| Linksys WUSB11 Wireless-B USB Network Adapter v4 |
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Model: WUSBF54G
Brand: Linksys
Manufacturer: Linksys
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 368
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: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: IEEE 802.11b
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| Features: |
Product Type - Adapter
Warranty - 3 Years Limited
Transmitted Power - 18dBm (Typical)11Mbps, 16dBm (Typical)54Mbps
Receive Sensitivity - -84dBm (Typical)11Mbps, -73dBm (Typical)54Mbps |
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| Description: |
| If you've been searching for an easy way to integrate any PC or laptop into your wireless network, you'll find just the solution with the Instant Wireless USB Network Adapter. The Plug-and-Play Wireless USB Network Adapter connects directly to any USB-ready PC - just plug it in and you're ready to share data, printers, or high speed Internet access over your existing wireless network. For desktop installation, you don't even have to open your PC's case. And user-friendly software makes it simple to set up. Not only is the Instant Wireless USB Network Adapter easy to install and use, it's also powerful. You can send and receive data at speeds up to 11Mbps and a new higher-powered antenna provides greater ranges than ever. The increased sensitivity helps filter out interference and "noise" to keep your signal clear. Improved error correction keeps you operating at higher transmission rates over longer distances. It's also versatile. Need to use it temporarily on another PC? No problem. Plug it into the USB port, set it up, and you're ready to go. So for full desktop and notebook PC flexibility and wireless convenience, the Instant Wireless USB Network Adapter provides an all-in-one solution! |
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| User Reviews (368 total): |
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Warning: do not buy this product for Windows XP, July 27, 2003
By unknown
Many reviewers have commented on the ease of use of this product. This may be true for OS's which are not Windows XP. I have spent 3+ hours on the phone over two days with Linksys tech support trying to get this thing working and at the end of it the best answer they could give me was "reinstall windows". Some of the problems I have had include failure to install drivers, failure of the wireless to work properly unless the router is set to perpetually broadcast the SSID, and the fact that it just plain stopped working at one point.
During the tech support process the tech had me install it on my W2K machine and it worked fine there and the setup was fairly easy...so maybe it's an OK choice if you don't have XP.
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Excellent Range, July 19, 2003
By Computer Enthusiast (Jersey City, NJ)
I've worked with many wireless devices and this is one of the best. I never use the drivers that come in the box, I always download the latest drivers from the manufactures website. I highly recommend the quick install instructions. On XP all you need to do is plug in the device into your USB port, point to the directory you saved the driver and just press next. The device configures in a few seconds and doesn't even require a reboot (although it's always recommended). The range on this product is unbelievable, I have the Linksys WPC11 card which doesn't come close to the range on this baby. I live in a NYC apartment building and using this adapter I can view and cruise on any of my neighbors connections. This brings up the issue of security. I have two security recommendations, turn on MAC address security (to restrict the authorized clients) and enable WEP (link encryption) security. The MAC address of most linksys products in printed near the serial number on the bottom. You enter this number in your gateway/router (note: all new nic cards must be entered - use "IPConfig /all" to view mac address). The second half of good security is using a WEP key. You must first enter the key in the gateway/router. If you use a passphrase then genrate the key. For simplicity sake use Key 1 (there are 4 possible keys). If you are configuring the key on Windows XP using the built in configuration tool, you must enter the Hexdecimal equivalent, NOT the passphrase. The passphrase is only a linksys feature, the rest of the wireless world uses hex (40 bit is 10 characters) passwords. This is a 10 character password if you chose a 64 bit encryption for example. On windows XP linksys does not recommend using the configuration utility (you will have problems if you try and install it). The built in Windows XP network utility is sufficient for any configuration and works quite well. It's not as user friendly as the Linksys configuration tool, but it's free with the operation system. My only negative comment, it that linksys should have made a compatible configuration utility for people who wanted that option. Overall, one of the better linksys produts I've used. I give it a 4 because they should also offer the product with Wireless G and even an A option. Seems that they haven't producted USB wirless adaptors with these additional specs.
