Cisco-Linksys Wireless-N PCI Adapter WMP300N

by Cisco

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 4.8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000FDDUXG
• Item model number: WMP300N
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 14, 2004

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Linksys Wireless-N PCI Adapter installs in most desktop and tower PCs, and lets you put your computer almost anywhere in the building without the cost and hassle of running network cables. Now you don't have to drill holes in your walls and climb through the attic or cellar to get connected to the network.

The Wireless-N PCI Adapter uses the very latest wireless networking technology, Wireless-N (draft 802.11n). By overlaying the signals of multiple radios, Wireless-N's "Multiple In, Multiple Out" (MIMO) technology multiplies the effective data rate. Unlike ordinary wireless networking technologies that are confused by signal reflections, MIMO actually uses these reflections to increase the range and reduce "dead spots" in the wireless coverage area. The robust signal travels farther, maintaining wireless connections up to 4 times farther than standard Wireless-G.

With Wireless-N, the farther away you are, the more speed advantage you get. It works great with standard Wireless-G and -B equipment, but when both ends of the wireless link are Wireless-N, the throughput can be increased even more by using twice as much radio band, yielding speeds up to 12 times as fast as standard Wireless-G.

Once you're connected, you can surf the web, keep in touch with your e-mail, and share files and other resources such as printers and network storage with other computers on the network. To protect your data and privacy, your wireless connection is secured by up to 256-bit encryption. The included Setup Wizard will walk you through configuring the adapter to your network's settings, step by step.

The incredible speed of Wireless-N makes it ideal for media-centric applications like streaming video, gaming, and Voice over IP telephony, and gives you plenty of headroom to run multiple media-intense data streams through the network at the same time, with no degradation in performance. So don't hassle with running cables through your house — get your desktop connected the easy way with the Linksys Wireless G PCI Adapter.

Product Description

The Linksys Wireless-N PCI Adapter installs in most desktop and tower PCs, and lets you put your computer almost anywhere in the building without the cost and hassle of running network cables. Now you don't have to drill holes in your walls and climb through the attic or cellar to get connected to the network. The Wireless-N PCI Adapter uses the very latest wireless networking technology, Wireless-N (draft 802.11n). By overlaying the signals of multiple radios, Wireless-N's "Multiple In, Multiple Out" (MIMO) technology multiplies the effective data rate. Unlike ordinary wireless networking technologies that are confused by signal reflections, MIMO actually uses these reflections to increase the range and reduce "dead spots" in the wireless coverage area. The robust signal travels farther, maintaining wireless connections up to 4 times farther than standard Wireless-G. With Wireless-N, the farther away you are, the more speed advantage you get. It works great with standard Wireless-G and -B equipment, but when both ends of the wireless link are Wireless-N, the throughput can be increased even more by using twice as much radio band, yielding speeds up to 12 times as fast as standard Wireless-G. Once you're connected, you can surf the web, keep in touch with your e-mail, and share files and other resources such as printers and network storage with other computers on the network. To protect your data and privacy, your wireless connection is secured by up to 256-bit WPA2 encryption. The included Setup Wizard will walk you through configuring the adapter to your network's settings, step by step.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works fine, but don't use Linksys drivers/software, September 30, 2006

By 

Scott Whyte (Troy, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cisco-Linksys Wireless-N PCI Adapter WMP300N (Personal Computers)

This draft N PCI adapter works great paired with the Linksys WRT300N draft Wireless-N router. I have three computers in my home all using WMP300N cards along with my WRT300N router. I also have a Vonage phone adapter hooked into my router (via Ethernet cable). No complaints at all. This product is speedy and appears to be low latency as well. It can easily handle the 4 Megabits/second download rate from my cable internet without any glitches or slowing down. If only more websites transmitted that fast!

There is one caveat, however, I recommend that you do not install the Linksys software that comes on the CD. I found that it utilized quite a bit of CPU bandwidth just keeping the connection current. However, if you let Windows install the DRIVERS ONLY by searching the CD-ROM for the correct drivers, then it works perfectly and doesn't burn up any extra CPU cycles. With the Linksys driver software installed, I was seeing upwards of 30-50% CPU utilization even when not surfing the web. With the drivers installed via Windows XP hardware installation wizard, CPU utilization went down to practically zero whether surfing the web or not. Great product, especially for the price!

Addendum regarding drivers - February 24, 2007 - The newest drivers do not cause the CPU utilization problems. I still don't think they are necessary, but at least they don't cause high CPU utilization problem.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Works, but not without a lot of hassle!, May 21, 2007

By 

J. Stone (Montclair, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cisco-Linksys Wireless-N PCI Adapter WMP300N (Personal Computers)

I bought this along with the corresponding Linksys wireless router. Set up was easy until I tried using the PCI card. After installing, my computer would freeze every few minutes unrelentlessly. I spent a good 3-4 hours trying to solve the problem with no luck. Finally I went on the Linksys Website Forums and discovered literally 100's of complaints about this PCI card from users that were having the same problems as me. After fishing through post after post, I came up with a solution.

If you buy this card, DO NOT install the linksys software from the CD installer. Get the drivers ONLY from Linksys and use Microsoft to set up your wireless. Apparently, the Linksys Wireless Monitoring software conflicts with the operating system. I am using XP Media Center version. Once I installed the drivers only and removed al the Linksys software, my computer was again stable with no freezes. I am getting connects speed from 216-270 which, although not as fast as advertised, is credible. I'm sure a firmware upgrade is down the road eventually.

I was going to trade all the Linsys "N" hardware for something else like a "G" Mimo, but I actually got it to work. Would I recommend? Yes, if you are computer savvy enough to get this card to work. If you want strict plug and play, this card isn't going to do it. If you can get it to work, the speed is worth the price of admission.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works perfectly on Windows Vista 64bit Edition, May 8, 2008

By 

W. Chen "JadeTheHusky" (Springfield, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cisco-Linksys Wireless-N PCI Adapter WMP300N (Personal Computers)

Linksys Wireless N WMP300N is perfect for your desktop when you don't want wire running all over your house.

It took me less than 3 minutes to get this installed and connected to my network. I don't understand why some people are having a hard time installing on Vista. I installed on a 64 bit edition without any problems.

NOTE - VISTA OWNERS: DO NOT INSTALL LINKSYS CD.
-Don't follow the directions on the paper, it's for XP
-Make sure computer is off, and plug the card into your MOBO.
-Connect the Antenna
-Turn on the computer, Vista will automatically install the driver.
-When you do a MS Vista update, you will have the option to update the driver.
-Connect to your wireless router.

Yes, it's that easy.