| Linksys WPS11 Wireless-B Print Server |
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Model: WPS11
Brand: Linksys
Manufacturer: Linksys
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 80
Platforms: Windows NT, Macintosh, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows NT 3.5, Windows NT 4, Windows NT 5, PowerMac, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 2000 Server, Mac OS X, Mac OS 9 and below, Windows
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Parallel, IEEE 802.11b
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| Features: |
Share a printer with everyone on your network
Integrates seamlessly through both Ethernet and Wireless connections
Remotely administered through your network connection
Supports a high data rate up to 11 Mbps
Stand-alone print server--no dedicated print server PC required |
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| Description: |
| The WPS11 EtherFast Instant Wireless PrintServer makes it easy to add a printer to your wireless network. Preserve system resources and avoid the bottleneck headaches that are almost inevitable when you attach a printer to a network node. Instead, place a printer anywhere in range of your wireless devices using this compact, precision device. Runs with virtually all Parallel port printers Supports multiple simultaneous print jobs Integrates through both Ethernet and Wireless connections 256KB RAM buffer 512KB flash memory Free tech support - 24/7; North America only System Requirements - Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT/ME/2000, Parallel printer, Ethernet connection for configuration 1.18H x 5.91W x 8.66D Includes AC adapter |
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| User Reviews (80 total): |
Page 1 2 3 4 of Total 4 Pages
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Aarrgh!!!, September 28, 2003
By Khrt Williams (Princeton, NJ United States)
I bought this because I did not want to dedicate one of my lab machines to print services. This was one of the most challenging device setup I have ever experienced. All of my networking equipment is LinkSys (LinkSys 4 Port WAP, LinkSys PC Card, LinkSys PCI card etc.)
I eventually gave up an called tech support and was able to get one machine printing. After much trial and error I was able to get all my Windows XP and Linux machines to successfully use the device.
However, I find I must reset the device (unplug power cord, wait 10 seconds, plug back in) each day. For some reason, even with a static IP, the device hangs and I get print errors.
I gave up in disgust and bought a Netgear print server that was both easy to setup and works flawlessly.
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Manual missing key piece of information..., September 26, 2003
By unknown
I had the same problem many others have reported. After following all instructions in the manual perfectly, my router could not connect wirelessly (only worked with Ethernet cable connected). A call to Linksys tech support revealed that I needed to set the SSID of my wireless print server to the same SSID as my wireless router. Once I did this, the WLAN light on my printserver started blinking and everything worked fine.Technician was helpful, but ruined an otherwise perfect support call with a poor answer to my question "Why wasn't this key piece of information included in the manual?". His answer: "This should have been obvious.". :o
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Great product, setup a pain!!, September 23, 2003
By Jago (Iraq)
After using Linksys's other products (various wireless adapters, hubs, and switches) successfully, I felt it would be a safe bet to get this print server. Hardware installation is a breeze. Simply connect your printer's cable to the server, connect a CAT5 network cable between the server and a networked hub or switch (I used my wireless-B router/access point also by Linksys), and use either the web-based configuration screens or use Bi Admin that's included on the CD that comes with the server. Unhook the CAT5 cable, and you're ready to go. Or at least that's what I had hoped.The wireless mode wouldn't work at all from my Win98SE PC, and it worked for 10 minutes before dying on my WinXP machine. After I read other reviews of people calling tech support, I felt that would have been a waste of time. Then I made a discovery that only the network-experienced computer user would catch. My PCI NICs on both machines were in the same IP range as my wireless, and I had thought that it was causing Windows to use my NICs to access the print server. Of course, this didn't work because I wanted wireless. As a test, I disabled the NICs. Voila!! I was able to access the print server without incident, but disabling the NICs was not a good permanent solution. So I made my NICs use only IPX/SPX and NETBIOS for networking (I don't file share over wireless due to security and its slow speed), and I use my wireless equipment for printing and internet access. My two PCs have been using the print server with 100% success. I'm not sure if the IP ranges themselves had anything to do with it, but using the other protocols for sharing works just fine for my two PCs. One last important note about the web interface: it labels the IPs for the gateway and the subnet mask backwards. Bi Admin gets it right, though. My guess is that a firmware update will fix the web interface, though none was available at the time I wrote this review. I also highly recommend that DHCP is disabled on the server and set a fixed IP, use WEP encryption (as all of your wireless devices should, even if WEP is flawed - it's better than nothing), and password-protect it. That way a user will always know the IP when they want to use the web interface for configuration. So if anyone can't get the wireless mode to work on the print server, and you have NICs that are also using TCP/IP, try the aformentioned modification to see if this helps. Too bad it wasn't listed in the manual.
