Customer Reviews

Cisco-Linksys WMA11B Wireless Digital Media Adapter

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

...

First Impressions:

Nice packaging. Nice looking device, it's not much bigger than a four port hub. It has both the Cisco and LinkSys logos on the face. Vertical or horizontal mount. The package contained the device, quick setup poster, and a CD.

Installation:

I have an existing server, running Win2K Server, that I store my MP3 collection on. This product works by installing an agent on a PC and then connecting the device over a hard wired LAN or WiFi (802.11b). My setup allows me to use either LAN or WiFi and of course I chose the wired setup for max bandwidth and so I could actually listen to music and use my phone or microwave without dropping packets and thus songs. The agent installation was flawless and the media adapter and my server were talking within a few minutes after cracking up the box. Once the agent is installed on a PC, you really only have one option: Point the agent to your media. So of course I decided to point it to my entire (29 gig) mp3 collection which began in a single MP3 folder. Well, it starts to "Search" and then simply would disappear. No error, no nothing. Ok, maybe my collection was too big, so I start dragging my genre folders which were maybe 1 gig a piece...same thing happend. Ok...so I decide to drag a single album over to the agent and finally it seems to take the 6 songs in the folder and I rush over to my TV to fire up the device...it was able to play three of the songs and then the entire folder disappeared and thus I had no music to pull up anymore. After a few reboots and trying different folders I had similar results. My trade, I'm an IT guy...so there were no 'technical user' issues...I can assure you of that. To this day the device is flakey. It forgets entire folders for no reason at any given time. I've even loaded XP with similar results.

Audio:

The sound is on par with my expectations, though I wish for the price the device would have at least coax digital out. Your stuck with a pair of RCA, which I hooked a pair of Monster cables up to for optimal sound. The unit is equipped with an Intel StrongArm 400 MhZ (The same processor the latest PocketPCs use) and thus is pretty good at decoding and playing the MP3/WMAs.

Display:

The menus are sloppy. There is absolutely no customization on for menus either. There are NO visualizations while songs are playing. You can't see anything important like bit rate or most of an ID3 tag (genre, year, etc.). You are stuck with an unsizable screen that shows you the track name and album name and running time. That's it. Plus they use such a huge display, that a band or song title with a long name (13 chars +) gets lopped off. Sloppy stuff all around on the visuals. Again, I expect more.

Photos:

Photos are displayed well. No real problems here. The device sure could flip through them faster though with this processor. One plus is the ability to play MP3s while viewing photos. However, some lag does occur on larger photos. Whether this is due to bandwidth, processor, or a combination I'll leave up to the "engineers" over at Linksys to figure out and hopefully fix over the next decade or so...

Support:

This is where the stars began to seriously dive. ... I doubt the engineers who designed this paper weight released this as a stable product under their free will. It's a joke.

Conclusion:

... I would recommend looking at the new Gateway DVD/MP3 network device or waiting as this market opens up more. We will all want to stream over DivX movies, MP3s, and every other type of media soon. I'm just going to wait a few years while they refine this technology better.

Unlike several of the other reviews, I'd characterize the setup as very straight foward if you're familiar with WiFi networks. My first and only obstacle - the deal breaker - came when configuring my playlists. Even though the playlists are those available to the host computer, it will not see networked drives. I must be assuming, incorrectly, that I'm in the majority in placing the many gigabytes of MP3s, JPGs, and other media files on a network server instead of a local hard drive. When I try to add a locally mapped drive, which is already available on the host computer, to the media play list, it simply will not accept it. A quick call to Linksys support confirms this. They suggested that I copy my files to the local drive and then add them to the media play list. In between chuckles I noted that it was impractical and I had no intention of moving 15 + GBs of storage to individual local hard drives when these files were already accessible to every node on the network (accept the WMA11B) from their file server storage location.

Until a media adapter supports something as simple as a network drive or share, it will not be of any use to me.

Before I start I want to say that I am an IT professional with 14 years of experience, so this is not a problem with not being experienced enough to figure out the technology. I've spent countless hours trying to get a Media Adaptor to work... what a waste of time.

This product will not work with XP SP2. First off, Linksys support tells you that there is a patch to make it work, but your requests for the patch are ignored. Secondly you have to remove .NET V1.1 and disable your firewall. I'm supprised they don't have you disable your antivirus also!

I am including the 5 conversations that I have had with their tech support so everyone will know not to waste your time asking for help... you won't get it.