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A Nifty Add-on., July 18, 2003
By Andrew Doris (Wichita, KS United States)
I hate opening my computer to install cards, and with this
wireless device I didn't have to. I just plugged it into a free USB jack, let it intsall the drivers from the included CD, and in under five minutes this computer was connected to the wireless network. It was totally hassle-free. I highly recommend this for easy acces to wireless networking.
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Use it with my TiVos. Works Great with Apple's Airport, July 17, 2003
By Computer Geek (Wake Forest, NC United States)
I use this for my two TiVos (one on each) and with my Apple Airport Extreme system.Only caveat is I had to set the Airport Extreme to 802.11b only. For some reason this won't work with 802.11b/g mode on the TiVo. This is a TiVo issue because it worked fine on my two laptops (one running Win2k and one running win xp)
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Installing WUSB11 on XP, July 17, 2003
By georgek530 (USA)
Once installed, the WUSB11 wireless adapter works perfectly with a Linksys BEFW11S4 router. However, my XP computers would not recognize the installation disc set-up command until I changed the compatability setting to Windows 98/ME, even though the advertising says it's XP compatable. Unfortunately, the Linksys tech reps weren't aware of this problem and led me through hours of useless settings changes before I accidently found the fix. Great product, once installed.
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Won't connect TiVo to an 802.11b/g router, July 6, 2003
By unknown
After 2 days of reconfiguring my network (Linksys 802.11B/G router) in every way imaginable & getting no connection from the TiVo with this adapter, I searched the messageboards and discovered this adapter is "tempermental" with a combined 802.11b/g router. The TiVo site recomends it, but no one mentioned router compatibility...get the WUSB12 model - worked like a charm in 3 minutes.
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V2.6 is the worst, July 1, 2003
By Smokie (Houston, TX United States)
I've been using the WUSB11 v2.5 for over a year now on an XP box with outstanding results. After recently building a second machine, I purchased a v2.6 only to have horrible results. It turns out the v2.6 is a diffent design and diffent chipset with muuch less capability. While the v2.5 runs at 11Mbs from 40ft away, the v2.6 won't make a reliable connection at 15ft. Linksys finally got it going, after being on the phone for over an hour, by limiting it to 2Mbs max. I tried a second one on two other machines (including my orignial XP box) with the same [bad]performance. If you can find a v2.5 around grab it, you won't be sorry. But stay away from the new v2.6.
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Works Great and Super Easy to Install, June 25, 2003
By stacydavis97 (Gainesville, GA United States)
The install was easy since it's USB and the setup disk walks you through all settings to make this little puppy run. It was much smaller than I expected it to be and that was a good thing. I have it upstairs with the BEFW11S4 down stairs and it has always connected with a strong signal. There is another one on the way for my lab computer. I expect it will work just as well. Highly recommend this product.
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Unbelievable, June 23, 2003
By unknown
It took longer to get this baby outta the box than it took to install.... well, almost. It could NOT have been easier.
I was up and running in 5 minutes. Prior to installing it, I called the Linksys help line because I have Windows98 and the technical specs indicate that Windows98SE is required. Those guys answered on the 2nd ring. Again.. incredible. This is one good piece of hardware.
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Works great with XP, June 17, 2003
By smartguy087 (Temperance, MI United States)
I don't know what all of you people are talking about but the wusb11 is better than any other network adaptors i have! All you have to do to get it to work with Windows XP is follow the directions. They tell you to plug in the unit and then install the software. The wusb11 also has a great range, it is twice as far from my wireless router than my wireless pci card and still has a 100% signal, where my pci card only has between 70-80%. If I knew that the signal would be this good I would have bought two of these insead of a pci card.
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Works well with my laptop, June 16, 2003
By D. Schwartz (Seattle, WA United States)
This USB network adapter works very well with my laptop. The fold-in/out antenna gives it great reception--while at home, I can be anywhere in my house and receive 100% signal strength and quality. While using a wireless PC-Card, the signal strength/quality was linguring around 70%.This network adapter is very light-weight and requires no outside power source. Just plug it right into the USB, and you're ready to go.
