Rating: Summary: Great Unit, couple of quick tips in setting up Review: This PCI card, installed in a 300Mghz Gateway tower, running Windows ME was a relatively easy install. A couple of glitches did occur though. When I first installed it, I followed the directions, and installed the software first, shut the computer down, installed the card, and rebooted. It auto recognized, and configured, and automatically found the signal, and it was done. Almost done. The signal was there, according to the icon at the bottom of the screen, but I was unable to log onto the internet. Additionally the computer was running super slow, way slower than usual, so I uninstalled the software, then removed the card, and it was back to running normally. Here is the fix, do not choose AD HOC as your system choice when setting up. Use the selection that allows, hard wired, and wireless devices, or any combination. Once I installed it that way, it worked perfect right away. Additionally, I removed the 56K modem via Control Panel, System, then Device Manager, then highlighting the modem and click on Remove. Then when I shut down the machine, I permanently removed the modem. It was useless anyhow, with a broadband wireless connection in the machine. Wah lah, great connections, and the computer was back to flying at full speed. Now I am super happy with the performance, and the ease of setup. One thing that should also be mentioned is that security with a wireless system is something to address. Anyone with a wireless laptop, can drive down the road, and get a connection. Changing the name from the default network name of "Linksys" is the first step. I would set your entire network up first, get it all running, then concentrate on keeping others out. Eliminates the confusion. Additionally, some firewall software, is also a good idea. When installing the card in the laptop running Windows XP it almost installed itself. XP has wireless network capacity built right into it. Wireless is the wave of the future, and it is here now. At the Comdex show this year, it was all the rave. The hardware manufacturers are working at a feverish pitch, in order to jump on the bandwagon with all kind of add on wireless devices. Definitely a cool tool, a must have add on.
Rating: Summary: Better news from the linksys front Review: I wrote an earlier review with a much lower rating on this card because I (and linksys technical support) couldn't get it to stop dropping the connection. I sent the card back and got another one. It turns out that it was the card that was at fault, and I suspect, just a one-off. In other words, the linksys software, router, and wireless card now work together beautifully. Hey, anyone can have a bad day once in a while, and while I wish I didn't have to go through all the drama, all's well that ends well. By the way, Amazon was great in handling the refund on the original bad card, and got a new one (separate order, not an exchange) to me very quickly.
Rating: Summary: Setup in minutes and works great !!! Review: I installed the Linksys 54g PCI Adapter and was up and running in just minutes in combination with the Linksys Wireless 54g Router, the setup was straight forward and easy to follow. I have had no disconnects or problems at all, the PCI 54g Router is in another room about 30 feet away. I do not have any 802.11b cards to support, this makes a big difference since the current firmware implementation drops to the 11 Mbps speed if you run in "compatibility mode" and it may not work that great even then with 11b cards. But if your setting up a completely 54g based network, this works great and with the default setting this is a breeze to install. I also have a 2.4 GHz WaveCom transmitter right next to the Wireless Router and have had no interference problems between them (the WaveCom sends high quality NTSC Video/Stereo into the next room).
Rating: Summary: Installed in 10 Minutes Review: CAVEAT: If you have a 2.4 gig phone, or baby monitor in your house you may have trouble. I do not have any other 2.4 gig devices in my house so I had no trouble, but a friend of mine disconnects everytime he picks up his cordless phone. This card does what it advertises, works great.. I know have 3 machines sharing my internet.. now I just need to get my XBOX up and running..
Rating: Summary: A work in progress, I hope Review: Like some other reviewers I had a world of problems. The install went fine. However, with the router and the PCI card in separate rooms but at most 20 feet apart, the wireless unit kept losing the signal and dropping the network connection. We have no other computers running, no 2.4G phones, no other nothin' that would have caused interference. Three calls to Linksys yesterday (I can't wait to see the phone bill - the 800 number is a big waste of time so it was on my tick); we changed default settings, channels, upgraded the firmware to the 1.01 version, and finally moved the router and the unit about 1 foot apart. It still kept dropping the connection. The signal strength was always very good or better, and the base PC work fine through the router. The tech finally concluded that the card was faulty, so I'm returning it to Amazon. Now: should I order another one? I hope that the problem is a one-off type faulty card, but I'm suspicious, given some of the other reviews here. Nevertheless, I'll probably go for it because I have got to get this thing running. Hopefully, Linksys will put some people on OT to sort it out if it isn't a card manufacturing problem.
