Cisco-Linksys WUSB54G Wireless-G USB Adapter
by Linksys
|
List Price: Our Price: $34.95 You Save: $32.04 (48%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $4.99 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys WUSB54G Wireless-G USB Adapter
Customer Review: Great unit if used wisely
Summary: 5 Stars
As a long time fan of LinkSys, with some exceptions on early versions, I upgraded my WUSB12 (802.11b) to their equivalent WUSB54G (802.11g/b).The upgrade was trivial, in part, because I was familiar with the language, technology and simily products.
When buying wireless equipment from any vendor keep in mind that the version number for the hardware and software is as important as the model number. In this case, the software CD came with an obsolete version 1.0, while a downloaded version 2.0 was available online. The earlier version would not work with hidden SSID's
As with many LinkSys products, which are build using real computer chips and open-source operating systems, they produce some heat. To minimize the negative consequences of heat use the chimney effect. I always mount units vertically, and if possible with with air under the unit. Keep the unit coooool, and like all equipment, it will last forever.
Another issue is that the range of wireless depends very strongly on the enviroment, not just the vendor. In one room, local hot-spots, no more than a few inches in diameter, producd a 10 dB change in sensitivity (3:1 in signal strength). The best location for my WUSB54g turned out to be on the side of the monitor, where internal metal at the correct distance acted as a corner reflector, significantly amplifying the signal.
Using the LinkSys WRT54G as the base station, I got about 35 dB signal-to-noise ratio providing 54Mbps bandwidth going through at least 4 very solid walls with wood not metal lath. Antennas on both the base and remote station need not only to be positioned wisely but also oriented along the same axis.
Finally, if you use the most advanced features, or if you combine the unit with differnt vendors and technology, especially with WinXP SP2 on WPA, the probability of having problems increases dramatically. Regardless of what the literature says, no vendor can test the millions of combinations. Bugs happen and you may be the only one to experience a particular kind of bug if your environment is not typical of the rest of the world. And technical support is way down on the corporate food chain.
As we say, KISS (keep it simple stupid) and the technology will work fine. That means you should not load Beta firmware or other 3rd party stuff unless you want to be a bleeding edge victum. Follow, do not lead, when it comes to high technology, even if the price is the same as that of a hamburger.
Customer Review: I question the negative reviews...
Summary: 5 Stars
I've got a Linksys WRT54G V.3 wireless G broadband router as an access point. It connects via a CAT5e cable to my desktop. I've had no problems with this router. I have a fairly new Compaq laptop without built-in wireless. I plugged a Hawking wireless G 2.4GHz card into the laptop and could never get a reliable connection to the internet. I then bought a Linksys wireless G 2.4GHz PC card and had the same problem. I could easy cuss out the Hawking or Linksys cards, call them trash and give them a 1-star rating on Amazon, but being objective - I suspected the PC slot on the laptop might have a hardware problem (jiggling the card would get a connection, but it quickly disappeared). I then picked up the Linksys WUSB54G wireless G USB adapter and BINGO. I had the software installed and a connection to my wireless access port in less than 10 minutes. I have not had any of the problems reported by the reviewers here on Amazon. This is a nifty little device that solved my PC card slot hardware problem and enables me to go wireless with my laptop. The WUSB54G is a nifty little device. It's not large and clunky and comes with sticky velcro strips and a plastic quick disconnect, so I can easily attach it the cover of the laptop, or position it for a better signal. I'm using my laptop in my living room, which is separated from the access point by one room and two walls - or about 30' and I'm getting a good signal. My laptop doesn't have any USB2 ports, so I realize I'm not getting the speed that I'd be getting with USB2, nor am I getting the speed that I would with the wireless adapter card in the PC slot. This just isn't an issue. The decrease in bit transfer in comparison with the raw signal at the access point is surprisingly negligable. The fact is, I've still got a high speed connection... it's still broadband. I suspect that some users may not have an adequate handle on setting up a wireless network. You do have to have a basic understanding of the subject and the knowledge to make adjustments and settings to make the connections stable and reliable. The WUSB54G is not junk. It works, I did have to make adjustments (from DHCP to static IP settings; changing channels, renaming the SSID, etc.). I'm fortunate in that I have an extensive IT background in computers, but anyone who is willing to attempt setting up a wireless network, should be able to read some of the basic help web sites (Google search) and with a little-self education set up their own wireless network.Customer Review: 60 seconds and I was on the internet!