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Look Elsewhere!, September 12, 2003
By Dr. L. hogue Jr. (Annapolis, Maryland United States)
Linksys Customer service has little to be desired I spent 12 hours trying to get this hooked into my Linksys router and system
After being hung up on 2x be on hold for over 2hrs in total I was told it was windows problem..one tech was reading some manual im sure 1 word at a time and shouting at me to write stuff down...they dont speak english too well, finally I was told since my new Lexmark printer was only USB cable ready and no parrallel cable it was incompatible....oh yeah and no list is available on what printers are workable....but the kid swore at Best Buy that it would all work.......NOT!
Returned it...will wait for a better product! I would not purchase this and if you gave it to me its nothing but lessons in aggravation and sheer nonsence. Someone at Linksys needs to do some Quality Assurance! Oh and BEST BUY you need it too!
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Great Product. Poor Customer Service, September 5, 2003
By unknown
I am not an expert when it comes to setting up a wireless network, but setting up my router and network cards were simple. When it came to setting up the Print Server, I had some difficulties. The Print Server was not detected by the network. Ultimately, I had to call customer service. Well needless to say, they were very rude and very impatient with my naivety of computers. I hope they realize that most of their customers are not experts with computers. Well, after 2 hours of troubleshooting, the problem was that I had to disable Windows' firewall and all was fine. I have not have had any problems since and I really like not having to be connected to my printer. For any future customers of this product, disable any firewalls before you install the Print Server. Two hours could have easily been saved if this information was written in their instruction manual. I would give the product 5 stars; however, the customer service and installation instructions needs some improvement.
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Be careful with All in One Printers, August 23, 2003
By J Nichlaus (United States)
After trying to get any of the Linksys Wireless Print Servers to work for the last couple of days, I find out from their helpdesk they do not work with many of the multifunction printers offered . Be careful before you go through what I did.
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Product does not work!, July 19, 2003
By unknown
Linksys must not have a Quality Assurance department. I have had two units in a row that were bad "out of the box." I spent one hour on the phone with tech support, each time, for them to figure that out! Set up instructions assume that anyone running a wireless network does not enable security since there are no instructions on how to do that. I highly recommend that you do not purchase this product!!
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No USB port, July 16, 2003
By vic polk (Newton, MA United States)
It may have been my mistake, but when the ads say that this works with virtually all printers and it is becoming increasingly common that home printers come with a USB connection, why not make it clear that this will not work with those printers? I recently purchased two printers, an HP 6110 and a Samsung ML-1710, and both use USB connections and thus neither work with this device.
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The missing info in the user guide, July 9, 2003
By Steven Pemberton (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
It took me weeks to get it going, but I perservered. The missing information? When you get the 'Add Printer' wizard, it asks if the printer is connected to your computer, or a network printer.Despite what you would expect, choose 'Connected to my computer', not 'Network printer', and when it asks you which port, choose 'Printserver Port' with the name of your WPS11 next to it.I spent weeks trying to get it to work as a network printer. Silly me.
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OK Product - Useless manual, July 5, 2003
By chcarrington (West Chester, PA)
This product works fine - but don't expect to get it going without an hour on hold to technical support. The manual leaves a lot to be desired - there are several key steps in the set up that are completely missed. Tech support was fine, after the wait.
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useless junk...there are better ways to blow [your money], June 29, 2003
By teddifer (Los Angeles, CA and Wellington, NZ)
so i bought this and brought it back to new zealand with me. to sum up my experience i spent 2 full weekends trying to get it to work. after the first weekend extravaganza i had some in depth conversations with the IT department at work to help me bone up on my networking skills. but even that i wasn't able to get it to work. there is no tech support in new zealand. i tried to contact singapore for support, but somehow got transfered to japan. after a lot of confusion, i decided to pay the price to call the states for tech support. the support dude spent 30 minutes on the phone with me and determined that he couldn't help me. "maybe is faulty" he said. the hassle and cost of mailing a product back to the states means that the item is still sitting at home. i should probably see if there is a guy at work with more time to waste than i have to play with toys--i work with a lot of geeks! to sum it up. if you have a lot of time. if you like bad user guides. if you like talking to useless tech support staff. if you got [money] you were thinking of burning. if you buy electronics for the sport and adventure of it...then this is a product for you. in fact the whole class of products. from all the reviews i have read the competing products on the market offer equivalent value. it is very unfortunate, because i would like to buy one that works after i have paid the price.
