Customer Reviews

Cisco-Linksys WKPC54G Wireless-G Network Kit for Notebooks

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I wanted to set up a wireless network and was very concerned with which hardware i was going to use. I read the mixed reviews of the (much cheaper) microsoft wireless notebook kit as well as the mixed reviews of the D-link router. It seamed that you were either gonna get something that worked great or crap. I have had nothing but great luck with this kit. I am running a Motorola surfboard modem, this kit, a linksys pc card serving three computers: a dell laptop (with the wireless card in this kit), a G4 powerbook (running mac os 10.3) and a homebuilt pc running windows xp home (with the linksys wireless desktop card). All 3 computers were online in less than one hour after the cable internet was activated. No matter what you hear about security, don't leave your network unprotected! Where i live there are 6 unprotected wireless networks, the best of them was from a linksys router. I just did a little casual surfing before the cable was installed, but i had access to all six of their ip addresses, their router hardware ids and could of easily set up a password for their networks, that they would never have (i could never do this, but someone else may). The first thing i did was enabled a WEP key and password protected my router configuration setup page. Everything was a breeze. I couldn't ask for a more stable router and overall network.

The router in this package is based ona completely different chipset than the Linksys WRT54G router. The router in this package only has one antenna which severly limits the usable range. Each change to the router configuration will require a 10 second 'reboot' of the router. This gets to be very annoying after a few changes.
It will only cost about $10 more to get the real WRT54G and PCMCIA card and it will be well worth the extra $10. I'm not sure what Linksys is trying to achieve by selling this combo with a such a crappy router. They should package the regular WRT54G with the PCMCIA card and offer a discount, instead they put this piece of crap router in with the regualr PCMCIA card and try to pass it off as a good deal. Shame on you Linksys. You will ruin your good reputation with this router.

After wanting to throw this out the window - I, too, did some research. This bundled router is junk. Buy it piece meal or from another vendor but do not buy this bundle. It drops conections frequently and without moving the computer.

There are significant issues with this combo, attributed to the new internal architecture and reduced power. The card is also new, and has some issues. The connection is constantly dropping off, even in close proximity. To date, Linksys is not being helpful. Rather buy the separate base and card for about $10-$20 more.

I bought this router in total ignorance thinking it was cheaper that the one sold by itself just because it was bundled. Not true, this is in fact a stripped down version of the better WRT54G router, the one in the bundle has a much smaller range for the wi-fi and also some inexplicable drops in connection when used for a long time, both wired and wireless connection drop when I use a stand-alone Linksys VoIP phone, and I need to reset the router. Tech support could not help me, and there are no firmware upgrades for this. Since this is stripped down you cannot use the same firmware as the WRT version, that has tons of 3rd party firmware available.
So, spend a few extra bucks and get the WRT, and a card separately, and get much better products, with better support.

I have used a single point Linksys cable/DSL router for years with very good luck, so I'm not knocking the mfr. This combo, even after exchanging the router for a "tested" unit, it not worth half the price. The WIFI signal is very weak, causing signal dropouts from the slightest interference. The Broadcom card in my Dell 600m refuses it on average of every ten minutes, and the signal strength 6 ft away is only ~ -64 dB (I'm looking at -60 right now here at work, and I'm about 50 ft and three thick walls from the nearest AP). The router itself locks up and must be rebooted every couple days to keep even the wired ports functioning. The card is OK, I guess (I put it in a laptop that I gave my daughter, and it has been used very little), but the software would not communicate with it in a very stock (clean reinstall) Win 98 Dell Inspiron 3700. I had to buy an aftermarket (PCTel) utility just to be able to change settings and enable simple WEP security on it. The Linksys CD supplied and updated downloaded software locked up the computer whenever trying to use it. That adds $15 to the price right there, and you end up with inferior performance to boot. Buy the seperate units. I though setup and maintenance would be easier with a kit, but I've wasted way too many hours trying to get this to work reliably.

There are a lot of variables involved in setting up a wireless network, and that is where good tech support could help. Unfortunately, if you are from the United States and don't understand heavily accented English, you may not learn much from Linksys' tech support. If you ask them to repeat themselves, the tech reps become very annoyed and loud. Then you have loud, angry, heavily accented tech support people. I asked to speak to an American tech support person and was transferred to a person with an even heavier accent! I gave up on tech support and started combing forums for weeks.
I finally got my system to stop dropping connections by going to control panel, network & Internet connections, network connections. Then I right- clicked on Wireless Network Connection, clicked on Advanced, then SSID. Here I clicked under Value, where "not present" was formerly selected, and typed in linksys for the SSID.
That fixed mine, but it might not be the problem with someone else's wireless network that is dropping connections.
My previous wireless network didn't have this problem, but it was another brand.

Based on Linksys experience, I decided to buy this network kit for notebooks. They have good products and this was an easy grab off the shelf. Unfortunatley, this is NOT one of them.

The connection appears to drop every 20 minutes or less. The connection was great before the router was in place. After I correclty got this thing configured, I noticed connection reliability was below my acceptable levels. Dropped connections non stop through out the day.

For the past day I have circumvented the router by going direct to the modem. Not a glitch, perfect connection. The router is the root of the problem, as my desk is only 20ft away from the router and my connection rocks when bypassing the router. This piece is going back asap.

If you listen to streaming music, have instant messenger up or use gmail desktop alert for e-mail etc, don't make this mistake.

chris (chicago, IL)

I am not sure why some people have complained about Linksys' WKPC54G network kit. I had all three of my notebooks running on 128-bit WEP encryption and set-up my router's security features within an hour. Signal strength throughout my 2,000 sq. ft. home is "Excellent" and I'm always connected at 54 MBPS. This is my first wireless router and PC card network adapter I have ever used. I didn't even use the accompanying CD to setup everything; I just used the enclosed setup poster instead. It was that easy. I've also used Linksys 10/100 Ethernet network products in my home office before and had no problems with them either. That's why I stayed with the brand.

I do not know whether the problem is with the router or my laptop because it does not work at all.
I am so pissed off because of this that I cannot even use the wireless router. If i call customer service they say the problem is from internet service provider and when i call internet service provider they say the problem is from Router....
I have no idea what to do. I think better you take the product back , else I have no idea what to do with this