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Linksys WPS11 Wireless-B Print Server

Linksys WPS11 Wireless-B Print Server

List Price: $220.99
Your Price: $121.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Just what we needed...
Review: This is a nice, compact, straightforward accent to our wireless network. Once the simple installation was completed (connect a parallel cable) the product has performed flawlessly for months. It was great to release the PC from it's print server duties.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pitch the Manual - Read These Reviews Instead
Review: I bought the Linksys WPS11v3 through Amazon after reading the reviews here. Take heed - the reviewers are right! The unit itself is simple enough, but the documentation included is pretty much worthless unless you happen to be one of the lucky few to have the one setup that happens to be exactly like the person who wrote the manual. Keys to success that I gleaned from these other brave souls:
- Print out the printserver status by holding in the reset button.
- From there, get the IP address of your printserver and log into it on your browser.
- Make sure you change the SSID name to match your wireless router SSID.
- You need to UNPLUG the power and plug it back in after you've pulled out your ethernet cable in order to switch to wireless. This seems to be what they mean by "reset" in some cases.

This is the first time I've written a review on Amazon after purchasing here for many years. The reviews made the difference between success and failure, so I wanted to show my thanks to the others who contributed their advice. Thanks!!
Linksys review - 2 stars
Amazon reviewers review - 6 stars
Linksys + Amazon - 4 stars

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Bug ridden, and poorly designed.
Review: Troublesome from the very start, it has two ways to do setup, one is web based, and one is a setup client.

This product is so poorly made, there are actually settings in the client program that are reversed in the web setup. (Netmask and gateway are reversed.)

The online help is useless. If you try to use their support pages, they take you to the support pages for a previously released product. Worse still, they refer to features and settings that this product doesn't even have. (DIP switches!)

Don't bother with this one.... get a real print server. If it has to be connected to your network wirelessly, just buy a wireless bridge and a small network switch.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Works with a little patients
Review: I purchased WPS-11 Ver 3 model from Amazon.com at a good price .... I have had good luck with previous Linksys products and they have all had very easy setup. This print server was difficult to set up and if you don't have a basic understanding of networking, set-up will be a problem.

I have a Linksys BEFW11S4 V.2 Wireless Access Point with 4 port router installed on my wireless network. I am running Zone Alarm firewall that is integrated with the router and it caused all of my problems. I was able to connect with wired Ethernet port and do all set-up of the print server using the included Bi-Admin tool but could not make the print server work in wireless mode. When I was connected by wireed port I could look at the wireless link status in the Bi-Admin tool and see that I was connected to the WAP and had good signal strength. (Please note unlike others have stated here, I had no problems with using an SSID different than the default or enabling 128-bit WEP).

I had to do the following steps to make the print server work in wireless mode. First, I disabled DHCP on the print server and set a static IP address. Then I had to enable exemption for this IP address on the security set up page of the Wireless Access Point. This is also the page where Zone Alarm firewall settings are made for the integrated firewall on the router. Had I just turned off the firewall on the WAP/router I would have saved a great deal of time. What ever you do, if you have a firewall, turn it off before you start the installation and it will go much easier. Then once things are running you can turn the firewall on and determine what firewall settings ned to be changed to allow the print server to remain functioning. Also once the Ethernet cable is removed you must cycle power to get the print server to use the wireless connection it will continue to try and acceess the wired connection once you remove the cable until you power cycle. It does not try to cycle automatically between wired and wireless.

After performing these steps everything worked great with out any problems.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: I gave it a 3 for Maybe - See other reviews
Review: I did not buy the B unit, but I did buy the WP11 and it was just an awful experience. Before buying this unit, check with others users to make sure your not asking for trouble.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Quick install guide on how to get this to work
Review: Unless you plan to use it in a vanilla setting (SSID=linksys, no encryption), you will have problems installing this device. Talked to Linksys support 3 times and they could not help me.

