| Linksys WPC11 Wireless-B Notebook Adapter |
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Model: WPC11
Brand: Linksys
Manufacturer: Linksys
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 416
Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows NT 3.5, Windows NT 4, Windows NT 5, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 2000 Server, Windows
Operating system: Microsoft Windows 2000
Form factor: Plug-in module
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: IEEE 802.11b
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| Features: |
11 Mbps high-speed transfer rate
Advanced Power Management features conserve valuable notebook PC battery life
Compatible with Windows Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP
Rugged metal design with integrated antenna
Works with all standard Internet applications |
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| Description: |
| A IEEE 802.11b wireless Type II PCMCIA-type network card giving you wireless Ethernet access up to 1,640 feet away / For Windows Rugged metal design with integrated antenna Advanced power management features Compatible with Windows 95, 98, Millennium, NT, & 2000 To use with your desktop PC, add the Linksys WDT11 Instant Wireless PC Adapter |
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| User Reviews (416 total): |
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Works with my Win98 - even does WEP - signal strong, October 10, 2004
By user (United States)
I started out trying to use a WPC54GS with my Sony Vaio, but it never successfully connected to the internet using WEP encryption.
The signal range on this card is at least as good as on the WPC54GS, maybe better.
The only reason this product gets 4 instead of 5 stars is that I tried installing the latest drivers from the Linksys website. Everything seemed OK until it was time to reboot the computer, at which point startup failed. I had to reinstall Win98 (unfortunately not an unusual occurrence, recently).
If you buy this product, I strongly recommend using the bundled CD-ROM to install it. A later attempt to update the driver revealed that the online version was the same as the one on the CD-ROM.
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Worst software support EVER., July 14, 2004
By user
This is the possibly the worst-supported piece of hardware that I have ever used, and I have been using computers regularly since the Commodore-64 days in the early 1980s. The hardware itself works just barely decently, but the software support is HORRIBLE. Don't buy this card expecting it to play nicely with Windows XP. XP does not even recognize that this is a wireless card, and therefore you cannot use Window's automatic configuration utility. Instead, you have to use Linksys's own utility, which is a total joke. It can't figure out what networks are in the area (so it's almost totally useless if you want to use it on a university campus, at an airport, etc.). And the software appears to have been written by grade schoolers: it is full of typos and misspellings, and if you try to, say, get help, a error dialog box pops up with a blank message -- all you can do is click "OK" to get it to go away. The sloppiness of the software is downright insulting to a paying customer.Stay far, far away from this card.
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Avoid this card & find something else, June 17, 2004
By user
This card initialy worked fine for me. However as the months went by, the Linksys WPC11 would drop the signal. The connection on this card was so unstable that I could never get a consistent connection to my router for more than 5 minutes. Save yourself the trouble and look for another wireless card.
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Reasonable hardware, poor software, June 13, 2004
By user (Somerville, MA)
I use the WPC11 at home with the BEFW11S4 wireless router. The range is acceptable in our small apartment -- good reception up to 15 feet away from the router, reasonable but prone to cutting out up to 30 feet, pretty unreliable beyond 30 feet -- and the router handles two connections simultaneously pretty well.However, the software, both that supplied with the card and the updated versions from the Linksys website, is very poor: - As noted by other reviewers, it is very bad at finding hotspots. I have never had the configuration utility find a network's SSID automatically; I've always had to enter it manually. My partner's Mac is always able to associate to a network automatically, so it can clearly be done. - There is an ENORMOUS memory leak in wpc11cfg.exe, the configuration utility. I've seen it use over half of my machine's available 256 MB of memory, slowing down the performance of all my other, more important applications. - The configuration utility has a non-standard user interface. For example, there's no "Help->About" menu item that lets you find out what version you're running. This is a baffling omission, because surely the version is one of the most helpful bits of information you can give the helpdesk. It may seem a small complaint, but it's very frustrating to find out you don't know how to make your software do standard things. - One of the programs that it installs, vanguard.exe, crashes at least half the time when I start up my Windows 2000 laptop. I renamed vanguard.exe to vanguard.exe.bak, so it no longer gets run on startup, and everything still worked. Vendors shouldn't make you run software that doesn't do anything! Despite these complaints, the card is an acceptable buy if the price is right; it gets the job done, and the software hasn't annoyed me enough to make me buy a different card. If there's a different card at the same price, though, consider the different card very carefully.