09/22/2005 08:27 PM
Hi, my name is Lara D(13285). How may I help you?
Joshua: I just installed my WMA11B and cant get it to see my network
Lara D(13285): What version of Windows is currently being used on the computer? (for example, Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, etc.)
Joshua: I confirmed that the encryption keys are correct, it shows 78% signal strength but it doesn't pull an IP if I go to the setup screen
Joshua: xp on the host
Lara D(13285): Is it service pack 1 or 2?
Joshua: 2
Joshua: do I need to modify the firewall settings
Lara D(13285): Yes.
Lara D(13285): You need to disable any firewall installed on the computer including the windows firewall.
Joshua: ? completly disable it? can't we disable the ports it needs to get to the media adaptor?
Lara D(13285): Disable it completely.
Joshua: I have it disabled
Joshua: What next?
Lara D(13285): What is the wireless router that you are using?
Joshua: its the wrt54g
Lara D(13285): Do you have wireless computers working?
Joshua: yup, talking to you via my laptop
Lara D(13285): Okay.
Lara D(13285): On your laptop, click on Start >Run>type cmd then hit OK. The DOS prompt or a black screen should come out. On the blinking cursor type ipconfig. What is the IP address?
Joshua: hold on I rebooted the media adptor and it jsut came up
Joshua: looks like we are getting closer. It brought up a screen showing music pictures help, but none of my files are there
Lara D(13285): On the host computer, can you see the media folder manager icon?
Joshua: yeah, when I click on it I get an error that says an unexpected error has occured.
Joshua: Please start or restart the service using the Digital Media Adaptor utilitie and try again
Lara D(13285): And the firewall is already disabled right?
Joshua: yup
Joshua: should I bounce the digital media adaptor host service?
Lara D(13285): Normally service pack 2 kills the media folder manager because, it is using the .net framework v1.1. What we can do is send you the patch that will fix it. Can I have your email address?
Joshua: xxxx@x.com (removed for privacy)
Lara D(13285): Any alternate email address?
Joshua: xxxx@x.com (removed for privacy)
Joshua: can you just paste the link to the file here
Lara D(13285): Okay. I will process a request for the patch for the WMA11B for winxp sp2. Just give us atleast 3 hours before you receive the file.
Lara D(13285): Are you still there?
Lara D(13285): If you have no further questions, feel free to exit this Chat Session. Please be aware that a long delay in response times may cause a disconnection. If there is no response in the next 5 minutes, this session will end. Thank you for your cooperation!
Joshua: sorry I'm here, Can't I just download the file from a URL?
Joshua: I'd like to get this resolved tonight
Lara D(13285): No. It's not available from any site since it is a patch. I will process the request after this session so I can indicate the incident number that will be generated at the end of this session.
Joshua: ok
Joshua: disconnected
Lara D(13285): disconnected

___________________________________________--

09/23/2005 07:07 AM
Hi, my name is Imelda A(10756). How may I help you?
Joshua: Hello
Joshua: I spoke to a rep last night who was goign to send me a patch to get the wma11b to work with XP SP2
Joshua: but I never got the email
Joshua: can you help me?
Imelda A(10756): jbraun@digitalriver.com is your email address right?
Joshua: yes, here is the incident # if it helps [Incident:050922-019532]
Imelda A(10756): Let me check
Imelda A(10756): Thank you for your time and patience!
Imelda A(10756): According to the incident number, it was processed
Imelda A(10756): But I will again follow-up on the file to be sent to you
Joshua: they asked for a second address which I provided but didnt' get it either place.
Imelda A(10756): I see, I apologize but I will follow up on this request
Imelda A(10756): Are you still there
Joshua: y
Imelda A(10756): I will follow up on this and expect it within 3 hours
Joshua: why do I have to wait 3 hours to get a file?
Imelda A(10756): I will still need to request this again, it will not be me who will send this file personally
Joshua: ok, I will followup in 3 hours. I'm getting very frustrated with this process
Imelda A(10756): I apologize for the inconvenience
Joshua: disconnected
Imelda A(10756): disconnected