Anyway, I figured it out; here's how to install it:
1. Assemble the unit as outlined in the manual
2. Set it next to your router/switch and turn it on. Do not install the software yet and do not connect the printer.
3. Despite wanting to use it wirelessly, connect it through a cat5e cable to your switch/router
4. Use your browser to access your router (http://192.168.1.1). Login by using the correct password
5. Under the Setup tab, write down the ESSID
6. If you use encrypted wireless access, click on WEP Key Settings. Write down your encryption method (most likely 128 Bit) and the 26 digit encryption key. 'X' out of the windows.
7. Click on the DHCP tab, then write down the starting IP address (default:100)
8. Determine the IP address of your WPS by using the following formula: Starting IP address - 1 + number of devices connected. If your WPS11 becomes the third connected device, your starting IP address would be 102
9. Enter the starting IP address as your URL (e.g., http://192.168.1.102) This should connect, so you know the unit works when being connected through a cable.
10. Once you are connected to your print server, click on the Wireless tab, then enter the SSID (if it is not linksys). Click on the 128-bit Encryption button, then enter the 26 digit encryption key you wrote down earlier. Click on Save.
11. Pull the power cord from the WPS11, disconnect the cat5e cable, power the WPS11 back on and access the print server through the browser again. This should work, so you are connected wirelessly now.
12. Move the print server next to your printer and connect the printer.
13. Before installing the software drivers, TURN OFF YOUR FIREWALL!!!
14. Install the bi-admin software and the print server driver as outlined in the manual. This should go without a problem.
15. Print a test page
16. Turn back on your firewall and make certain that bi-admin and the print server will be able to pass through the firewall. Print another test page.

Bingo -- it's that easy, once you know how to do it.

Update: Step 9: You can also click on the DHCP Routing Table and check out the last entry. Then hike the IP number of the last entry by one.

In addition, I would HIGHLY recommend that before you install the device drivers onto any other computer at a later time, pull the power plug on the device, so that it does a reset. When I added an XP notebook to my network recently, I fussed with the install for 30 minutes before pulling the plug. Once the print server was rebooted, the install worked without a problem.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: BAD Product - Don't fall for Free Support
Review: In a nutshell this is one of the worst products I have ever bought. The advertising was misleading and the support was a long drawn out waste of time. Please Note: The WPS11 operates in 2 modes (Infrastructure & Ad-Hoc). This product may work well in Infrastructure mode. I can't say, as I bought it only for wireless print serving and that means Ad-hoc mode. Infrastructure uses other devices, where Ad-hoc is supposed to communicate directly with another piece of equipment ( a USB or a PCI card). I bought the print Server, 1 USB card and 1 PCI card. FIRST PROBLEM: Instructions are atrocious. They are just plain wrong. SECOND PROBLEM: if you can figure out how to set this up (I did after talking to several support people who did not know & 1 who told me to try setting it up using a hardwire), You must use a wire. You cannot set up this wireless device for wireless ad-hoc service, wirelessly. That's right, you must buy a Network card and a Network cable and hardwire it in order to set it up for ad-hoc. The reason is they default the unit to Infrastructure which needs an access point or other device to operate. Once I actually figured out how to set up the print server in ad-hoc (about 2 months later), I finally got it to basically work with the PCI card. At-a-boy Cisco system (parent of Linksys). But with the USB card, it was an extremely painful and agonizing journey just to get it to work. It took a new driver that came out months later. And when I did get it working, it would fail to connect about 30% to 50% of the time on a boot up. Over a period of a year plus, I talked with many support people and tried just about everything possible. LINKSYS DID NOT HAVE MY PREVIOUS PROBLEMS IN THEIR DATABASE. mmmmm No wonder they kept saying, we haven't had many problems with that unit. Their website does not allow you feedback the way Amazon does. They will only put the positive feedback on their website. Very dishonest in my opinion. I actually wrote up a set of instructions on how to set the WPS11 up in Ad-hoc mode and sent it to them. They didn't use it. They still have the poorly written instructions that you cannot follow. And they still claimed you could use it in Ad-hoc mode. THIRD PROBLEM: About 30% to 50% of the time whenever I boot up, the Wireless USB and Print Server will NOT establish proper communication. Sometimes, I get lucky and by clicking on "Connect" twice, it will connect. Yes twice. If you do it once, it will never connect. In fact if it's connected and you click on "Connect", it will disconnect. FOURTH PROBLEM: Customer service is a waste of time and energy. I believe (perhaps wrongly) that they know perfectly well there is a problem, but pretend they do not have it. The last supposedly top level support person was a guy named Lucas. He had me tear out all my cards and remove all other software and tried to claim it was because of the HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer). Now lets face it, anyone making a claim like this is just full of it. The old saying, if you can't impress them with knowledge, baffle them with bull crap.. Well, I do understands the HAL, but to verify without a doubt it was not the HAL (he was blaming the newer APCI HAL). I moved the PCI to another computer with the older Standard HAL. Guess what? That's right, the exact same problem. All this guy did was yank my chain. He would tell me things like "It works on my laptop". Oh great, I have a desktop.. No difference there huh? :o(. Or "I ran a continuous ping for two and a half hours and only got two time out". Nice going, what does that have to do with actually connecting the protocol to print? I must have asked him a dozen times to set up a desktop and PrintServer in ad-hoc and use it for a week or two. he did everything but. I tested this on 2 desktop computers (ACPI HAL & Standard HA:) and also on 2 operating systems (windows 2000 & windows 98) and it has the same failure. It will not consistently connect to the print server. I might add that their is always activity between the 2 devices, it's just that they will not allow you to print until they are fully connected. My advice. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PRODUCT!!. One last note. Although it appears to be a USB problem at first, I have never had problems with the USB talking to the PCI. I have also noted that when I have the PCI computer up and connected, the USB computer also comes up and the print server will talk to it. It will always connect after removing power from the print server for a few seconds. So I believe the problem may be in the PrintServer, not initiating a response to the USB correctly. Once it's communicating with something, it tends to work as it should.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Does not work with Epson MultiFunction Printers
Review: I notice that several people on here claim they can't reset the unit. If you want to reset the device, you have to hold the reset button for 30 seconds and unplug it while still holding the button. That was the only way that I could get it to clear.

