Customer Reviews

Cisco-Linksys WPC600N Ultra RangePlus Dual-Band Wireless-N PC Card

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

This wireless adapter is great. I'm using it with the Linksys WRT600N Router. I've heard that people have had issues using the Linksys wireless utility that gets installed when you run the startup CD, so I installed the adapter first, and then when windows prompted me for a driver I put the cd in. That way I just used the CD for the drivers and did not install the wireless utility that comes with it. I haven't had any issues using the standard Windows wireless configuration tools. I would also recommend changing the radio band on the Linksys WRT600N router from Auto to the Wide-40mhz channel (for the 5ghz network only, leaving the 2.4ghz wireless network setting to auto) then connect to the 5ghz network using the WPC600N and have all of your other b, g and 2.4ghz-N devices connect to the 2.4ghz wireless network. This setup has worked great for me, I'm really happy with both products.

This unit is working absolutely great. Just like cpyao said make sure to insert it first before adding drivers then once the windows prompts you for driver location select the rom drive where the CD is located. Doing this allows you to not install the crappy software from linksys. Use windows to configure the wireless. And remember to use WPA2 AES settings allowing you to reach the 270mb/s. If you have XP you must download the kb update for this!!!! KB893357. If you have Vista it is already installed. Use the 5 ghz band. Doing this you will have to connect to the wireless id of the 5 ghz band not the 2.4. so make sure you give different ids for both the 5 and 2.4 ghz bands.
then you will be good to go. Dont expect to get 270mbs after 30 feet from base. i get about 120 - 220 at 75 feet away.

Wow! I went from a top of 54 MPS to 270 MPS! That is along with the Linksys WRT600 N wireless router. Internet speed test was about 4000 KBS before I used this adapter, now I am hitting 11849 KPS. I love it!

I really like this adapter. Although I read from this link that some people had problems with theirs, I found mine to work perfectly. I followed the vendor's instructions and loaded the software first, taking some chances. To my surprise the network monitor worked perfectly once loaded. However, I think my CD for loading the network monitor may have had a glitch since Step 1 finished fine, but it did not allow me to go to Step 2 straight during the CD loading. Instead I found the network monitor icon on the lower right side of the monitor. I had to complete the rest of the setup after launching the monitor. Afterwards, everything worked perfectly. I have this adapter connected on my Sony Vaio and am using Airport Extreme. After setting up my wireless router to 5Ghz, I was able to attain 270Mbps. Unless you set up to 5Ghz/40Mhz Radio Band as everyone recommends, you will not get the optimal speed.

This is NOT a card ready for mainstream enterprise wireless. It does not work well at all using enterprise 802.1x authentication methods. It does not support LEAP, and while the Client utility says it supports EAP-TLS, it does not work with the new Cisco AP1252. I compared this card to the new Intel MiniPCI Express 4965 abgn adaptor in the new Lenovo Thinkpad T61 laptops. The Intel adaptor worked with all types of EAP auth methods and worked well with both 20 and 40 MHz wide GHz MiMo channels for optimum 11n operation. I was only able to get 40 MHz MiMo to work on the Linksys card when I set up WPA-PSK which rules operation in an enterprise.

Four months after it's release, it still has V1.0 drivers from Linksys and still has very slow and cumbersome client utility.

The client utility frankly stinks compared to either the Intel Proset or the Atheros Client Utility (ACU).

Today; pass on this card and get the full 11n Draft 2 Intel 4965 laptop internal card.

I recently got a Linksys WRT160N router, and my XP Pro laptop wireless card was going out. So I decided to get this PC Card. It took less than 5 minutes and it was working flawlessly. With my router, my connection is 270Mbps. Don't install the software that comes with the Card. Put in the CD, and plug in the Card. Cancel any autoplay by the CD and when Windows asks where to look for the drivers tell it to look at the CD. Tada that's it.

The product was easy enough to install but it failed to talk to my router. While the ad stated that it was Windows 7 compatible, it did not say anthing about it not being compatible with Windows 7/64-bit. After struggling with reinstalling and working with the Linksys help desk, they finally tell me that it wont work with my OS. Needless to say, I returned the product and purchased a USB card.

As another reviewer pointed out, you should not run the installer if you're using Win 7 x64.
Just completely shut down your laptop, insert the card and then start your laptop. Wait for Win 7 to do whatever it needs. That's it.

Pros:
- Works well with Win 7 x64
- Full bandwith (at the max 10m/30ft distances I'm using it from)
- Works well with the A band in Wireless-N

Cons:
- Card gets very hot after a while, inside the laptop

I'm using a 2-yr old Lenovo T61 with up-to-date BIOS patches so no performance issues whatsoever (as other reviewers have experienced). But the T61 has the card reader right under my left hand and it can indeed get unconfortable. I didn't lower the cards'rating since that's more a laptop design issue IMHO.

This adapter works good for distance but if you install the cd first it is a pain to try and get it to connect. Install first without cd.

The performance of this WiFi card exceeds my old laptop that I use it for, so I am happy about the performance of it all.

For me, the only hiccup that I had was in the installation. The supplied driver CD did not do the job of the plug & play part (they never seem to..) so I ended up trying to let Windows pick it up and go through the windows set up wizard. After some fiddling around, I got it to work. So, the only advice is, if you're not at all experienced with installs like this, have your PC savvy friend nearby, to get it going.