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Great Product - Documentation is lacking, June 20, 2003
By unknown
After reading several reviews I have come to the conclusion that the product works well, but it requires some advanced knowledge of wireless configurations to set it up. My only delay was due to grabing a crossover Cat 5 cable used when setting it up orgininally. It works very well and does exactly as advertised. Some of the more detailed reviews have helpful hints and the manual is definately lacking. As with all wireless it takes some patience to make sure the components are set properly. Linksys router, access point and print server all shine!
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Be careful what you choose as your SSID, June 10, 2003
By unknown
I have no explanation for this, but I could not get my unit to work until I changed my SSID. First, I wanted to use the SSID of "Enterprise". I could not get it to work in the wireless mode. I double checked everything including the 128 key with no luck. All of my other wireless cards worked fine with this setting. Just not the WPS11. So, I changed my SSID to "work" (along with the rest of my network including the WAP etc). Suddently, it was like magic. Everything worked fine! If your having problems getting this unit to work, try using a different SSID. Maybe it did not like how long "enterprise" is?
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Works Well But Posts Were Right, May 16, 2003
By Sixblackbelts (Tulsa, OK USA)
First I want to thank all of those who posted thier experiences and how to install this thing, without those posts I would have never gotten it working. I have a network that runs pc and mac. Main problem was the linksys router would not recognize the print server. Had to get it over 7 feet away, shut off all power while hitting the reset for 15 seconds, turn everything back on while still holding reset then wait another 15. After five times of doing this it the amber light started flickering. I felt like the mad scientist in Frankenstein "ITS ALIVE" , then for the mac to locate it we had to do it through apple talk, a little tweaking and its great. The manual SUCKS!! You guys are great!!
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The Linksys WPS11 v3 is a piece of junk ... don't buy it!, April 11, 2003
By bruceloth (Washington, VA United States)
After really great experieces with a Linksys 4 port DSL router three years ago and later a similar product with a built-in 802.11b access point, I was more than willing to give the Linksys Instant Wireless PrintServer (WPS11 ver. 3) a try. What a mistake that was. Spent 2+ hours filddling with it and another hour with Linksys technical support (mostly on hold). I consider myself pretty good with software, networks, and hardware (going on 10+ years as a programmer) but the WPS11 had me beat. I did manage to get the device installed and configured, I just could not print from any programs on my PC -- I kept getting the error message "The handle is invalid" when attempting to print via the WPS11. That was the problem I called Linsys technical support about. I spoke with two people and the only thing worse than their english was their knowlege of the device and its configuration. Ultimately, I was disconnected (or they hung up on me) without the problem getting resolved. Some observerations: 1) The documentation is terrible. 2) The interface for the two programs you install on your PC to configure and use the print server are clunky and amateurish (not very professional looking). The interface for the web browser accesible program that lets you configure the print server is clunky and slow. 3) In order to get the device to go into "wireless" mode after you unplug the CAT 5 cable, you have to power it down and back up again. That little fact isn't mentioned ANYWHERE in the documentation or on Linksys' web site and it cost me the first of the three hours I spent trying to get this device to work. I gave up on the WPS11 and bought the Netgear Wireless Ready Print Server (PS111W) instead. It requires the seperate purchase of a Netgear 802.11b wireless PCMCIA adapter (MA401) but it was the right decision. Crisp, very clean looking configuration software and less than 10 minutes to install. Works like a champ - wish I had tried the Netgear first.
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Difficult to configure ... May not work at all for you., April 11, 2003
By bruceloth (Washington, VA United States)
After really great experiences with the Linksys 4 port DSL router 3 years ago and later a similar product with a built-in 802.11b access point, I was more than willing to give the Linksys Instant Wireless PrintServer (WPS11 ver. 3) a try. What a mistake that was. I spent more than two hours fiddling with it and another hour with Linksys technical support (mostly on hold). I consider myself pretty good with software, networks, and hardware (going on 10+ years as a programmer) but the WPS11 had me beat. I did manage to get the device installed and configured, I just could not print from any programs on my PC -- I kept getting the error message "The handle is invalid" when sending a print job to the printer via the WPS11. That was the problem I called Linksys technical support about. I spoke with two people and the only thing worse than their english was their knowledge of the device. Ultimately, I was disconnected (or they hung up on me) without the problem getting resolved. Some observations: 1) The documentation is terrible. 2) The interface for the program you install on your PC to configure the print server is clunky and amateurish (not very professional looking). The interface for the web browser accessible program that lets you configure the print server is clunky and slow. 3) In order to get the device to go into "wireless" mode after you unplug the CAT 5 cable, you have to power it down and back up again. That little fact isn't mentioned ANYWHERE in the documentation or on the Linksys web. Ultimately, I gave up on the WPS11 and bought the Netgear Wireless Ready Print Server (PS111WNA) instead. It requires the separate purchase of a Netgear 802.11b wireless PCMCIA adapter (MA401) but it was the right decision. Crisp, clean looking configuration software and less than 10 minutes to install. Works like a champ, I wish I had tried the Netgear first.
