Customer Reviews

Cisco-Linksys WUSB600N Dual-Band Wireless-N USB Network Adapter

5 star:		(100)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(34)

 

 

I purchased the WUSB600N wireless network adaptor to support my 5.5 year old Sony Pentium 4. The WUSB600N is the size of a large thumb drive and it uses a USB connection on one end. It comes with a USB stand for use with desktops but can also be connected directly to laptops.

Thus far, the unit has worked great but . . . I did not install the unit as instructed by the directions. Having had problems with Linksys software on a previous wireless card, I took a hint from another reviewer and I hooked it up and used the Windows XP install hardware utility to install the unit. Just use the driver off the Linksys install CD. I use the XP wireless network connection to manage it. The Verizon wireless G router is on the second floor and I use this in the basement with no connectivity problems.

I think the WUSB600N is great, the small size takes up almost no space on my desk and the USB format means I can swap it between machines. I am completely satisfied and recommend it - with the installation caveat.

I bought this adapter for my daughter's desktop PC in the hopes of obtaining a decent range. I had an old wireless "B" PCI adapter from Netgear for years, and signal was always very marginal on this PC.

I also bought a Linksys WRT600N router to upgrade my whole wireless system too. The idea of dual band 2.4/5Ghz seemed attractive enough. Also, I thought that by buying from the same manufacturer I should have very few issues.

I have four PCs at home 3 x wireless "G" (XP SP3 + Vista SP1 + MAC)+ 1 x wireless "B" (XP SP3), so this USB Wireless "N" computer would have been the only one capable of all the extra features and range.

The installation of the USB adapter software went fine and it connected almost right away. So I thought I was done. Almost immediately my daughter started complaining of lost connection issues. I blamed it on her finagling with the wireless software, but it turned out that she was right. The system would take a long time to connect after booting up the PC, then would disconnect after 2 or 3 minutes, and would connect again may be 30 min later. I could not manually force a connection (even though Linksys software advisor would say that I was connected to the router).

To summarize, I called tech support today and was pleasantly surprised to speak to a human after no more than 2 minutes. But after 50 min on the phone, and several holds while he was in turn asking questions to somebody else, he came back saying that I'd be better off returning the USB adapter and getting a Linksys WMP300N which he swore is a dual radio band (even though I read somewhere that it works at 2.4 GHz only).

Too bad I bought this online, but it was from Amazon, so I am returning it today.

If you buy this product, make sure it is a version 2 or that you do not use or plan to use the Win 7 operating system. If it is a version 1 there is no Win 7 driver available. Moreover, Linksys will not tell you whether they plan to develop a Win 7 driver for version 1. Heads up!

Some people seem to like this adapter ... and some hate it. I have purchased several of these (the v2 firmware) for use on Windows XP and Windows Vista machines, and they have functioned well. The software install process is longer than I would think is necessary, and it took some coaxing on Windows XP Home on machines with less than 1GB of RAM, but it does function there. (Because of comments below) Dual-Band does work in all the XP and Vista scenerios where I have used this device.

As of today's date, however, I cannot recommend it for Windows 7. Cisco had a driver on their website but it was withdrawn. I got a beta of a replacement for it and managed to coax it into the machine, but only the 2.4gHz "g" band works (and this is a dual band NIC). Now, several weeks after my most recent contact with Cisco, there is still no ETA on a new one. As most people buying this adapter want the expanded range, I would hold off until you can be sure drivers exist.

UPDATE: Cisco has finally posted Windows7 drivers. I have only tried these on Win7 Professional, but have it on several machines. Dual Band is working and the connections are very stable.

Now recommended for Win 7.

After about 5 hours of work, including hours on the phone with Linksys support, I cannot get this network adapter to connect to the Internet from my Windows 2000 Pro computer through my Linksys WRT160N wireless router. The Wireless-N adapter will connect with the WRT160N, but not with the Internet. When I replaced the Wireless-N with my old WUSB11, the WUSB11 connected immediately. Plus, the Wireless-N software is much slower than that for the WUSB11. The wait for telephone support was short. However, the person did not appear to know anything but the scripts she had been given -- real trouble-shooting was not part of the conversation.

While I've been happy with Linksys equipment for years. This new product is going back to Staples tomorrow and I'll see if someone else's equipment works better.

For more information, see my review of the WRT160N.

Cline

I purchased this client adapter along with the WRT600N dual-band router and the WGA600N dual-band gaming adapter (everything was Linksys dual-band). After setting up the router and gaming adapter with no problems, I attempted to connect a computer to the network using the WUSB600N.

This adapter comes with a USB extension cable with a base at the end, so you can position the adapter in a favorable location. With the best reception, Windows reports the 802.11N connection as 270 Mbps. After connecting to my router, which was almost exactly one floor above, the connection quickly slowed and settled between 12 Mbps and 27 Mbps. This means that the 802.11n performance of this adapter was worse than the performance of the previous 802.11g adapter I was running on the same computer. In addition, I found that I could not transfer any large files across the network (802.11n to LAN, 802.11n to 802.11n, and 802.11n to 802.11g on the other band). The transfer would simply hang, and the connection would stop working. I could only restore the connection by unplugging the adapter and plugging it back in. I eventually found that I could get large files to transfer by plugging the adapter directly into my USB port, but the reception was very poor there.

All in all, I would say that this thing is not worth the money I paid for it. It would probably suffice as a last resort for connecting to an 802.11n network, but it seems to be pretty finicky about the USB power, and I never got a satisfactory connection with it, even though I am using all Linksys hardware.

I was hesitate to buy this item with all the negative reviews, but I was desperate. My wireless G adapter wouldn't work with my new computer. Ordered this. Received it overnight. Installed the software. Plugged in adapter. And it has worked perfectly since. I don't know what all the negative comments r about.

To my knowledge this is one of the rare wireless adapters (usb) that are compatible with vista x64. I was looking for hours, and it was looking grim, I called linksys and this is the only adapter they have that is compatible with Microsoft Windows Vista x64. I bought it, installed it using the drivers provided on cd, and its working just fine, 130mbps connection speed when used in combination with my WRT160N.

I have had absolutely no problems with this adapter. I had purchased a different wireless adapter of a different brand and my computer quickly crashed and I had to do the system recovery. I couldn't even do the system restore and I lost all of my pictures and music(well, I did have them backed up so I didn't lose them permanently).

I've had this adapter now for about 4 months it has worked great from day one. It's quick, it picks up a signal quickly and seems to work very efficiently, even with multiple computers accessing the wireless signal.

With all the wireless products in the house, the phone the temperature gauge, we had trouble with are "G" wireless and upgraded to the "N" this thing has a 450 foot range. You won't be sorry if you purchase this item.