Customer Reviews

Cisco-Linksys Wireless-G PCI Card WMP54G - Network adapter - PCI - 802.11b, 802.11g

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I haven't had this product long enough to know whether it will last, but I was extremely impressed by the ease of setup--definitely 5 stars!

I bought this to add a new Dell desktop PC to our existing wireless-G network, with a Linksys router. (That HAS lasted well, for the last 2 years.) Let me state that I hated setting up the network originally, because I didn't know what I was doing, and I have had trouble adding friend's laptops onto it when they came to visit. I was anticipating several hours of playing with network names, channel settings, and security codes to get it right. Installing the hardware was a bit of a pain, but that is my fault and Dell's--first, because I turned off the computer and started to take it apart before I read the directions that said to install the software FIRST, and second, because Dell made it easy to open their case, but hard to get the back cover off the one empty PCI slot (which looked like two empty slots from the outside). But once I had the card in, the case closed, the antenna screwed on, and the power back on, the directions said to press the button on the front of the router and click "next" on the computer. I did, and about 60 seconds later, the computer was on the Internet!! I wish everything was this easy!

(Added April 2009) Like some others here, our card did stop communicating after about 6 months. After about 15 hours on the phone with both Dell and Linksys technical support, I figured out that the cause was another company's trial software that Dell had installed on our system--it set up a firewall that we could not turn off, that protected us from the dangers of the Internet by not allowing us ON the Internet. We had to re-install all software on our computer and we are still having problems. However, I do not blame Linksys for the problem, because it was not their software that caused the problem, and the rest of our Linksys network works just fine. FYI, our operating system is Windows XP.

I've had a lot of experience with Linksys products over the last few years and I have always been incredibly disappointed. This product was no different. It did work beautifully out of the box, which was a perk. I had a functional internet connection within 5-10 minutes of popping open my PC. However, after about 1 month of use, it literally just stopped working (no changes in software or hardware during this time). Tech support seemed oblivious to the problem ... Google "wmp54g stops working" and you get 805 hits (as of today at least) all describing the same problem: it works great, then stops working.

On a more positive note, tech support, at least via live chat, was very helpful and had me run a gamut of tests and configurations, all of which ultimately failed. Honestly, I'll never buy another Linksys product because of this failed product and about half a dozen other negative experiences I have had with the company failing to battle test their hardware and firmware. I've personally had very good luck with all netgear products I have purchased. However, I have not had any experience with the newest Range NEXT routers/adapters and thus can't recommend them.

I bought this adapter to install in my Dell Dimension 4550. It was an extremely easy install (much easier and faster than when I installed my network router!). The directions were clear and easy to follow. The adapter picked up my router right away and once I entered my router key, the PC had a wireless connection. It performs flawlessly.

I have this product for 7-8 months...works great! speed was good...i download a lot of stuff and do browsing whole day long...it works fine.

Products works excellent, fine. I bought a USB wifi adapter made by Netgear. It is much harder to use. I would say installing the Wireless-G and using it is way easier than using the 'simple' USB plugin Netgear wifi. The G works great.

Excellent product; does exactly what is supposed to do. Very easy to install. You can depend on Linksys.

I bought the Linksys Wireless-G 2.4GHZ Model WMP54G Ver.4.1 and am not happy with it at all! The card will work for a while then stop working. Not sure what the problem is with it. I installed the latest driver and firmware and still having problems with it disconnecting from the router etc. I have since removed the card and hard wired my computer with CAT 5e Cable. Working much faster now.

For the linksys WMP54G, do not install it using the Linksys setup disk. It does not work with Windows XP. Instead, use the native Windows Zero Wireless configuration. I spent a weeks's time researching before getting it to work. Cant believe that Linksys would ship software that does not work???

I tried this card in 2 different computers. In one the signal wasn't strong enough to pick up the router (XP). Vista is what gave me the real problems. It would only recognize the card as a 'Network Controller'. I followed all of the steps from the Linksys (Cisco) forums and from various external forums. None of them solved the problem. I could get the drivers to install on Vista 32 (home) when I forced them (both Linksys and Ralink). But no matter what I did, I could not get it to find ANY networks. I'm only a few feet away from my router and it is 100% on my laptop's card. There are also about 4 other networks which it should be able to pick up. But it finds nothing.

I was a big Linksys supporter for many years but their recent products (and support is even worse) have sent me looking for other alternatives in the future. Between this and my recent wireless N router from Linksys (first one defective, 2nd has numerous problems) I don't think that I will be purchasing Linksys again.

Outside the usual little glicks setting up a wireless network the installation and subsequent performance of this item have been exceptional. Support is available online and proved invaluable.