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DO NOT BUY THIS, May 26, 2004
By user
ABSOLUTELY, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, DO NOT BUY THIS PILE OF GARBAGE. Sorry to shout, but I've never had so much frustration over any company's products like I do with Linksys (with the exception of Microsoft's useless networking hardware). This card often fails to see any active networks, and, if by chance it does happen to see a network, and, by luck you actually connect to one, then don't expect to stay connected. Buy the Netgear or D-Link adapters instead. Those companies aren't dedicated to mediocrity like Linksys and Microsoft.
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great wireless after setup, May 17, 2004
By user
Don't even try to setup on Windows 98; you have to have 2000 or better; after that, I have been amazed how well this wireless stuff works; it is as fast as my desktop which is wired to the router (via cable internet) and I am usually out on my front porch or back deck with no problems even when signal strength is low; I also set it up where I can print wirelessly and share files with my desktop; just amazing; I've had this for about a year with no problems others have mentioned about signal fading over time and that person who said they had to be in the same room as their desktop or router- something else is wrong because I have never had a problem after setup and again its still fast with a weak signal; came to this website to buy a second card to get my wife's work laptop on the wireless network since she's always using mine on the front porch; can't say enough; 24/7 support helps; you might get someone who doesn't help a lot initially but find a company these days that has perfect customer support; I got a friend who set it up with no problems in minutes;
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Seems to stop working:, May 7, 2004
By user
Based on my own experience with this product, and after having read some other reviews, it seems that this product was not designed to work permanently. I bought the Wireless Network card and router in order to be able to connect to the internet from anywhere in my house from my laptop computer.I got the product last summer, and it has never had a strong enough signal for me to use it from anywhere on the second floor of the house (router is on the first floor). It claims to allow wireless access throughout an entire house, up to 1500 feet. Obviously, this is not true. Like others have said, the signal seems to become weaker with time. Currently, I cannot get wireless access outside of the same room that the router is in. The router is connected to my desk top computer; so really what's the point of having wireless access anymore since the only room I can use it in already has a computer with its own internet connection? I'm currently sitting five feet away from the router. The antennaes are pointing directly at me, and the wireless signal and quality are both listed as "Good: 47%". IMO, this product is pointless, and Linksys should refund all of us. Do not buy this product, unless you only need wireless access for a couple of months.
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it works okay, but if you get it working don't touch it, May 2, 2004
By user (St. Louis, MO United States)
I made a few changes to the card settings in the configuration utility that came with the card. It has not worked since. I changed the settings back the way they were in the beginning. I've uninstalled and reinstalled the software/hardware a half dozen times and I've still got problems. It shouldn't be this hard. There have to be better wireless cards out there.
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linksys card, April 16, 2004
By user
Do Not Buy. This card has caused me and my roomate so much frustration, I feel like Linksys should be paying me. Internet service is never constant, and tech support is harder to get a hold of than the president. Don't give this company any more money until they make a product that works.
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Pretty Good Card - Range isnt that great., April 3, 2004
By user (New York , USA)
At school there is a wireless network and i always use this card to get on to the network. There are 7 routers, and many places that i have access to wireless. But in some of those places, the card cannot keep a steady connection and the only page it will be able to load is google. THis happens even when the signal strength is good. i dont know if it is the new apple airports that the school has, but im not too satisfied with it.
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No good, March 30, 2004
By user (St. Louis, MO United States)
Very weak. I bought this with the linksys router, antenna, and antenna booster. It could not pick up a signal one floor away (< 100 feet). Granted, I am in an old house with plaster and wire lathing. The Netgear card is infinitely superior and saved me from my plan to hard wire the antenna down to the second floor.