Summary: 5 Stars
Let me start off by saying this. People who are writing negative reviews about having a hard time with signal strength need to take into consideration more then just this wireless adapter. Your connection strength also comes from the router (the thing broadcasting the signal) your trying to connect to, not just your adapter your hooking up to your computer to receive the signal. People may not be realising it has more to do with how close you are to the broadcasted signal and how powerful it is then just what adapter your using. If your neighbor 2 houses down has a wireless router that's broadcasting a 250 foot signal and your trying to use it to get on line from 300 feet away, yes your going to have a hard time getting a connection with a good speed.
Ok, on with my experience with this adapter. :-)
A few months ago I bought my son and daughter a desktop computer for them to share. It is located in one of the back bedrooms of the house and so it's not near our cable modem located at the front of the house. I have Linksys router hooked up to my main desktop computer's cable modem so that my husband can also log into the Internet wirelessly on his laptop (which has a wireless card in it). My kids love going to the Nick.com website and the NickJr.com website and playing the free children's games they have there for free online, but couldn't do it on their own computer because it did not have a wireless card in it. So I ordered this wireless adapter to attach to their desktop. Inside the box there was a booklet with instructions for computers with Windows Vista and also XP & 2000. I used the Vista instructions. Basically the whole process took under a minute to do. I inserted the driver disk, clicked install, clicked yes to the user agreement and then plugged in the adapter to a USB port. Then it automatically found any nearby connections and told me to chose the one I wanted to use. That was the whole thing. From that point on the computer was online and the Internet ran just as fast as our desktop and laptop located in the front of the house! Very simple, no big learning curve and the adapter is smaller then a deck of cards. It even has a velcro patch attached to the back so that you can mount it to your surface so it doesn't slide off.
Customer Review: Works great and easy to set up
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this to tackle a wireless trouble spot in our house. Originally I installed a D-Link PCI card in the computer but would often lose connection. I installed a better antenna, still no luck.
I sold that NIC and tried the Powerline method, connecting my network to the home wiring. That worked well initially, but every day or two the connection would die and the only way to bring it back up was to wait...sometimes for hours.
All these problems happened to my wife's computer, so by this time she's a bit frustrated and I'm getting annoyed at her constant complaints. We have the 802.11b version of this adapter hooked to a TiVo box and it's worked great, so I thought I'd try the 'g' version for my bride's machine. I definitely wasn't going with D-Link - I had a lot of trouble with D-Link adapters on multiple machines and I didn't want to go through that again.
In addition to this adapter I also ordered the 16' USB cable from Belkin, a bargain at around $10. I figured the length of the cable would allow me to find some place to position the adapter to get a signal.
I'm happy to report I made the right decision. I installed the software first, as instructed, then connected and configured the adapter. This was all easy to do - the Linksys software is user-friendly. We use encryption on our network so once I plugged in the key and found a spot for the adapter (the 16' cable was a smart buy) my wife hasn't had a single problem. Actually, she had one problem. She was starting her mail client too quickly after booting and before the computer had connected to the network and received an IP address. She now waits about 15 seconds after Windows loads to check her mail or open a browser and she hasn't had a single complaint since!
I definitely recommend this product, and the 'b' version if you have a TiVo. I'm sticking with Linksys from here on out (I also have their NSUL2 Storage Link which is great for adding storage to your network to be shared by all users).
Customer Review: Works properly with no hassle
Summary: 5 Stars
I foolishly fell for a review of the Airlink101. It promises much. After receiving the unit and spending a frustrating afternoon attempting to just to get it to work at all I gave up when the AirLink tech support guru opened the session with the revealing comment "well, it may be faulty".
TRUE... as I imagine most are given the design can't find a five bar connection blowing in on wireless devices all around it.
I'm not implying the fave review of the Airlink was a plant for hype, but I will say Airlink scored the fastest RMA in my 30 year history in the computer business. The term "garbage" or "junk" appears in my thoughts.
By contrast, a trip to the local Best Buy secured the model advertised here on Amazon. Within 1 minute the Linksys had me up and running. The moral of the story... sometimes it's better to invest in things that actually work. You'll pay a bit more for products that perform as promised, but I've reached a point in my life that paying for quality makes more sense that getting screwed by saving a few bucks on a useless scam that doesn't function unless you're first willing to tear up your system several times.
The really sad thing is with Amazon's competive price vs. the time wasted, I'd have saved way more than getting ripped off by something that only __might work__ and only then on alternate Wednesdays after sunset.