Rating: 
Summary: XP and WUSB11
Review: I am not against linksys, but WUSB11 has an issue with XP.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely temperamental, very sensitive to system's chipset
Review: I've always had very good experiences with Linksys products - until I bought the WUSB11. At system boot, the device always had a yellow exclamation point next to it in the Device Manager, with a "Code 10 - the device could not start". I had to repeatedly unplug and re-plug the device until it came up clean in Device Manager, then exit and re-launch the WLAN monitor application to get it working. Once it was up, its performance varied tremendously with the slightest repositioning of the unit. This was despite very good signal strength and never falling back from the top link speed of 11Mbps. Enabling 64-bit WEP made it much harder to connect to the Linksys router, and 128-bit WEP rendered it totally non-functional - unable to see the access point at all. Linksys tech support concluded that the unit was defective, but a replacement gave even more trouble than the first. The WUSB11 behaved the same way on *three* different P4/Win2k Pro systems based on the SiS chipset. It would not work at all when tried on one of these systems booted to Win98. It was impossible to get rid of the yellow exclamation point in the Win98 Device Manager. Amazingly, the same WUSB11 worked perfectly on a borrowed IBM Thinkpad, and also on an AMD Athalon desktop based on the VIA chipset. Both of these systems ran Win2k Pro. Repositioning the WUSB11 appeared to have no effect on these systems. They ran fine even with 128-bit WEP enabled. It was hit or miss on a friend's Compaq laptop with Windows XP. It would usually take a very long time - up to 20 minutes - to find the access point, even when located in the same room with it. Once the access point was found, the WUSB11 tended to remain working on this system, but there was a little sensitivity to the positioning of the WUSB11. Data flow sometimes became choppy if the WUSB11 was not positioned well, but it was much less sensitive to position than the SiS based systems. This is odd, since the radio signal was always strong, the link always stayed at the full 11 Mbps, and two other systems mentioned above were unaffected by the position of the WUSB11. Having had two different WUSB11s behave so unreliably, I cannot recommend this device to anyone. Out of six different computers, the device worked flawlessly on only two, marginally on one, and was essentially unusable on three. The system's chipset, operating system, the physical positioning of the WUSB11, and the level of WEP encryption all play a major factor in the device's usability.
Rating: 
Summary: Never worked
Review: The one I ordered never worked. I'm running XP so I just plugged it into the USB port and nothing happened. Called up technical support (excellent service) a couple of time and they said that it must be a faulty unit. I wouldn't avoid Linksys products though, bucause their service was excellent and I have a router from them that works great.
Rating: 
Summary: Want free internet access? This is all you need.
Review: I've been skimming thru all the reviews and I really haven't seen anyone point out the obvious. Do you just want free, fast wireless internet access because you don't have internet access of your own (i.e. no DSL, cable, 56k modem, etc.) Or do you just want to build a home, wireless network and do things such as share your home's internet connection throughout the house? Both are possible with this device, but in the latter case, you need an additional device (the router or base station). If you want to take advantage of free, wireless internet access, then this device is all you need (or one similarly priced). This is a Wi-Fi device (like an antenna) that brings down signals in the air being generated by routers out there (more or less 1500 feet away). of course, you either need to be in a heavily populated area (like a beach or city like New York) to get freely available connections. If you live in a less remote area, then you can still use it at "Starbucks" or other commercial businesses that are "with it". This device is so small you can use it on a laptop or desktop, via a USB cable. The other thing is, free wireless internet access is common these days. All you need is a device like this. The bandwidth I am getting is a range from 200kbps to 600kbps (out of 11MBps). That is about 10 to 20 times faster than a dialup modem. Very nice. If you are unsure whether or not this device will work for you, buy it, install it, and the device will automatically search out wireless network connections and display them for you to connect to. If there aren't any, then return it. Some tips on getting the most out of your reception: extract the antenna up on the device, mount the device on the outside of a window if you can (so there as few barriers as possible), and play with the position of the antenna - to get the best reception possible. You will have to toy with it a little, as you would a handheld FM radio... Most of the reviews I've read here ... seem to be oriented for those who wish to do home networking and then do such things as parcel out bandwidth for family and friends. This is my next project, to home network 3 or 4 computers in my home. But you need a "base station" or router to do this which will run you an extra $... or so. But for now, my objectives are met - to get free, high-speed internet wireless access, and all for a one-time cost of $60. Compare that with DSL at $...-$... per month! I hope you live in an area that has a grassroots "free wireless internet" mentality or businesses (like hotels, coffeeshops) who are making their airwaves publicly available. I've been to Boston, Miami Beach, and other places ... and if I bring this device along, I never have to worry about paying for Internet access again. By the way this is all legal ... airwaves are all public domain. People who are broadcasting these signals/connections have the ability to add security (password-protect) to their signals. Some of the signals I am getting are that, and if you guess the passwords/keys, that is illegal (hacking). Some connections are not secured, and I assume they are meant to be accessed (although some businesses tend to be careless about their security). The reason I mention this is because you want to be sure that any signal you get, that provider is going to be reliable and willing to provide free access. Power to the people. :-p
Rating: 
Summary: It DOES work with XP! Just CONFIGURE it correctly.
