| Linksys WPC54G Wireless-G Notebook Adapter |
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Model: WPC54G
Brand: Linksys
Manufacturer: Linksys
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 258
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: Windows
Form factor: Plug-in module
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
Product Type - Adapter
Data rates up to 54Mbps -- 5 times faster than Wireless-B (802.11b)
Also interoperates with Wireless-B networks (at 11Mbps)
Up to 128-bit WEP encryption
Advanced wireless security: Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), and up to 128-bit encryption |
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| Description: |
| LINKSYS WPC54G - Wireless-G is the emerging 54 Mbps wireless networking standard that's almost five times faster than the widely deployed Wireless-B ( 802.11b ) products found in homes, businesses and public wireless hotspots around the country. The best part is, since they share the same 2.4GHz radio band, Wireless-G devices talk to existing 11 Mbps Wireless-B equipment. |
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| User Reviews (258 total): |
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dififcult setup with Airport base, March 24, 2003
By garylou (Boulder, CO USA)
Installation was easy on HP laptop running XP (Home), got immediate detection of signal from my Apple Airport Base Station (I have been successfully running Airport network with several machines in my house for more than a year). Although the Linksys Wireless-G was clearly talking to the Airport, it wasn't getting a correct IP or DNS via DHCP. I was saved by another poster here who wrote: "Getting the 128 bit WEP configuration to work required asking a consultant for help. Apparently, you must enter the long security code versus the network access password. This obscure nuance was not obviously noted in the manual or on line documentation." Reset the WEP password on the Airport, specified that in a control panel on the laptop and everything worked. Compared to installing a wireless card on a Mac, this was ridiculously difficult. But it now works. ***** for performance, great range and * for setup, which averages to *** rating overall.
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Good Stuff!, March 24, 2003
By trongod (San Antonio, TX United States)
Well, I can't say that my experience has been all good. I bought the card as well as the 54G router. I didn't seem to have any luck for about the first hour I had the product. But that is about all the trouble I had. It kept dropping offline. But then I tweaked it out a bit and has worked like a dream ever since. In fact I have not dropped offline at all since then and the signal has a pretty good range. Just the other night I sat outside and barbecued while surfing and downloading. What more can you ask for? Plain and simple, if you know what you are doing, you won't have any trouble with it. It works great and would highly recommend it.
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Brilliant! But has WEP issues with XP, March 23, 2003
By unknown
This product is Brilliant if you do not use the WEP feature of Windows XP. Apparently XP does not like Phrase Passwords and does not know how to handle HEX that easily too. So I recommend just using all the LinkSys control features instead
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Doesn't install on all laptops., March 21, 2003
By Mean One (Old Greenwich, Conn)
The card installed nicely on my Dell Inspiron, but
the installation hung on my HP Pavilion (several
people have described similar experiences).Updated drivers on the website didn't work either.
Interesting neither Linksys nor HP have mentioned
this in their support databases. Given the number
of responses this can't be a fluke.
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Did not work with Compaq/HP and WINXP (until BETA DRIVERs!), March 20, 2003
By Bart (NY USA)
As already mentioned by other reviewers, this card does not work on my Compaq Presario 900 running WinXP. The laptop freezes with 100% CPU utilization as soon as the card is installed. I've tried all the suggestions ranging from the latest drivers, disabling various items in the device manager and configuring WinXP zero config. wireless service. All to no avail! Customer support was sub-par, with the representative basically reading off a script. If you own a Compaq or HP laptop, please save yourself the trouble and DO NOT buy this until someone releases a fix!!!UPDATE 4/1/03!!: This is no April Fools, Linksys has released a beta driver that did work for my Presario laptop. It can be found on their driver download page. In small print it says: "If you are having problems using this Adapter and you have a Texas Instrument CardBus Controller, please download this driver here."
I needed to install the driver in safe mode, but now it's smooth surfing!
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Great Product, March 19, 2003
By tbaker129 (North Central MA)
Great Product, quick setup, I have A belkin wireless 802.11b router, (not highly recomended) running the b speeds of 11 MB/S I got this card becasue the network card I had died and needed to replace it, I found this one and read about the G networking and had to have it. I don't understand how people are having trouble with the instalation, it is a breese, I uninstalled my previous drivers for the other card I was running and recomend doing so if you have on as well because they could be conflicting and it would screw up your configuration. Great Product and I highly recomend it with a Linksys G access point/router.
