| Linksys WGA11B Wireless-B Game Adapter |
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Model: WGA11B
Brand: Linksys
Manufacturer: Linksys
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 174
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PlayStation
Data link protocol: IEEE 802.11b
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| Features: |
Lag-free head-to-head or Internet gaming at up to 11 Mbps, without stringing wires
Converts wired-Ethernet-ready game consoles to Wireless-B network connectivity
Works without drivers on PlayStation2, Xbox, and GameCube
Exclusive Channel Selector Button makes network setup a snap
One year limited warranty |
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| Description: |
| The LINKSYS WGA11B Wireless-B Game Adapter gives any wired Ethernet equipped game console wireless connection capability. If you have an existing home wireless network with a cable or DSL Internet connection, the Game Adapter lets your PlayStation, XBOX, or GameCube attach to the network so you can get into online games without running wires to the game room. Or, you can use a pair of Game Adapters to form a "cable-less cable" between two game consoles for head-to-head gaming -- in the same room, or all the way across the house! |
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| User Reviews (174 total): |
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Sweet, I got it to finally work!, March 1, 2005
By Alpha99
I was really excited to have this game. I thought it would be simple plug and play material. Well it definetely wasn't. The easiest way to ensure that it works is to plug it directly using the ethernet cable into your network. Then run the cd given in the box, and input all of your information on P1. Make sure you have the correct ip address, gateway address, ssid, and wep encyption typed in. Then plug it into your ps2 and it works sweet.
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WGA 11B big waste of time, February 16, 2005
By Stephen H. Holanov (New Jersey)
This adapter comes with close to no instructions. After mine arrived I spent 3 hours on the phone with Linksys trying to do the set up which never did succeed. I also called XBOX Live since I intended to use this item with my XBOX. XBOX Live says the WGA 11B is not compatible with the XBOX which is contrary to the Linksys advertising. Linksys cannot support it and it won't work with your XBOX so I don't see much hope for this product.
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Perfecto for The Box, January 19, 2005
By Deborah P. Hildenbrand (Pittsburgh Area)
I bought this Item for my XBOX and I'm in Gamer heaven. I have a friend with the XBOX G-Adapter, and if you ask me the linksys B-Adapter's performance is just as good if not better then the XBOX adapter.
The only lag I have experianced is when XBOX's servers get a little chippy, which affects anybody on XBOX live.
People, this thing saves you $50, do not waste your money on the XBOX game adapter ($99 US!!!).
It's setup is simple.
1:Hook the ethernet cord to the ethernet output in the back of the XBOX (No Brainer)
2: Plug the power cord in (Another no brainer)
3: Press the big blue button until the screen on the Adapter reads "IN".
4. Turn the metal on and your ready for Xbox live!
Note: Make sure your router is on, and don't forget, to actually play XBOX LIVE, you need a subscription and such.
Happy Gaming!!!
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Works great for xbox live, but not with WEP, January 15, 2005
By Kent
I bought this to use primarily for wireless access to xbox live across my BellSouth DSL connection. Setup was easy. While the CD-only setup option is a bit of an up-front pain, it really isn't that big of a deal since you will not be running setup that often. Just keep up with the CD for future use ;-)
I did experience too much game lag initially. After a bit of experimenting, I narrowed it down to the fact I was running WEP (wireless encryption). Experienced the lag with both 128-bit and 64-bit WEP enabled while playing Halo2. Disabled WEP on the wireless router (Linksys WRT54G) and the WGA11b. Bingo, lag completely disappears. The adaptor just doesn't seem to have enough cycles to decrypt and process the amount of information streamed with games such as Halo2.
To add back security to my wireless network, I activated MAC Address filtering on the router instead of WEP. Just remember to add the MAC addresses of all your existing wireless devices (i.e. PCs) plus the MAC of the xbox as well as the adaptor.
Would rate this a 5, but rating a 4 because it doesn't provide a way to use anything other than the default wireless channel 6 on the router. Would (and do) recommend this adaptor.
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Great product, January 11, 2005
By yoda21900 (okla, USA)
I use this product with a Linksys wireless G access point to connect my xbox to my wired network. Setup was simple and it works flawlessly.
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Wireless-B Game Lagger, January 10, 2005
By chris (MO)
wow.when i first put it in.It ran beautiful.not logs.so clear.Then it just broke up and lagged to heck.It happens all the time.You play a few games.that are beautiful.then it lags for the rest of the time.Maybe its my internet but im sure i have good internet.It lagged before i had this,but this lags more often and worse.Plus what about the setting up.It took some time.Overall its good and about 60 percent of the time its lag free.the rest its as if the product name is the Wireless-B Game lagger. If you had super lags and fixed it.Please tell me by emailing me at Packer_fan_1254@yahoo.com
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Are you a rocket scientist?, January 10, 2005
By Jason Erickson (San Francisco, CA USA)
I have a BS in Computer Science and 10 years experience. Now, my experience is mostly on the software side and not the hardware or network configuration side, but still, I'm no innocent with electronics.
