Customer Reviews

Buffalo Wireless-G MIMO Performance Notebook Adapter WLI-CB-G54HP

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This card is amazing. By using this card instead of a Cisco, Proxim, or my built-in Atheros chipset, I can get nearly twice the data rate and this is when using a standard 802.11g access point (Linksys WAP54G). Definitely the best wireless client card that I've come across for my network and I've also tested it in a dozen or so other environments while writing the Official Study Guide for the Wireless# certification from McGraw-Hill. Buy it here and return it if I'm wrong, but you won't be sending this one back.

If you get it and have a hard time getting it to work, contact me through my website at http://www.sysedco.com. When I write a rave review like this, I'll back it up by helping you get it up and running! Awesome device!

Pro: external antenna, high power output, sensitive receiver.

Pro: easier connections to weaker signals

Pro: easy installation if you follow the instructions. (if you are going to use this card with another card I suggest disabling the first card before you install, then manually enable one card or the other one at a time)

Pro: works with Netstumbler (power indicator rating doesn't update in real time for the associated connection... don't know why)

Con: The client manager software that comes with it is pretty lame, but you don't have to use it. Windows' wireless networking works just as well.

The external antenna connector and higher power ability were the main reasons I bought this card.

The built in Atheros wireless in my IBM X31 works very well and also works with Netstumbler. The Buffalo card works better in weak signal conditions, even without an external antenna.

In my environment I use very low power on my wireless router and a yagi antenna that puts the signal right where it is wanted, and not outside my apartment across the courtyard into the neighbor's.

The signal in my back room is low but usable. The Buffalo card shows several db increase in signal strength from my router over the built-in wireless and seems to offer a more stable connection.

I was using the IBM Access Connections to manage my Atheros card. I installed the Buffalo drivers and Bufallo client manager. When I rebooted the Atheros card was non-functional.

The solution to this was to uninstall the IBM wifi manager, uninstall the Buffalo wifi manager, and strictly use Windows XP wireless networking to control the cards.

I have had both cards active simultaneously but I don't recommend it. Disable one card and use the other. Disable that card and re-enable the other. With Windows controlling both cards this isn't an issue and the two cards co-exist peacefully.

The install (Windows XP Pro, SP2) is a piece of cake. The hardware and drivers are stable and work excellently in XP SP2.

No problems.

Its an excellent product and very useful in weaker signal areas.

Tips: Disable 'afterburner' under Configure/Advanced in the properties for the connection unless you are using this feature on your wireless router and all other clients on your wlan.

Tips: If you are planning to use a pre-existing wifi card, disable it prior to install, remove the proprietary client manager, use windows to manage wireless connections. YOU DO NOT NEED TO INSTALL THE CLIENT MANAGER TO USE THIS CARD - YOU ONLY NEED TO INSTALL THE DRIVERS.

Bought this and the router to hook up my laptops to my network. Setup was about as easy as you can get...Install the software and push the button on top of the router. I don't mind setting up my own networks by hand but anything that saves times and actually works is welcome.

Speeds are super fast but of course you have to be connecting to a Turbo G router for max speed otherwise you'll be getting typical G speeds.

Power is amazing. The range I get with this is the best I've seen over the other three router brands I've used in the past. I have yet to get out of range in the areas I need to be whether inside or outside.

One last piece of info I found nice is that their tech support is based in the US (asked before purchase). While this might seem trivial to some, if you've ever had to speak to someone in another country about a problem you're having, you'll know what I mean. One of the companies that I bought a system from has support (customer and tech) based in another country and while they were friendly, they were very hard to understand and really didn't know what they were talking about.

With the ease of setup, speed and range of this card (and router), you really can't go wrong.

I bought it to improve the WiFi range at home over the internal WiFi in my laptop. It installed effortlessly. (It is important to install the software from the included CD first.) I tried it with my old router, a Linksys WRT54G, and saw modest improvement in the number of dropped packets (tested using the DOS "ping" command). When I added the matching Buffalo router (AirStation Wireless G High Power), the improvement was dramatic. Another advantage of this card is the jack for an external antenna. I attached one to improve throughput wherever I go in my large house, and it has helped even more. The bottom line is that for wireless internet throughput, signal strength is much more important than the rated maximum data rate of your adapter, and the combination of this card and its matching router is excellent. The Amazon price for the combination is great, too. Highly recommended!

I've used a handful of wireless cards; this one by Buffalo has about twice the signal strength compared to the others such as linksys and D-link. All of the cards have worked well but speeds have suffered until now.

I purchased this Buffalo from Amazon and received free shipping; it took a few days to dispatch and then arrived two days later. The pricing was better than anywhere else I could find. The card arrived packed in original shrink wrap box with the driver CD and instructions.

Installation was a snap, it took all of about 2 minutes to install the drivers and then I just used Windows to manage my connection and enter in my security settings. I am using this card in an IBM ThinkPad A31p which has an internal 802.11b card(slow and relatively weak connection). The IBM card generally connected from 1-5Mbps connection with about 40% signal strength and could not handle hidden SSID configurations. This Buffalo card is typically connected at about 36Mbps and 75% signal strength. I have a network hard drive for storing photos and backup data, file loading time when accessing the network drive is at least twice as fast now.

The card has the option for an external antenna which was one of the reasons I bought it because my router is about 150 feet away, the connection with this new card is so improved that I haven't purchased an external antenna yet; I may in the future just to get things moving a bit faster.

I am very happy with this card and highly recommend it to others.

just slide this thing into your laptop and you are good to go, no problems at all with it.

I bought that card hoping to get connectivity from some location to 802.11 network my old card simply couldn't see. Result: unqualified success! The installation was a breeze, I removed the drivers for the old card, inserted a new card, reboot the machine and presented the driver to wizard. Once the driver was installed, I was immediately presented with a list of networks including the one I never ever was able to connect. Funny one of the reasons I got this card was possibility of connecting the external antenna but seems like I really don't need it. The signal quality is excellent and the connection is as stable as with a wired network. I'm surprized to read the review where the card couldn't see some network. Oh well, it worked for me. By the way, if you do need an external antenna for this card, check RadioLab.

Works for both Windows and Ubuntu. Although Buffalo offers no Linux support, it worked natively in Ubuntu 8.04 (had to edit this review as I had previously stated this card was Windows only). Getting it to be 'properly' recognized complicated things, but now I can use one wifi card for my Inspiron 2650 laptop dual-booting Ubuntu and XP! If Delorme Streets works on Ubuntu, I'm kissing XP goodbye.

Great reception and the external antenna connector makes this thing sweet to hook up to the big antenna and scour the city.

I purchased this in an attempt to increase the range of my laptop wireless range in and around my home. It has greatly improved my laptop's sensitivity to wireless signals when compared to the factory installed Agere adapter. Highly recommended.

I was pretty impressed with the buffalo wifi card. I use a top end sony vaio laptop but because my computer is far from the nearest router my signal frequently cuts out. The buffalo allowed me to hold the signal longer and with a better speed. I'd recommend this if you need to improve your wifi performance.

Remember that if you buy a new laptop this won't work because most new laptops use the thinner PC express card and Buffalo does not make this size card yet.