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Doesn't work on my HP ZE4145 Either, March 15, 2003
By BC (Antigua, Caribbean)
I was running the linksys A+B card (which worked fine but had terrible reception...could barely go to the next room without getting "poor" reception). I then decided to try out the wireless G system, So I bought a wireless G router...which I wasn't going to hook up until i could see the reception of my G-card on the A+B Router. It worked really really well...From the same room I wanted to use it in, I went from "below average" reception to "very good." I was impressed...then after I restarted my machine about ten minutes later, I had the same exact problem that another reviewer noted with his HP ZE4125 (which is the same machine with less ram--i think). Basically, when the card is inserted, the system hangs up (100% of the processor is used so you can't do anything). As soon as you disconnect the card, bingo...your system is back and runnning...but without your network capabilities (unless you have a wired lan). It really bummed me out because I am in the Caribbean, and I can't exactly go to the nearest bestbuy and get a replacement.I decided to give the linksys 3 stars, even though It's not working because a customer service rep is trying to be as helpful as he can. Plus, I did see the card in action for about ten minutes...and it worked really well. I'm not sure if this is just an HP laptop issue...I'm going to try it on my dad's laptop tomorrow. Bottom line: If you live in the US...get this card (if you don't have an HP) and try it out. stick with the tried and true "b" cards...they're slower, but they've been around for years now...and all the bugs are worked out. I will post an addendum to this review as soon as I resolve it with Linksys. BTW...the linksys G router works really well...My fixed wireless internet connection (we don't have cable or dsl here) detects it!...and my desktops were all connected without a hitch.
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nightmare, March 14, 2003
By Eric Kilgore (Portland, OR USA)
Linksys obviously doesn't have all the bugs worked out. I followed the documentation that came with the card for windows xp. The driver install brought my laptop to its knees. I too am running a compaq presario 900. After several pointless calls to Linksys tech support ("Well, maybe try it in another computer.") I did manage to get the card to work for about 5 minutes. Then the system continued to reboot with the card in. I tried the new drivers from the linksys web site and various permutations of the correct install procedure, all to no avail. Looks like I'll have to stick with a tried and true card until someone figures this out.
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Wireless in less than 5 minutes, March 12, 2003
By dtcdtc (Germantown, MD United States)
I own a Linksys as well as a D-Link PCMCIA wirelesee network card. I baught both of them in January. The Linksys was installed in less than 5 minues. The D-Link took about 30 minutes. Both products work excellent in my home (2 story building). I checked the reception with both products in all rooms and both work outstanding. However if I had to buy another one I would definitly I definitly prefer the Linksys as it searches the network itself, the D-Link has always to be manually restarted after the Notebook comes back from hibernation.
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Simply Wireless, March 6, 2003
By pablecito (New York, NY United States)
Extremely simple to install and immediately useful on an upgraded Win2K laptop. The install was literally inserting a CDROM, clicking through a couple of screens, rebooting. I did get slightly frustrated that it did not work immediatly, but reading the user guide directed me to right click an icon for the card in my system tray and I was wireless connected within minutes.
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Not plug and play., March 3, 2003
By slow cooker (Mountain View, CA USA)
I bought this card with the hopes of an easy installation on my W2K notebook. Getting it to work with a non-Linksys wireless hub took several frustrating evenings. The documention that came with the device and on the Linksys web site was absolutely useless. The installation software had conflicts with the firewall software so I had to remove both the firewall and linksys software and reinstall the software. Getting the 128 bit WEP configuration to work required asking a consultant for help. Apparently, you must enter the long security code versus the network access password. This obscure nuance was not obviously noted in the manual or on line documentation. I'm sure it is a little more straight forward if your network is all one brand but getting this device to work in a mixed brand environment was difficult and I should have listened to the consultant and bought the NetGear card.
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Great Product, February 28, 2003
By C. Beasley (East Lansing, MI United States)
I recently installed an entire wireless network using Linksys 54g products.The installation took place in one room. The router was to sit in the room with the desktop, but I also installed the laptop in that room because it was easier than walking back and forth to install the software. (by the way this was on a Win2k system) Anyways, the laptop software was very intuitive to use and easy to install, the laptop worked perfectly. The desktop on the other hand did not, see my review there. I recommend this product, but not it's desktop counterpart.
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No Problems using as 802.11b, February 26, 2003
By Rob Crasco (Somerville, Ma United States)
Had a card die in my 11b network, figured I would go the slow upgrade path and go with a 11g card. No intall problems and it works fine in both infrastructure and ad-hoc mode. My only side note is to remember that is this based on the DRAFT version of the 11g spec. Should be fine with flash upgrades in the future but that remains to be seen.