____________________________________________

09/23/2005 10:19 AM
Hi, my name is Serwen (10990). How may I help you?
Joshua: I need to get the patch for XP SP2 sent to me
Joshua: you should refer to [Incident:050923-002213]
Serwen (10990): Let me check.
Serwen (10990): I see.
Serwen (10990): Let me transfer you to one of my senior tech so that this concern of you will be solve quickly.
Joshua: you probably see that this is the 3rd time I've had to contact support for this now to
Joshua: thanks!
Serwen (10990): Yes your correct.
Serwen (10990): Kindly hold on.
Joshua: thanks
Serwen (10990): OK.
***** Transferred To Sharon S(18442)
Joshua: Hello Sharon
Sharon S(18442): Ho
Sharon S(18442): Hi
Joshua: hoping you can help me out here
Sharon S(18442): Your're computer is getting an unexpected error message after you opened the media folder utility is that correct?
Joshua: yup
Sharon S(18442): Have you already check the .net framework under the add/remove programs?
Joshua: no I haven't
Joshua: unfortunately I am at work now and don't have access to that computer... what should I check?
Joshua: I run an IT department, so you can just tell me what to look for and I can check it out tonight.
Sharon S(18442): Go to add/remove programs and check how many .net framework you have there.
Joshua: while I have a sr tech onthe line, can you tell me what ports need to be opened on the firewall for this device to work? I'd rather not leave my firewall completely disabled
Sharon S(18442): You must oly have the .net framework v1.0
Sharon S(18442): only*
Joshua: OK I can check that out
Sharon S(18442): If you see .net framework v1.1, you have to call miscrosoft to uninstall that
Sharon S(18442): Uninstalling that program may cause the computer to crash so you have to call microsoft to help you with that
Sharon S(18442): Did the orevious technician told you that he will email the pastck for xp sp2?
Joshua: yup
Joshua: will there be a version of your software that is comatible with V1.1?
Sharon S(18442): No
Sharon S(18442): As of now, it will only work with v1.0
Sharon S(18442): I will also email you the patch for that computer
Joshua: ok, so if I am running v 1.0 and get the patch installed and am still having problems what would the next step be?
Sharon S(18442): That patch will help you solve that problem.
Sharon S(18442): We already tested that one.
Joshua: ok
Sharon S(18442): You also have to uninstall/reinsatll the media folder utility
Joshua: can you send me the patch directly or point me to a site to download it? I've had 2 people tell me it was sent already but still havent' gotten it
Joshua: ok, I'll uninstall/reinstall too
Joshua: should I uninstall and then run the patch and then reinstall or doesn't it matter the order?
Sharon S(18442): I'm not the one who will emial it to ou
Joshua: :( thats what the last 2 folks told me...
Sharon S(18442): I have to request that patch to the Beta Team
Sharon S(18442): It's not available in the site.
Sharon S(18442): You will receive it within this day
Sharon S(18442): Be sure to visit our Knowledge Base located at http://www.linksys.com/kb. The site contains troubleshooting tips, how-to instructions, as well as solutions to common issues relating to all Linksys products.
Sharon S(18442): Thank you for giving us an opportunity to serve you through Live Chat Support. May name is Sharon and my badge ID is 18442. For your records, a transcript of this chat session will be e-mailed to you. Feel free to contact us if you require further assistance. Thank you for choosing Linksys and have a great day!
Joshua: disconnected
Sharon S(18442): disconnected

_______________________________________________

09/23/2005 04:21 PM
Hi, my name is Enrique (20179). How may I help you?
Joshua: Please take a minute to review this incident [Incident:050923-005623]
Enrique (20179): Okay.
Enrique (20179): One moment please.
Joshua: You are the 5th person that I have spoken to now to get a patch so I can use your product with Windows XP SP2. Unless you can give me the patch I would like to speak to a supervisor.
Enrique (20179): One moment please.
Enrique (20179): I apologize for this one, Joshua.
Enrique (20179): The device you have is a WMA11B?
Joshua: yes
Enrique (20179): One moment please.
Enrique (20179): I'll be transferring to one of our senior technician again.
Joshua: ok
Enrique (20179): So that your concern will be properly accorded to .
Joshua: ok
Enrique (20179): Thanks.
Enrique (20179): Just hold on please.
***** Transferred To Carlo V(19333)
Joshua: hello?
Carlo V(19333): Yes. This is Carlo V. (19333). How may I help you?
Joshua: can you see the notes from my conversatoin with the previous tech?
Carlo V(19333): Okay. Please wait while I review it.
Carlo V(19333): Thank you for waiting. Are you asking for the patch to make it work with WinXP SP2?
Joshua: I've been told by 4 different techs that I need this patch and that it would be emailed to me within 3 hours... going on 24 hours and I haven't seen it yet
Carlo V(19333): Okay. I see. I apologize for that. May I get your telephone number? Please keep mon holding while I check if it is available for download.
Joshua: 952-200-8125 is my number thanks
Carlo V(19333): Okay. Thank you. Please wait.
Carlo V(19333): Thank you for waiting. It was available from the website before but it was removed because of some further testings being done. Do not worry. I will personally go to the email department to forward the patch request.
Carlo V(19333): May I verify your email address?
Joshua: xxxx@x.com (removed for privacy)
Joshua: thank you
Carlo V(19333): Thank you. I believe you will recieve it this time. Please wait again and it will be emailed within 3 hours.
Joshua: ok
Joshua: disconnected
Carlo V(19333): disconnected