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Linksys Wireless Card, March 25, 2004
By user (Miami, FL USA / Madrid, SPAIN)
At first, this item worked relatively well and it was relatively easy to install. However, suddenly, from one day to the next, my drivers stopped functioning, therefore, the Wireless card stopped functioning. It has been a burden on my shoulders never working when I need it to work. I would recommend something else, stronger and more durable.
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Works well, March 24, 2004
By user (MESA, AZ USA)
I used this card for over a year now at my home wireless network and at an office wireless network. It was used with the Linksys WAP11. Office has metal framing, but didn't seem to cause interference. It's proven to be a reliable solution for me. I would recommend.
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Linksys Wireless-B Stinks, March 19, 2004
By user
I have been using the Linksys Wireless-B Notebook Adaptor for about six months. I never had the reception that Linksys advertised, but it sort of worked some of the time. I thought that I had to use a Linksys card with my Linksys router--it was my first wireless experience. Suddenly it stopped working. It indicated that it was transmitting, there was no internet connection (I still had a hardline connection). Then a few days later, it stopped indicating that it was connecting to the router/network either. Dead in the water. No help from any websites at all, and now from what I have read from other poor souls, the Wireless-B card just poops out suddenly. I wish I had a recommendation from a reliable source on what to buy, but I can tell you that Linksys will never have my business again.
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Works great, but why did they change the chipset?, March 12, 2004
By user (Deltona, FL USA)
It works great in Windows, the signal strength was about 75% even 200ft away (indoors) and I still got a consistent 4Mbps out of it. The setup in Windows XP was as simple as it is for every other Wireless card. The whole reason I bought the card was because the Prism chipset is supported in Linux. Unfortunately, Linksys did the underhanded thing and changed it in the V4 revision without notifying anybody or changing the model number. Linksys tech support say they have no plans to release Linux drivers either. This is really bad business practise and I hope they change their policies.
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Perfomance degrades over time, January 27, 2004
By user (NJ)
This card worked initially, but over 6 months it had more and more connection problems untill it just stopped working.
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Easy installation, reliable performance, good price, January 26, 2004
By user (Brooklyn, NY USA)
The Linksys wireless adapter for notebooks works great with my home network. It was easy to install and I can move it back and forth between two different notebooks, depending on whether or not my kid is home from college and needs to hook into our cable modem. When he's not around, the adapter can go into another family member's laptop. Overall, a good buy and excellent performance.
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Enter the world of WiFi, January 26, 2004
By user (Boston MA United States)
Plug this device into your laptop and you will have Internet access for thousands of WiFi hotspots all over the world. Some you have to pay for, but increasingly hotels and cities are making them available for free.In addition, you can make your home completely wireless by installing a wireless router and wireless print servers. All of the parts worked perfectly for me with no installation hassles whatsoever. This is absolutely the way to go.
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Don't buy this card, January 13, 2004
By user (Chicago, IL)
I trust Linksys for all their products except this. I run Windows XP and was getting a Low signal less than 10 feet away. I got this so I can work upstairs but I would get intermittent signals and speeds less than 45kbps(if I was lucky). I returned it and got an Orinoco Gold instead, and it's GREAT, 1.5Mbps anywhere in the house.
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DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT, January 12, 2004
By user (olive branch, ms United States)
I OWN TWO OF THESE UNITS. ONE WENT OUT ABOUT A MONTH AGO AND THE OTHER TOOK TWO MONTHS TO QUIT. CALLED THEIR TECH SUPPORT . WAITED ONE HOUR TO TALK TO SOMEONE WHO WAS NO HELP AT ALL. BOTH UNITS SEND BUT DO NOT RECEIVE . WENT TO THER WEB PAGE SOMETIME IT IS UP, BUT MOST OF THE TIME IT IS DOWN. DO NOT BUY THIS CARD IT HAS BEEN A NIGHTMARE...
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