Review: Alright people, I'm not affiliated with Linksys, there are kids out there that have more answers than the Linksys technical support. But I did get this WUSB11 to work with XP automatically, even with my access point's SSID being disabled. So whoever is saying that it doesn't work with XP... at least try this out. It works, I've done it, I'm running WinXP, the WUSB11 sees and connects to my non-SSID-broadcasing access point automatically at every cold boot and restart. Who knows, maybe this will make you XP users wanna buy this product. (It does have better range than the Netgear MA101.) First of all, install the WUSB11 like linksys says. Make sure your WUSB11 works first. Turn on your AP's SSID broadcasting, turn off WEP, just to see if everything is working fine. Return the POS if its DOA. If it does work, turn your AP's security back on, obviously. I'm sure you know about WinXP's Wireless Zero Configuration service/utility, and how its the heart of the WUSB11's compatibility problem. Quite simply, if your AP is not broadcasting an SSID, WinXP will have a fitz about not seeing you non-SSID-broadcasting AP, unless you refresh a couple of times. Refreshing is a pain in the neck, and isn't inherently obvious to someone like your non-techie parents. So why not disable WZC? Click Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services > Wireless Zero Configuration, then change the Startup type to "disabled". Restart the computer. "BLAH BLAH BLAH, I've done that, it doesn't work, you're a nut, BLAH BLAH BLAH." Now take the standpoint of installing this thing from a Windows 2000 perspective. "Hmm... I guess I have to somehow install the linksys utility that is included in the setup CD that came with my WUSB11, that usually lets Windows 2000 users connect to an AP. But it doesn't work! I click on it, and the CD doesn't even autorun! What's the deal?" This is what I did. Pop the WUSB11 CD into your CD drive, and explore it. For some reason, the setup.exe in the root folder of the CD won't run under XP, probably to avoid incompatibilities. Right click on the CD-ROM drive icon, and click "explore". Then navigate to the "Utilities" folder, and double-click on Setup.exe. This will install the Linksys Instant Wireless LAN Monitor. It will not alert you when the install is complete, but you should see it in your program files list when it is done. Next, copy all the files except setup.exe from the D:\Utilies folder, into your C:\Program Files\WUSB11 WLAN Monitor folder. Copy the WLAN.in file from the CD's root folder into your C:\Program Files\WUSB11 WLAN Monitor folder. The Setup.exe didn't install everything you needed, so you have to put these files in manually, hence the copy and paste. Next, set a shorcut of the Instant Wireless LAN monitor to your Startup folder in program files, so that the Instant Wireless LAN monitor starts up automatically when you boot up. Restart for good measure. When your computer boots up again, open the Instant Wireless LAN monitor, and you should be able to access a tab labeled "Profiles". That was the whole point of this mess. That profiles tab allows you to configure which SSID to connect to, WEP settings, etc. Enter all your AP's settings. Reboot for good measure? Your WinXP machine should now use the Instant Wireless LAN monitor to automatically connect to your WAP at every boot. If I missed something and it didn't, hopefully you get the jist of what I'm trying to do. Disable XP's WZC service, and use a 3rd party utility to connect to your WAP. In my case, I used the included Linksys utility, and it worked with some minor tweeking. All in all, when I got everything working, the WUSB11 works fine. You will most likely lose throughput due to WEP constraints, thats just the nature of wireless. This wireless USB adapter is cheap compared to Orinoco's card ($100+), and performs better than Netgear's MA101. You just gotta know how to configure it.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to use
Review: This tiny (the picture makes it look much larger than it really is) device was probably the simplest add-on I've ever plugged into my computer. Windows XP immeadiately recognized the device and loaded the driver. I entered the WEP code, the network name, and that was it. The computer that this device serves is in the kitchen, and is surrounded by appliances. The wireless router is about 75 feet away on the same floor. The connection speed is almost always at 11mbs and the connection quality is always "very good." I cannot stress enough how simple setup was for this device!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent product, great price!
Review: Great support from Linksys makes this a 5 star product.
Rating:
Summary: Works great for PC and Tivo.
Review: Great product, no trouble at all. Windows XP did not have the driver for this built in, so I had to install it from the included CD-ROM. I am now using it with my Tivo, it worked immediately upon plugging in. Funny, that Windows needed a driver for it but Tivo didn't. Anyway a very effective solution. Recommended. Not sure if it works under Linux though.
Rating:
Summary: Works great, but not with xp
Review: The range on this is awesome!! At my neighbors house, the link quality and signal strength is in the upper 90% range. I installed this adapter on my computer running windows xp, after much work, I got it to work. The next day, it quit working. It wouldn't get an ip address. I called linksys and had spent hours on technical support, but ti no avail. They recomended that I return it and get another one because it was defective. I tried that and it still didn't work. I installed it on my win me system and it worked immediately. I then tried it on my win xp laptop, but it didn't work. So beware, you may run into complications when installing on a win xp machine. I am very pleased with my other linksys products, just not this one.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT RANGE !
Review: I used this adapter across one room to test it out and it worked brilliantly. Wireless adapters doesn't have a good range when using it under routers such as using it a floor under the router. I tried to use the wireless adapter downstairs with a laptop and to my surprise, it still worked great. The range was still shown as "excellent" in the connection window. Internet performance was good also. I never got disconnected with this wireless adapter once, even when i was walking around the house with my laptop. Highly recommended. And yes i also have a Linksys Wireless PC Card that works great also.
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