________________________________________________

Princess T. (19081): Hi, my name is Princess T. (19081). How may I help you?
You: Please review [Incident:050923-013727]
Princess T. (19081): One moment please, while I review your information.
You: I have not received the patch yet. Please escalate this to a manager
Princess T. (19081): Please give me a few moments. Yes, im going to refer you. I apologize in advance for the delay.
Princess T. (19081): When was the last time you requested for that patch file Joshua?
You: 6:22 yesterday evening
You: thursday at 10:27PM, Friday at 9:08AM, Friday at 12:20PM, Friday at 6:22
Princess T. (19081): I see.
Princess T. (19081): One moment please.
Princess T. (19081): Please give me a few moments while I look for a supervisor on duty. Thank you?.
You: thanks
Princess T. (19081): Ok
Princess T. (19081): Thank you for waiting
Princess T. (19081): Please wait for a few moments while I transfer you Joshua.
You: thanks
***** Transferred To Mary_BADGE ID 10999
Mary_BADGE ID 10999: Hi. My name is Mary Anne with tech ID (10999).
You: can you send me the patch so that your product will work with XP SP2?
Mary_BADGE ID 10999: Please hold while I transfer you to the appropriate technician.
***** Transferred To Sharon S(18442)
You: hello?
Sharon S(18442): Hi Joshua
You: I never to the patch you were going to send at 12:20 yesterday
Sharon S(18442): I apologize for that
Sharon S(18442): You're using winxp sp2, am I correct?
You: yes
Sharon S(18442): I just want to verify, you're getting enexpected error when you're trying to open the media folder utility?
You: you should review the notes on this. You and I spoke yesterday here is the incident # [Incident:050923-005623]
Sharon S(18442): Give me a moment.
Sharon S(18442): Thank you for waiting.
Sharon S(18442): I have already requested the patch to the Beta Team.
Sharon S(18442): They are the one who will email the patch to you.
Sharon S(18442): I'm sorry for the inconvenience.
You: bottom line here is if you can not send me the patch now while we are on the line I am going to exchange this product for something that works and post the 5 conversations I've had with Linksys on the product reviews on Amazon
You: this support is down right horrible
Sharon S(18442): Give me few moments. I will it to the Beta Team
Sharon S(18442): Your email address is xxx@x.com (removed for privacy)?
You: yes
Sharon S(18442): may I have an alternate email address?
You: xxx@x.xom (removed for privacy)
Sharon S(18442): Hold on a second.
You: I can assure you that there is not a problem emailing to the xxx.com email address. I am the IT manager there and control the mail servers.
Sharon S(18442): Thank you for your time and patience!
Sharon S(18442): I've already forwarded your concern to the Beta Team and they send it they will be sending it to you now.
You: Sharon, this is the 5th time I've been told this. I'm not buying it anymore.
Sharon S(18442): If you can wait for a few minutes.'
You: ok
Sharon S(18442): Try to check your email ,just tell me if already receive the patch for xp2
You: no it hasn't arrived
You: I checked both addresses
Sharon S(18442): Please wait for a few moment
You: sure
You: have you had any luck sending the file?
Sharon S(18442): I will verify it to them, hold on
Sharon S(18442): Yes, they said that they already sent it to you
You: This would be the 5th time that they haven't been able to get it to me then. I think I'll quit wasting my Saturday and return this rotten product. thanks for all the hold time, gave me time to finish my review on Amazon

I'm surprised to read all the negative reviews on here for this product. You'd think that Linksys promised the moon and the stars and somehow came up short. They did not.

Very simply, this product hooks into your wireless network and then plays mp3s on your stereo/tv and displays photo images on your television set. Nothing more, nothing less.

Setup was quite easy as far as installing network devices go... If you have already set up a wireless router in your house, you can handle this with no problem. I have found with other Linksys products that their technical support is fantastic, so if you really get in a bind, don't hesitate to call them.

The method of choosing music and pictures is very basic as many have mentioned, I have found that creating playlists on my PC is the best way to queue up music.

I'm sure in a couple of years that there will be much better products on the market, but for now, if you want to show your friends and family pictures, there's no better place to show them than on your big screen TV while sitting on the couch instead of your relatively small computer screen. And if you're going to listen to your mp3 collection, why not use your stereo instead of your wimpy little computer speakers.