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Wonderful, June 10, 2003
By Eric J Greenhalgh (Salt Lake City, UT USA)
This is a wonderful tool in connecting all of your computers without having to worry about cords. It is lightweight and with the wall-mount you can put it anywhere you want. I love it!
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More Garbage from Linksys, June 7, 2003
By unknown
I've been a fan of Linksys products but the last two adapters have sent me to DLink. This product wont work with any of my computers. Spent an hour on the phone with Linksys' poor tech support. Ended the call after the 1st hour and decided to return it. Not sure what happened at Linksys but I bought a CF11 and USB11 and both were dead out of the box. Chose Dlink as a replacement for both and had no real problem and their tech support is much better than the Linksys.
Don't buy Linksys.
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Works with XP Home and XP Pro, June 4, 2003
By anguspc (Sunrise, Florida United States)
1) First of all, be sure to have the latest drivers...2) Then read the manual. But be careful, the instructions for XP are not accurate. But will get you in the proper direction. 3) Also, don't forget to login as an administrator on XP before you install. (Guest access won't install properly) 4) Setup and connection will require some knowledge of wireless networking. (My mother could never get it to work). 5) Use channel 11 to prevent your phone from causing a problem. 6) Use 64bit to have better speed. (don't forget your network key and SSID) For home use, I doubt you will need 128bit.
NOTE: If you are using wireless at work, your IT manager should be fired and replaced... trust me! It took me about 1 hour to figure out and setup my first WUSB11. Additional setups on other XP PCs now take about 20 min (mentioned time includes opening the box).
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Great product - except with WinXP, June 3, 2003
By Walter Seymore (Woking, Surrey United Kingdom)
Ok, it has been 6 months since I last posted this review and I am sorry to report that there has been no improvement! I recently bought the Belkin Wireless adapter and all my problems have disappeared.I bought the BEFW11S4 with two WUSB11 adapters and installation was easy and everything works well on both my Windows 2000 and WinXP machines until I try to play network games. The Windows 2000 machine still works like a dream, but WinXP keeps losing the connection. I have spent weeks talking to linksys support, but they would not admit that there is a problem or even look into it. Their last communication to me was: "Don't play online games with a wireless network"! If you are not running WinXP (at least, if you are running Windows 2000 :-)), I would recommend this highly. Hopefully linksys can fix their WinXP driver in the near future, but I would steer clear of it until then.
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Drops connection too often, June 1, 2003
By unknown
This just doesn't work that well. The connection drops every 15-30 minutes.
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Adapter will not work with Windows XP, May 23, 2003
By John (Madison, WI)
The WUSB11 Adapter will not work with Windows XP. The computer will not recognize the hardware. When I tried to load the drivers I received an error message that the drivers were incompatable and damage could result from loading them. This is in spite of the adapter documentation saying that it is compatable with XP. If you have XP don't buy the adapter. I plan to return mine.
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Frequent Dropped Connections, May 21, 2003
By sailnavy (New York)
Works great, just drops connection about once every 15minutes. It re-connects, but takes a few minutes to do it. I've tried new drivers, and multiple machines. XP just doesn't seem to like it.Jason
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Not ready for XP, May 18, 2003
By picture taker (McFarland, WI United States)
I have 4 computers networked and only the Mac with an airport
card will work with the WAP, very disappointed with the linksys
adapters ability to work with the XP operating system. I show no
signal at all to the adapter card, yet the Mac works fine with the WAP. I finally wired two up directly and will probably have to spend more money to purchase a pci card. The instructions were
of no help, the website drivers and filmware didn't work, the phone call to the helpline was a long call without a solution. I
am not down on Linksys their router and WAP are working great, but they can't seem to make XP wireless at least with this adapter. I only hope that the PCI card works. Next time I will read the reviews before I purchase.
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Does not work with Windows 98SE, May 14, 2003
By ciwpro (baltimore, md)
I could not get this to work on a PIII with Windows 98 SE. The call to linksys tech support was very dissapointing. The person was very inexperianced. To get to a Level II tech you have to waste at least 30-40 minutes first.I was told there is a problem on Windows 98 SE with the USB. I've never had a problem with other USB device. Buyers beware...
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