Rating: Summary: Junk Review: This is the kind of card that makes one drill holes in the wall and run hundreds of feet of cable, because that is a lot easier than making it work. Setting up regular ethernet cards is so simple, it amazes me that setting up a wireless card is such a troubleshooting exercise. I tried this card in an older machine with an ASUS MB and Windows ME. Frequently locked up the system(despite pulling every card out of the box except video), never could get it to connect to the Linksys AP. Built another system with an MSI MB/2400+ Athlon. Still locked up regularly. Would only connect to the AP (sporadically) if the antenna was disconnected. Tech support was not good. They kept telling me the antenna must be connected, despite my explainations that I knew that, but it wouldn't work that way. Tech eventually says it sounds like the card is defective and to return it. Returned card, replacement is no better. Tech support is again useless. Making up nonsensical things to try/problems. No solution. "Knowledge Base" on the website is hardly a knowledge base. Basically just a reproduction of the documentation that comes with the card. Built another system with an Intel 865 based MB and Windows XP. Put card in, installed drivers and after monkeying with the channels it works fine. I was happy until I found out that there is no linux support for this card. Tried the driver loader from Linuxant.com and only had modest success. Can't connect to AP, but can talk to other machines in an ad-hoc mode. To summarize, this card is really hit or miss. If you have the right hardware combo and run Windows, it will run fine. The wrong hardware combo and you're left with a paperweight. The unfortunate thing is there is no way to know if the card is going to work in your system before you buy it.
Rating: Summary: Won't Work in XP Review: Despite the claims, this device would not work in my XP computer. The driver provided is not compatible with XP and caused system malfunctions. I was never able to get the device to communicate with the router. I spent almost an hour on the phone with LINKSYS tech support ( he assured me that the driver that came with the card would work with XP ). For some unknown reason, in the middle of trying to work out the problem, I was disconnected from the tech and placed on hold. After about a minute another LINKSYS tech answered. He had no idea what I was talking about and the tech I had been working with had apparently not logged my call - we would have to start all over again he said. My reply was no we won't - I am returning the card and I will go through the trouble of hard wiring the PC to the router. LINKSYS gets a thumbs down on this one. Someone should tell them there are alot of people out there using Windows XP.
Rating: Summary: Is dropping a problem w/ XP? There's a solution! Review: I've had my wireless configuration for quite some time, and never experienced a problem UNTIL I had an XP system built. Then, 3-4 times, every hour, I'd drop and I'd have to tinker around to reconnect. After a bit of research, I found the solution! XP has something called "Wireless Zero Configuration" .. and to the best of my knowledge, Linksys is simply not compatible with this. Does that mean ditch your Linksys card or USB adapter? NOPE! Just do a quick search on the web, and it'll tell you how to disable the Wireless Zero Configuration, and all will be well again =)
Rating: Summary: Will not work in my computer Review: First card would not allow my computer to even boot! Second card (Paid shipping to Linksys) allowed the computer to boot but WinXP became a basket case very quickly trying to install a driver. All other PCI cards used in my computer work great - What's happening here Linksys? Removing the card and re-booting the third time has me back to normal. My Linksys 54g router works great with a Linksys wired Ethernet card in the computer. (Wanted to replace the wired one with the wireless) The WMP54G card causes tremendous conflicts on the buss. Sorry Linksys on this one. Hope we can work something out.
Rating: Summary: works well under XP and linux Review: well I don't know what everyone is moaning about... I've had this card for about 4 months and have had great performance out of it, never a single problem under XP (simply installed the drivers and used XP to configure it, thats so easy who needs special config apps?!) I've recently even managed to get it running under Linux despite the fact its built on the broadcom chipset! check out http://www.linuxant.com for details on how to do this (there is a small charge of $20 for the software to do it...)
Rating: Summary: Works well (once you get it too). Fragile Antenna Connector Review: Since my last review (below), I changed the motherboard (to an ECS k7s5a) on my son's computer. My wmp54g went back to the original problem. This time, there was no "byte merge" I could change in the bios. I purchased a D-link G520+ and it worked great, no hassles. Even seems to have a more reliable connection than the wmp54g. I'm not changing my rating on the wmp54g, however. Seems like wireless pci cards are hit and miss. From what I've read, it seems that the wmp54g will have problems in hardware that the D-link works perfectly, but the reverse also occurs. The moral of the story - make sure you happy with the return policy of the store from which you buy you wireless pci card. I have the linksys wrt54g router/AP wired to my cable modem and XP machine. The wmp54g is on my Win98 PIII, Asus p3v4x m/b (Via chipset). My first attempts to use the pci card caused irq conflicts that I resolved by manually selected a non-conflicting irq for the slot in which the card was seated. But the card could still not see a signal. So I adjusted the antenna on the pci card. Bad move, as the connecter came off in my hand (a light breeze would have blown it off). After exchanging the card for one in which the connecter seemed to be better secured to the card, I tried again. Still no signal, no bars, even w/ the card and router both in the same room. After several phone calls to Linksys tech support (friendly, hardworking, and eager to help, but mostly clueless), I ran across a tech that had a useful suggestion - try the card out on my WinXp machine. The card worked on that machine. Unfortunately, tech support had no clue what to do w/ that info. Eventually, I realized that if the card was to work in the Win98SE machine, the problem would need to be resolved at the motherboard bios level. Disabling "Byte Merge" in the motherboard bios did the trick! Also, make sure that the router verification is set for "Auto" rather than "Shared Key", which will result in the same "no signal" problem. Difficult card to set up on an older pc, but it's running with a fair signal/fair link (3 to 4 bars) and 24 to 54 mbps (often 48-54) at about 50-60 ft through two floors. Hopefully, it will continue to work well.
Rating: Summary: wmp54g Review: This product is easy to install and works great...until the signal drops...I cannot hold the signal for longer than 5 mins before i have to click and reconnect to the internet. Don't know how to fix this problem. Kinda sucks.
Rating: Summary: Terrible Mechanicals, poor winXP integration Review: This card is an extreme departure from my experience with many other Linksys products which have been uniformly positive in my experience. This card is very poorly made - the antenna mount is press fit together and *very* fragile. The antenna is also a fragile construction all on its own. The lack of drivers/management utility that work well with windows XP really stinks. The units I purchased were returned and Belkin PCI cards were purchased instead. These have a solid construction plus a driver/utility that makes reliable connections in windows XP.
Rating: Summary: BEWARE! DON'T BUY THIS CARD! NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS Review: I'm not trying to pigeon-hole Linksys here, but let's be real. I've purchased 4 different Wireless-G cards, and installed them in every PCI slot in 3 different systems, with the systems running both Windows 98SE and Windows XP, and have had nothing but problems. They don't work. Yes, I have installed them in much newer systems running XP-Pro, and they worked. That's what prompted me to recommend this Linksys setup to another client running slightly older hardware. WHAT A MISTAKE!!! Linksys tech. support is absolutely horrible. In the end, the Linksys tech told me to purchase cards from another manufacturer! NO KIDDING HERE!!!! Talk about a lesson learned. I very much recommend you stay the hell away from these particular cards.
Rating: Summary: Everyone else seems to have problems...I don't Review: I bought this some months ago and have just ordered another. I did find setup a little bit of a chore but once done, I have had no problems what so ever and do no have any disconnects. Signal strength is plenty strong and the whole system works wonderful.
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