Home > Consumer Reviews > Linksys WMP54GS Wireless-G PCI Card with SpeedBooster

The good? Wireless speeds are in excess of the 802.11g spec, so I am getting 100-110Mbps (12.5-13.5 MBps) from the basement to the living room easily. Once the initial horror of setup was over, I've been happily connected ever since. And you can't beat the price: Linksys gear is dropping in price, likely due to a ramp-up of pre-N gear on the horizon. (That's the new 802.11n standard which promises 6x the g-rate, and pre-N Belkin gear is delivering triple the speeds, so 150Mbps, or nearly 19 MBps).

The bad? Customer support, or lack thereof. I had a problem with the client not seeing the router. The *real* problem was the firewall on the basement machine. However, mention the words "Workgroup" or "file and printer sharing" to a Live Chat Specialist and watch how fast they come back with "we don't support configuring Windows" and a link to a knowledgebase article that will not give you a step-by-step diagnostic.

That's a shame, because a troubleshooting map would come in real handy. I fixed the problem myself -- I usually do with rare exception -- but for the non-IT professional, I fear for you. It's Belkin or Netgear for me next time.

And even more: the DHCP server on these routers are apparently very flaky. I could never get mine to give up an IP address to my WMP54GS card, so in the ened I configured it for a static IP and was connected. Woe to the inexperienced customer who tries to get an IP from one of these automatically. This issue is known throughout the Internet, but good luck trying to get Linksys to admit the problem and fix it.

The ugly? Try installing it. IF you manage to see your router on the first shot, your karma is perfect and heaven awaits you. Sinners like myself are forced to install the Linksys drivers only after the failed promise of Wireless Zero Configuration fails. Yes, you'll be switching between the Windows config and Linksys config a few times until you get it right. My suggestion would be to ensure you can see the router first (channel selection being the biggest 'gotcha' here), then worry about encryption and such.

Also, don't be surprised if the DHCP server on the WRT54GS router doesn't give you an IP address. It's a known issue to the outside world, which is waiting for Linksys to admit it and fix it. Configuring your WMP54GS with a static IP will get you fully connected in every case.

I have companion reviews for the WRT54GS and WUSB11, also Linksys gear. They won't be very flattering, either, but it's XMas time, and readers should not be giving bad gifts.

Fred

Frankly, I was ready to throw it out the window. Followed their instructions- installed Linksys software first, then installed card. Card would work at first, then intermittently lose signal / not connect to internet. I called tech support (3) times- first 2 calls were useless- same redundant tests / questions. I must have plugged and unplugged it 4 times. Finally- I paid the $30 for advanced support (after working on it for 5 hours and screaming at my kids) and got through to a girl named Sonali working for Linksys in India. Here's the deal:

Windows XP and Vista (I have XP Pro)have their own wireless adapter software that doesn't get along with the Linksys software that Linksys insists you install prior to installing the card. So.. to resolve this, you need to:

1: Delete the Linksys software for the Adapter- Programs /Linksys / Wireless adapter / UNINSTALL

2: Leave the adapter in the computer and reboot. Ignore the Windows add Hardware routine and let the hardware go as unresolved (the yellow question mark in device manager)

3: Find the Adapter Drivers ONLY and install them in a directory you can find later. The driver file should look something like wmp54GS.inf. I went to the linksys website and downloaded the most current file- then created a folder c:\linksys drivers and pasted the inf file there.

4: Go to Device Manager (My computer / properties / hardware / device manager- right click the unresolved device and update the driver. Follow the steps - don't let it search.. specify location.. and point it to the right file.

5: Now, after the drivers are read and XP id's the adapter, you'll get a wireless icon on the taskbar. Double click- find your connection (your router is broadcasting) and you're in. If you have WEP enabled, then you'll have to enter the key. Remember if you're using a LinkSys WRT54G, you enter a passphrase that generates a WEP key. enter the actual generated key, not the passphrase.

Now you should be set--- Windows wireless will log you on when you boot up and not drop you.