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Not working with all the printers, February 28, 2003
By unknown
I have a Canon BJC 5100 but he will not work with this printer driver. Linksys confirms me that 'he is not on the list of tested printers'. THis list is only internal availibleErik-Jan
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Performance: Excellent -- Ease of Setup: Room to Improve!, February 11, 2003
By J. Newman (St. Charles, IL USA)
If you are able and willing to just pull everything out of the box and use it without any customization, the WPS11 works great. Mine communicates with a BEFW11S4 wireless access point and everything is fast and smooth.BUT -- and this is a big one -- I have YET to be able to get it to work with anything other than the default SSID or with WEP Passphrase and 128-bit encryption. I've spent around 10 hours hacking around with it so far, about 3 of that with Linksys technical support on the phone, and still no progress. I'm confident I'll get it working at some point, but it's sure a lot of time to invest in something that's not exactly rocket science.
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It could have been a 5, January 20, 2003
By Peter Saflund (Covington, WA USA)
I'm using the WPS 11 on a dual platform (XP and Apple OS X) wireless LAN connected to a cable modem via an Apple Airport set up as a DHCP router providing NAT to 5 workstations (2 XP, 1 W98, 2 Mac). Setting up the WPS 11 is every bit as daunting as many of the other reviews of this product claim. My biggest problem was getting Windows and Apple printing protocols to work together. The Win setup is fairly OK following the manual BUT ..... depending on the rest of your wireless network you could spend a lot of time chasing little problems. The WPS 11 defaults to channel 6. That's OK if you're using a Linksys router/access point. If not, you have to move the radio channel, or you'll think it's dead. Setting up via the ethernet port and then re-powering in order to scan the wireless LAN is another problem, but if you let it get a DHCP address from your router and you've got the right radio channel you should be able to access the box from the web admin or the "Biadmin" utility wirelessly. The easiest way to set up Apple printing is through IP printing. With the OS X /Unix drivers available from Gimp-Print you should be able to get almost any printer working. I started with on old Deskjet 560C just to make sure everything was working, before I ordered a new laser printer. Linksys could save their tech staff (which I didn't call) and their customers a LOT of grief if they'd put a few sample configurations in the manual and provided a few resource links. The paltry set of Apple utilities in the Linksys disk are in a folder called "unsupported" and mainly pertain to AppleTalk under OS 9. Don't bother. Go straight for IP printing. Linksys doesn't even tell you the default queue name ( "lp" worked) and it's all the little stuff like that which keeps this from being a 5. When you get it working, it's great and the price can't be beat, but it's really nowhere near up to the state of the plug and play art with either Windows or Apple products. On the plus side, you can adminster the server from an embedded web utility over wireless, so if you're all Apple, you actually can get it running. Just push the reset button while connected to a printer and the box will print it's diags, including current IP address. Point a browser there and you're in. Again, this is not well documented and if you're using a wireless machine, be sure to note the radio channel and reset your WiFi card to the same frequency. I can see why people just send them back though, and for any 'dead radio' issues, be sure all your wireless devices are on the same channel. Lastly, if this server is part of a wireless LAN and not used stand alone, you MUST set it as an infrastructure device, not ad-hoc. Again, poorly documented. I found this by reading the Help file in the Bi-admin utility and it's burried deep. As a rule, always get a diag printout using a short push of the reset button, and make sure the IP address and radio channels match up. This will solve a lot of problems. Linksys products are robust and reliable, and I'm sure now that it's working the WPS 11 will be too.
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The WPS-11 does exactly what Linksys says it does!, January 18, 2003
By James Feragola (New York)
As soon as you take it out of the box follow the Quick setup guide and establish a connection through a switch or router (wont work hooked directly to the net port on the computer). Next, press and hold the reset button for 10 seconds, keep the button depressed and un-plug the unit and leave it un-plugged for 10 more seconds, keep the button depressed for 10 more seconds after plugging the unit back in. The unit will be reset to default and should print a test page. Install the drivers, and call tech support, they will walk you through the rest in less than 5 mins. (I was on hold for about 2 mins.) Thats it! It wont work with all printers but works with most and prints in wireless mode flawlessly.
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