I never got this thing working. I have heard of people getting it working. I have even heard of people getting it working with some security on their wireless network, so I know it's theoretically possible. However, I have seen a lot of messages on message boards with some pretty smart people trying to get this thing to work and having a devil of a time.
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Not really that bad, January 2, 2005
By Snake Eyes (Ft Pierce, FL)
I got this item, and prayed that it would work alright with my "no two components are the same manufacturer" wireless set up. I have a wirelss G set up, got this home, plugged it into my Xbox and it set itself up automatically, no problems. The only thing is that in the bedroom the signal's not that good. And I haven't tried it on my PS2 yet. I also don't have WEP set up. <--- Big, important, piece of info if you expect it to set up automatically.
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Not ready for prime time!, January 2, 2005
By J. Ledingham (USA)
Well, after hours (literally, hours) on the phone with Linksys tech support, I was never able to make the product work. The Linksys support people finally ended-up blaming my router (a D-Link product) for not communicating with the game adapter. The router was working fine, from everything I could see.
Support was OK, once I got through the army of people who didn't understand that I was using a Mac (after explaining it over and over again...really not a factor in the performance of the product). Support was off-shore, and they took a LONG time to answer the phone.
I know this technology is relatively new, but if I can't get this thing to work (I'm not a computer newbie by any means) then good luck to anyone who takes the plunge with the WGA11B.
I would really suggest another manufacturer (FYI: D-Link customer support, once they answer the phone, is top-notch).
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It works but its chatty...., December 31, 2004
By C. Flood (SoCal)
It works like a charm, I use it for my xbox. And for the review that said that you couldnt use mac address filtering, add your console and you bridge to the list and it should work
My big gripe is that I have to reset the little fella quite often. If I go turn on my xbox right now, it wont connect, I will have to unplug my adapter and plug it back in and try again. Once I do that it works fine, but crawling behind my TV everytime getts annoying.
I also noticed that when it is plugged in it lags my wireless network to a crawl, the enitre thing, but once its unplugged, the network speeds right back up.
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Save money - don't buy the Microsoft adapter!, December 29, 2004
By K. Plummer (Athens, GA USA)
This linksys unit works just as well as the Microsoft wireless adapter at half the price. The feature for head-to-head gaming is interesting, but I don't know if many people are actually using this feature. Basically, you can directly connect to another system that is in the same house as you if both of you have the Linksys adapter. Pretty neat for LAN parties, etc...
The wireless internet function worked flawlessly the first time I tried it. You do have to enable SSID Broadcast, so if you don't want your network broadcast all over your neighborhood, you'll have to turn SSID broadcast on and off to use the adapter. Other than that, I noticed no significant lag problems. Great deal and excellent product!
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functional, but lack of web config is annoying, December 21, 2004
By beldar (Bellevue, WA USA)
Having to use linksys' config software to deal with the thing is annoying, especially if you planned to use this in multiple locations.
If it's going to be used in one location, where you'll configure it once and forget about it, great. But don't lose that CD that came with it!
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Mostly works unless you have any security on your network, November 23, 2004
By N. Lanza
This adapter pretty much works as described unless you happen to have WEP security or MAC filtering on your network.
I've spent hours trying to get either of those features to work with absolutely no luck. Of course, since the setup utility is cryptic and doesn't give useful error messages, you'll never know what's wrong other than "it won't connect".
Tonight I tried again to configure WEP. Not only did I fail once again, but when I backed out the configuration I couldn't even get the adapter to get a DHCP lease on the now-open network.
Also, I'm lucky I managed to find the original CD the thing shipped with -- Linksys provides a setup utility for download online, but I couldn't get it to work. Websearching found a bunch of other people all with the same problem, many of whom called tech support only to be told that they had to find the original CD or they were lost. Huh? Why even bother providing a setup utility online, then?
This thing's going in the trash, and I'm replacing it with a Microsoft wireless adapter for my Xbox. I'm not happy about having to buy another adapter, but I figure that at least I ought to be able to expect the Xbox-branded adapter to work with my Xbox.
So, to sum up: If you use WEP or MAC filtering or think you ever might want to, don't buy this product.
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Good performance bit hard to setup, November 22, 2004
By wazel@cox.net (Parma, OH USA)
A few setup tips.
1.When configuring the WGA with your pc make sure the switch on the side of the WGA is set to =.
2.When you connect the WGA to your Xbox make sure you set the switch on the side of the WGA to X.
3. 64bit WEP does not work. 128bit WEP does work. WEP disabled works.
