, despite the difficulties. I am not sure why a device would ship without the proper drivers. I would like to give it three and a half stars but I will round up for the great help from Tech Support.
Rating:
Summary: Great range ... Now
Review: For some reason this stupid thing kept dropping off line with a lost connection. The only way to restore is to reseat the unit and you are good for another 10 minutes. Picked up another one to see if I had gotten a lemon the 1st time and it seems to work just fine with no drops. I've return the lemon and will keep you posted.
Rating: 
Summary: Think twice!!!
Review: I purchased this card in November 2001`and experienced some problems setting it up that I needed to call tech support for. On my third call, the operator felt sorry for me and actually helped me more than any support tech ever has (10+ calls and counting). I got it to work and it ran great for about three months. Then, while trying to set up my VPN client, it stopped. Went through 4-5 uninstalls-reinstalls with tech support before finally they told me the card was bad and sent me a new one. So far I have been unable to get it to work after more problems simply installing the driver. Tech support tells me it is a newer model card that may not be compatable with my laptop computer (Win98 SE/top of the line IBM Thinkpad). So far have been trying since February to get it working again and am about to give up and get a refund. Of course, I'm still stuck with a hub/router that cost me twice as much so I could get the wireless feature. Who knows if it is the product or not, but I can say that Linksys tech support is absolutely the worst I've ever dealt with in 10 years.
Rating:
Summary: Configure it and it's smooth sailing
Review: This device is very tricky to get going, but works great afterwards. I use it under Windows XP, but I had difficulties locating drivers for anything other than Windows NT and 98. When I did finally locate the proper XP drivers, they weren't "certified by microsoft" (which doesn't necessarily mean anything, but I've used other similar devices without certified drivers WITH problems).
Ever tried looking for this card's drivers on Linksys.com? You get a myriad of options, not the least of which are drivers for (almost) every possible OS. The only problem is that they all seem to contain documentation and nt/98 drivers only.
Even after driver installation and proper SSI information, the card wouldn't link with the router. It took at least an hour and a half of tinkering to get the card and the router to communicate with each other.
I forget how I eventually tracked the drivers down, but I was able to download and install the "non-xp certified" drivers, and somehow configured the device to connect to the router. It's been working great since then.
If you're a technically oriented person, this card will probably serve you well. But if you prefer out-of-the-box setup, I recommend you stay clear - get something else instead
Rating:
Summary: It's works perfectly!!!
Review: ...
I bought this card after I got the 3com wireless PC card and access point. It just took me 3 minutes to set this linksys pc card to work; and since then it works perfectly without any trouble! This is my setup: windows 2000, an old toshiba 600mhz celeron notebook and 3com access point.
Well, if you think this card is hard to setup, let me warn you: DONT TRY THE 3COM PC CARD! As a matter of fact, I can never set the 3com pc card to work and it's driving me crazy! If you have got the 3com pc card, you will really appreciate how good this linksys product is!
Rating:
Summary: Version 3.0 works with XP
Review: Before you buy this card be sure you buy version 3.0, especially if you are using Windows XP. Several reviewers have said they could not get this product to work with XP, however I did not have a problem. In addition, version 3.0 has the driver utility included on its CD-ROM. You will not have to download the driver from the internet. This product is pretty much "plug and play." I did have to call linksys technical support. The manual that comes with the card does not tell you but when you install this card you must disable all other network cards. Once this is done click on the linksys wireless icon and click connect. You must click connect. XP will show the card enable, however it will show that you do not have a wireless connection unless you click connect. The range on this card could be better, however overall it does fairly well. I reside in a two story 3000 square foot house, 1500 each floor. The wireless access unit is on the second floor at the furthest end of the house. Signal fades at the other end of the house(with a couple of doors closed)on the first floor. Forget about it working on the first floor. If linksys could improve the range this would easily be a five star product. But for the costs it is hard to complain.
Rating:
Summary: IT works!
Review: It works. My laptop runs XP and the first attempt to install failed because XP couldn't "find the card". I turned off the machine and restarted it, all went well after that. So my reccomendation is, do not read the instructions, put the card in, start the machine and let XP drive.
Rating:
Summary: Good little card. Poor support.
Review: This card is the equivalent of the "gold" orinoco. The "silver" orinoco only handles 64-bit WEP encryption. the gold handles up to 128-bit encryption...obviously the better choice. Some people said that they had problems installing this device on XP or some other Wintel platform unless they upgraded the firmware...I didn't. It worked with every OS I've tried (win2k pro and server, winxp home and pro, winME). Maybe the older models needed a firmware upgrade...who knows? I did however have a problem installing this on redhat 7.2. Supposedly this is one of the cards that is autodetected by PCMCIA card services in that release...but oh well. Took me quite a while to get it working. At least I've got a traditional ethernet card built-in to my notebook too, so that I could get online and look around. Linksys support for the open source movement is suprisingly limited compared to other card manufacturers. If you are an open source freak, go with an orinoco or lucent -- those have always worked right off the bat for me in mandrakes and redhats. Otherwise linksys is great! And the wireless 4-port DSL/cable router is great in conjunction with this! Note: people, please encrypt your wireless networks. It's generally very easy to do and can prevent SERIOUS damage to your networks.
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