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Good Product, Set up a little tricky, February 25, 2003
By A. Ricciardi (Hoboken, New Jersey United States)
No problems and super speed once I got it set up. It was a little tough to get running. I'm not sure what the issue was but I had to uninstall and reinstall once to get it working. Once I did that it found my network, set up the WEP and I was off and running. I download songs in no time and can send files around to my other PC's. The signal strength is good, I have excellent speed from about 50 feet through walls. The only issue I have is that the icon in the System Tray says the network card is not connected unless you log in as an admin. It works, just says its not connected. I'm trying to solve that one.
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No Problems Here!, February 25, 2003
By montee4 (Roselle, IL United States)
Bought two of these and had them up and running on an IBM T20 Laptop with Windows 2000 Server and a Toshiba Tecra 8100 with XP. Didn't run into any problems, but be sure if you are using it with XP, you follow the quick setup guide. Do not install the Linksys admin tool, XP uses it's own interface.
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Disabled my CD drive on Sony r505g notebook, February 24, 2003
By unknown
This product appears to have been poorly tested and rushed out the door. The installation of the unsigned Xindows XP driver apparently interefered with the operation of my Sony VAIO r505GL docking station's CD-RW/DVD drive (it no longer reads data). Uninstallation of both drivers and reinstallation of the drive's driver resolves this issue. Additionally, the device was unable to achieve a connection with linksys's WAP11 802.11B access point with a Windows XP home system ( even after ensuring that Wireless zero service is enabled, and following the advice in other reviews in Linksys's Knowledgebase). I am also unable to connect to public hotspots with this device, though it works fine with the Linksys G router. IT is possible that I have defective hardware, but Linksys support has ben tremendously unresponsive to my numerous complaints regarding the device. In short, wait a few months or look to another vendor.
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Linksys Wireless 54g PC Card does not work with HP and XP, February 24, 2003
By lap lee (New York, NY)
Bought the linksys WPC54G wireless PC card for my HP pavilion ze4125 (AMD Athlon) running Windows XP with Service Pack 1a. Tried to install the Card as per instructions that came in the box, locks up my laptop everytime. The instructions tell to you turn off your laptop, insert the card, and XP should find new hardware. XP does find the Card and prompts you to insert the CD-ROM that has the drivers on it. It starts to copy over the drivers and then hangs. The only way to unfreeze your laptop is to pop the card out. If you reboot your laptop with the card in, it will sometimes hang at the initial windows screen (again, you will need to pop the card out to continue). I tried removing the drivers and installing from the CD-ROM instead, same problem. Every time you pop the card in, after you've installed the drivers, the laptop will hang (actually, the laptop is running - but the CPU usage is at 100% so everything is at a crawl). I also downloaded the latest drivers from the linksys website and searched the hp website for help. In addition I called the linksys help line and they said they never heard of this - but I've been seeing alot of similiar reviews for this card. If you are in the same situation that I am in, I suggest you try another card. Linksys obviously doesn't work with all laptops.
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Excellent product! Setup in 10 minutes., February 21, 2003
By Chris (Merrimack, NH)
I just received the Linksys 54G router and network card and within 10 minutes I was surfing the net. I couldn't tell a difference in connection speed between my old hardwire cable modem and the 54G wireless system. I did have some issues getting connected via my secure company connection though. Other than that, it was instant and fast. Now I can work on the back deck with a beer at cable modem speed without wires. The freedom is well worth the money.
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No problems, February 18, 2003
By unknown
This works fine on my HP notebook. No problems. I like the Norton's Security software that comes with it.
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Requires XP Wireless Zero Configuration Service be enabled, February 16, 2003
By Michael J. Macczak (Tampa, FL USA)
I installed the WPC54G with the WRT54G Router on a Sony GR-390 with Windows XP. The Router configuration went well using the included disk. After going to the Linksys site and downloading the most current driver for the PC card, the PC card installation seemed ok. The problem was that the PC card showed inactive and would not communicate with the router. I ran msconfig and checked the services tab and did not have Wireless Zero Configuration on the list. This is required to configure the wireless connection. Sony (and probably other OEMs) elected not to start this process in the Windows Registry. This is most likely the problem many XP users are having. It can be corrected by editing the Windows Registry to automatically start WZCSVC, but this should not be attempted unless you know how (if you must ask how, you should not be trying it). After making this change and using the Linksys knowledge base article ID KB10934338 mentioned in another review, everything works well.
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