To tweak a little further-- if you have a Linksys WRT54G router- make some settings changes:

Changed the channel on the WRT54G wireless connection to 11 (works better than 6)

In Wireless Advanced Settings-

Changed beacon interval to 75
Changed fragmentation threshold to 2176 and RTS threshold to 2176

Disable Secure Easy Setup

The concept makes sense to me-- and now everything works like lightning.

I installed this card on a Dell Dimension 8200 desktop PC. I am running a network using equipment from various manufacturers. The router is made by Netgear, that is compatible with both 802.11b and 802.11g standards. In all, I have four dekstop PCs and one laptop sharing a DSL connection. My intention is to eventually upgrade to a router with higher speed. Most likely the Linksys with Speedbooster.

The installation itself was quite easy. My only complaint is that the long antenna of this adapter gets tangled with all of the other wires/cables that are connected on the back of my computer. Perhaps the best installation technique is to put this adapter on the top-most PCI slot. That way, all of the other wires and cables will be underneath the unit and will not tangle with the antenna above the adapter.

This PC is the farthest one from the router. Therefore, it receives the weakest signal. This adapter is no better than my older D-Link 520 adapters at receiving the signal. With a weak signal, the adapter is running at 5.5 Mbps. However, when it is getting good signal, it does run at the highest speed that "standard" 802.11g is capable of. With a router upgrade, that speed should increase.

For your information, my computer system has a Pentium 4 processor, 512MB of RDRAM, and Windows XP Pro. The device driver that came with the adapter is working fine with this system. Users with Windows XP and Windows 2000 will get the most benefit from this adapter. The Speedbooster capability is only available to those using these operating systems. Soon, I will upgrade my router to a Linksys unit with the Speedbooster ability.

All I wanted to share with you all is that the range is really on par if not better than others. I initially purchased the wmp54gs with the wrt54gs and the signal strength was low or very low. I read another review that said to buy the wg311t from netgear...I did...low or very low. I decided that maybe it was the access point and not the card. I moved the wrt54gs about ten feet to the right and presto, good, very good on both cards.

I guess the moral of the story is that wireless is pretty much hit or miss anyway; avoid the cycle of buying and returning products and try changing one of the 850 variables that affect wireless performance:)

Mine actually works and I still hate it.

I haven't had all the problems others are complaining about.
---I run Windows XP SP2 had no problems compatability.
---Signal strength is fine.
---I had no problem installing on one computer....except that I installed the card before running the CD, just like every other card or peripheral I have ever installed. I've never seen one that didn't allow you to install hardware before drivers. So I had to take it out, run CD and put back in. Just a minor annoyance that cost 10 minutes. But c'mon Linksys why the special order? Most people that are willing to open the computer and install a card don't need instructions to know "take card and put in slot" and "insert disc", so they don't look at them. At least they put a warning sticker about the installation order on the disk cover for us non-direction readers. Annoying but no stars deducted for this.
---Told Mom to buy one (this was before I had installed mine). Installed easy and it worked fine at first. Now it connects to router but can't find internet (yes other computers connect to net through this router just fine). Would think maybe firewall setting issue??? but I used to work then just stopped. C'mon Linksys if your connected to the router how hard it is to find the internet. Deduct 1 star.
---Stupid software only supports hexidecimal passwords. Of course my router also support standard alphabet and my password had some G-Z letters, so I had go change network password and update all devices attached to the network. C'mon Linksys how hard it is to support A-Z. Annoying but no stars deducted.
---SLOW SLOW SLOW SLOW TO CONNECT!!!! On my other computers you hit connect and are online in 5-10 seconds. This thing takes 30 seconds to a minute. Impatient, yes. But still unacceptable. Deduct 1 star.
---Can't hibernate or sleep computer or card disables. Only way to get it turned on again is to reboot. So it's either leave computer on all day long, or reboot everytime I want go online. Deduct 1 stars.
--Overall bad product. Deduct one star.