I purchased this after reading a number of the reviews here. I have a Linksys wireless network and really wanted this print server. I had no problem setting it up, but I am definitely a power user. The instructions were definitely junk. I plugged it directly into the router and istalled the software and driver. It showed up on the network with no problem. I opened the BiAdmin Utility and double-clicked on the device and found the IP address that was assigned. I accessed the PrintServer through a web browser by putting in the IP address for the device and configured the wireless information... set the Network Name, Channel, Infrastructure (in my case) and the WEP encryption typoe and password. The unit showed up wirlessly with no problem then. Everytime I tried to print I received an error stating that there was a communication problem. I called Linksys and put them on my speaker phone while I tried other things, waiting 30 minutes for them to answer the phone. They spent two hours on the phone with me doing everything over from a different computer on the network. They finally said that it wasn't compatible with my printer (Epson Stylus Scan 2500). So I had to send it back. The device does seem to work and it initialized my printer but cannot communicate with the printer otherwise. Major Bummer! It would be nice if in addition to a list of compatible printers on their site they had a list of printers that they know do not work. I assume a lot of people never get around to returning them, so they would rather not create such a list.

PrintServer---------5
Instructions---------0
Tech Support------4
Known Issues List-0

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good product, bad manual
Review: Here's what I did to make it work in 6 easy steps!:

1. Hook up the server to the printer. Make sure it prints (press the reset button for 2 seconds)
2. Access the server directly first w/o wireless - http://192.168.1.78
3. Set the domain name to match your domain name in your network. Most home PCs are set to WORKGROUP. (Advanced->NetBUI->Domain Name)
4. Connect to the printer: Start->Run->\\ServerName\\PrinterName. Mine is set to something like: \\SC0C65E4\P1
5. It will ask you to install the drivers for your PC. Install them.
6. Print out a test page. You're done!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Nothing but trouble. Returned
Review: First, I am a network manager with loads of experience. Instructions for installation were poor and confusing. You must install and configure in a total wired network. Get is working and configure the wireless section (not very good instruction here). Then, power down, disconnect the cable from the linksys and power up.

Never worked. Spent over an hour on the phone with linksys tech support. Did everything 5 times from at least 8 different angles. Didn't work. Linksys said return for a replacement. Not me, I'm returning for a refund. Steer clear of this.


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