The fantasy is that this product should be the ultimate entertainment product. The reality is that this product gets you out of your computer room and into your living room when listening to your music and looking at your digital pictures.

The TV display is the weak point of this promising product. Track and album names are cut off at 20 characters, which isn't always enough. Example: "Joe Blow's Greates..." is a problem if you own Volumes I and II of Joe Blow's Greatest Hits. It would be better to display the full names, dropping the font size a bit if necessary.

For classical music, the Artist / Album / Song hierarchy doesn't make much sense, especially since the PC software insists on putting the composer in both Composer and Artist, and ignoring the actual conductor, orchestra, soloists, etc.

Tech support, as others have noted, is worth what you pay for the call, i.e. nothing. These guys know literally nothing about the product; they're just trained to look up something on a screen and parrot it back to the caller.

Finally, there's no screen saver, and the fixed portions of the display don't move or change color. I'm worried about burn-in on my expensive rear-projection system.

I bought this unit as an alternative to configuring a separate computer, wired or wireless, as my entertainment center's gateway to digital media. It took me about an hour of troubleshooting to get it up and running (ad-hoc or infrastructure connection? what the heck does that mean to the average end user?) but once installed it stands on its own.

Pay close attention to the install rules. If you're not running WinXP, think twice. If you're not using XP's "zero configuration wireless" feature, you must attach the device wired for setup, then configure it for wireless.

It's a typical first-generation product. Does a great job at the two things it's good at -- displaying your pictures and playing your songs. The interfaces suck, both for the media manager utility (non-intuitive error messages that don't tell you what's wrong, it doesn't like dashes in filenames or directories, weird stuff like that) and for the unit itself (convoluted menus, could be much simpler and more intuitive, and lacks a few features I would have included in the first generation, such as fancy fades or wipes between pictures in slideshow mode, option of flashing the song title as the song changes if you're watching a slide show at the time, etc.) Actually that wish-list helps me to realize that the unit already does more than I expected. I set the "music" side to play "all songs" in "shuffle" mode, then I switch over to the "pictures" side and start a slide show. I didn't expect the music to keep playing, and was pleasantly surprised when it did. Music and pictures. Yay. The damn thing is now an emotion factory. I expect that future revisions will have more features and better interfaces. I'll be optimistic.

It's all about expectations, folks.

This review is for the wireless WMA11b. I switched to this after a horrendous experience with the HP e5000 wireless media receiver.

My setup is cable modem upstairs, with Linksys wireless router plugged into modem. 4 computers in house run off of wireless network. The Media Adapter is downstairs on my main TV, about 40 feet through walls and floor, and I get 92% signal strength (as reported by device).

A little install trouble. Couldn't get it to recognize my wireless access point. In order to install, I had to plug network cable directly from router into the device and use their program to set the wireless settings, but then the installation went smoothly. I then took the device downstairs to my TV, plugged it in, and voila!

I have had no problems with this device. It responds reasonably fast to the remote (1-2 seconds max), and handles my large collection of WMA and MP3 files just fine. It basically works exactly like Windows Media Player on your PC, but using your TV instead. I love the "Folders" heirarchy that allows me to find music in the folder structure I put together (rather than just by "Artist, Album, Genre...). I also love that it will handle any playlist I put together - I use it to put together 6 hour playlists for our parties, something I can't do with CDs (it even has a "randomize" feature).

A couple of missing features would make this product perfect. The ability to select file attributes to display on the TV (other than title, artist, album as it does now) would be very nice. In particular, some indicator of song length and progress would be very useful.

All in all a very decent first release for Linksys at a reasonable price.

This is a good adapter... It works well and connects great to stream.. But as most poeple have problems when the stupid thing won't connect to your computer via the wireless link. The reason for this is that your firewall is blocking the adapter. Most people say "ohh just turn off your firewall" but that was NOT a option for me. Goto your firewall settings and under exceptions, add all the files in the /program files/linksys/..../bin directory to the exceptions. This will allow the adapter to communicate with the computer. If this has helped your,, then click on teh "this helped me" button below.. so others will be able to see this as soon as they come to the amazon site!!!.

I was told by their online support it is my tough luck that the packaging doesnt say it won't work with Windows XP Media Center because it was printed before the release of Media Center. I asked for a refund and they refused.

Will not show .jpgs that are greater than 1.7MB in size. If you shoot in fine jpeg mode and you camera is 4MP or better, this thing is pretty useless.

The cust support guys don't even know about it.