Rating: Summary: good product Review: just so everyone can see for themselves, i have a dell 8100 and it works great
Rating: Summary: With a little effort from Linksys, WMP54G could be better Review: As a current owner of the Linksys 54G PCI card AND the the Linksys 54G PC card, I have some concerns. On one hand, not only does the PC card achieve it's main goal flawlessly, it provides a fantastic interface for it's Utility. On the other hand, the PCI card does provide the basic function of Wi-Fi, but Linksys dropped the ball on providing an identical quality Utility interface, which should have been a no-brainer. I'm glad it performs it's basic Wi-Fi duties, but it did fail to impress.
Rating: Summary: Beware of the driver for this product Review: Beware of driver for this product. What follows is a detailed account of how I lost all my data on my pc when it was corrupted by the driver software for this product. I had to reformat the hard drive in order to get the computer to work again but lost all files and data in the process. When I installed the Linksys wireless-G PCI adapter model WMP54G in my Widows XP Compaq PC the computer detected the new hardware and requested the driver CD that came with the Linksys product. After installing the CD there are a series of screens that pop up one of which advises that this product is not "digitally signed" for use with Windows XP. Then I visited the Linksys Product Support web site in which the FAQ site advises the consumer to click the "continue" button on the "not digitally signed screen" in other words do not be concerned about the product not being digitally signed for WindowsXP and continue with the driver installation. While the driver was being loaded into my Compaq everything stopped and a blue screen appeared which said "Hardware Malfunction NM1: Parity Check/ Memory Parity Error...The system has halted ...contact the hardware manufacturer". The PC locked up and the only way to proceed was to manually push the on/off button. When I restarted the computer it would not boot up. Instead a pop-up box with a white x in a red circle appeared and stated "ISASS.EXE...SYSTEM ERROR...When trying to update a password, this return status indicates that the value provided as the current password is not correct." I don't use passwords on the PC except when using AOL on the internet. When I called Linksys for help and told them what happened they said they could not help me and to contact the PC manufacturer. I called Compaq and we tried a couple of ways of restoring the computer but none worked. Then I was told by Compaq that the operating system was corrupted and that I would have to perform a "system restore" which would reformat the hard drive and restore the PC to "factory condition". Unfortunately that meant losing all data that I had put into the PC since I bought it a year ago. I guess I incorrectly assumed that WindowsXP/Compaq was automatically backing up my data on Drive 'D' on the partitioned hard drive. Anyway I put the system restore CD in the computer and let it reformat the hard drive. After it finished the computer was working as if it was new. I figured that as long as I lost all my data and settings anyway I would try to install the Linksys wireless card again with the restored operating system. I put the card in and when it ask for the driver I put the CD in and it started to load the driver. Then it locked up again and the same error messages came up. When I called Linksys a second time to tell them it was definitely their driver that forced me to reformat my hardrive and lose all data, they acknowledged the problem and that they were working on it and suggested that I download the latest driver from their website although they would not guarantee that it would work either. So my choice is to download the new driver after reformatting the pc a second time or return the card to Amazon which is too bad because it looked like a useful item to add to my computer. So if you do not want to risk crashing your computer and go through I went through then do not get this product yet. Wait until they fix the problem with the driver software. And back up your software.
Rating: Summary: Better Wait On 802.11g Review: Had it running for a short time with not much luck. 802.11g has the same interference problems as 802.11b, as it will fight cordless phones, etc. I had the WAP in one room and the PC in the other. Connections would take a long time and would fail periodically. The fastest speed it would connect at, only two rooms away was 24Meg. Sometimes it would connect at 36Meg but quickly drop back down, sometimes to 10Meg. Someone around my house is running an unsecured WLAN as the card in my PC would get a week signal and pick up in IP address from somewhere else. Oops. I had to configure the PC end to look for my network only. If you follow Linksys's instructions, it will us the default configuration, which is wide open, and leave your network assessable to anyone around you. I soon tired of messing with it and got an RMA and shipped it back. I'll wait for 802.11a's prices to come down or see what new wireless protocol comes out next week.
Rating: Summary: Easy Installation Plug & Play Review: Outstanding delivery of this item. I just arrived home when UPS pulled up and completed delivery. It took all of 5 minutes to install/configure using XP. Now I have 2 pc's networked using the wireless technology provided by Linksys. Outstanding speed, I have a 2 story and it works fine with my router/cable modem in the basement. Excellent product.
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