4. If your router has "Filter Internet NAT Redirection" be sure it is ENABLED (Linksys router)
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POS, November 18, 2004
By hybrid99
This thing is horrific. It does not work at all. I have an xbox, and no matter what, it would not recieve an ip, nor would it connect to the internet. I have called Linksys's(Indian tech support) and Microsoft's tech support, only for them to tell me that that they have no clue as to why it wasn't working. The manual is incredibly vague, and has no information on how to troubleshoot. Microsoft assures that their wireless adapter, the MN-740 will work undoubtabely well. I believe this, b/c the MN-740 is configured right on the Xbox Dashboard. However, this garbage needs to be configured, if you want to have a secure network, via a PC, and it was a total hassle. It also required you to have the SSID broadcast enabled. I expected better than this from Linksys. Mind you, I have a Linksys BEFW11S4, which is compatible w/ Xbox LIVE. Unfortunately, very few places carry the MN-740, nor do most of them have it in stock. :( BEWARE OF THIS PURCHASE!
**Just looking at some of the MN-740's reviews, and I am glad to see that I am not the only one who has had problems with this adapter, returned it, and bought the MN-740.**
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This is tons of good info. but do u need to..., November 3, 2004
By BECKY TWONCA
Do you need to buy the ps2 network adapter or can u just plug this into your ps2 or xbox and start playing?
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Works great with Xbox at first.....but beware signal loss!!!, October 11, 2004
By James (Concord, North Carolina)
Here goes,..... I bought this gaming adapter for use with my Xbox for Xbox Live. All I did was plug it in to my Xbox and it that was it. Extremely simple....,note, I already had the WRT54G router. At first this range on this adapter was amazingly far.... somewhere around 50 feet and connected fast, like dsl or cable to your computer. After about 2 months of use and the recommended firmware upgrade<----suspicious..., I noticed that it wouldnt connect anymore, mind you no changes in my home network setup,...just one day wouldnt connect. So I tried moving the adapter closer(within 30 feet) to my router and it connected. To make a long story as short as possible..... this product works great at first with extremely simple plug and play setup, but KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR SEVERE SIGNAL LOSS AFTER 2 MONTHS....or firmware upgrade, I recommended this adapter to my brother and now he is experiencing the same problem, after about 2 months of play....go figure.... I fixed the problem by building a simple parabolic antenna out of aluminum foil and poster paper from the website www.freeantennas.com Anyone else having this problem? I gave it 3 stars only because I like Linksys, but it would have been a 2 star.
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Misleading and frustrating, but overall good performance., September 24, 2004
By ICEBLADE211 on EA ONLINE (CT, USA)
I am new to the whole wireless idea. We just replaced a normal DSL modem and Linksys hub with a 2Wire home portal a few months ago, and I haven't been able to play online until I bought this puppy.
Now, I don't consider myself a computer guru or a technical wizard, but I've been able to troubleshoot most of my issues on my own. I know my way around the Windows operating systems.
First things first. This item is advertised as Plug and Play. UNLESS YOUR HOME NETWORK RUNS OFF OF LINKSYS HARDWARE, IT ISN'T.
Another thing the pacakging neglects to tell you is that the best way to configure the WGA is by hard-line connecting it to a PC via the LAN card and using the Setup CD this way before plugging it into your gaming console.
Lastly, in every review I've found, no one has mentioned what your network configurations on your PS2 should be in order for this device to work.
After about 3 hours of struggling with online help screens and chat forums, I finally discovered all of the right settings by trial and error.
I had to configure the gaming adapter for my SSID, key, and such, and set the device to P1 with the little II/X switch set to X.
Also, I used to have to hard-code all of the IP and DNS settings on my PS2. With this setup (may be my new network, however), I let the PS2 automatically detect IP and DNS info.
Since, then, the device has worked seamlessly with my wireless network. I am currently enjoying a whole plethora of racing excitement with Burnout 3.
Setup: 2.5/5 stars
Game Play: 5/5 stars
Overall: 4/5 stars
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Good device for PS2, but you need more hardware, September 16, 2004
By Joseph Young (Tallahassee, FL)
I have a Linksys router and bought this device hoping to play Madden online. The device is simple to set-up and easy to use. Some of the previous reviews give all kinds of technical advice for set up. As long as you don't have a firewall, it should be fairly simple. Make sure that the device "talks" to the router on the right channel, and you're good to go. The downside is you have to buy the adapter (about 29.99) for an ethernet connection. They should make this explicit.
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WGA11B Detection Problem, August 21, 2004
By Antonio Lanza (Pensacola, FL USA)
My XBox will not detect the WGA11B at all. I even called LinkSys technical support and they had me doing stuff to the WGA11B through my computer for almost an hour to come to no success. Not a fan at all. Looks like I will be switching to the Microsoft version!
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