Customer Reviews

U.S. Robotics USR2410 Wireless Access PC Card

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

The US Robotics USR2410 802.11b PC card is a great value at [price] (I used a [price] coupon code and [price] rebate to get the net price to [price], which is practically unbeatable for a wireless PC card). I'm able to link to my Netgear MR314 router with no problems. The range isn't as good as my daughter's Linksys USB wireless adapter, but I can go anywhere in the house and yard and still browse the Net with no problems regardless of what the link and signal strength indicators say.

However, do not, repeat DO NOT use the enclosed drivers for this card! I am using an IBM Thinkpad T21 with Windows 2000 Professional and the driver/config utility on the CD (version 1.25) crashed my system repeatedly and corrupted my VPN software. Instead, go to USR's website at [URL] to download the uninstall utility, version 1.33 of the driver and the firmware upgrade which flashes the PC card and improves performance. The site also has drivers for Mac, WinCE and Linux as well.

Once I installed the newest drivers everything has been great. No complaints! There are better wireless cards on the market, but not for this price!

I finally got the card working on an IBM and Compaq M300. The drivers on the CD are useless. I downloaded the lastest driver from USR, worked on the IBM, but not the compaq. I had to run a firm ware upgrade on the Card before the Compaq M300 would work. Also very limited range. Works in my house fine, but going 2 floors away the signal strength drops considerably. Will not buy another, even at the good price. Using a DI-614+ Wireless Router

Like the previous reviewer, I bought this card for its great price and U.S. robotics reputation. Well, that reputation has sunk. This is the worst card I have ever experienced. No drivers for Windows XP. Sure, you can go to their website and get updated drivers, but Windows XP refuses to verify them for a reason -- They don't work. Bad support, bad card. Will not buy another U.S. Robotics product based on this experience.

After nearly a month of frustrations, I finally found the secret to this card! If you purchase this card, do yourself a HUGE favor, and do not install the US Robotics drivers! Instead, use the Netgear MA401 drivers! These two cards are internally identical, and Netgear actually knows how to make the card work! For the low price, you cannot beat this "Netgear" card! I am a Cisco Certified Networking Associate, and this card gave me nothing but problems until I installed the Netgear drivers. Now I have no problems with the card! Though signal strength is still a little low.

I bought the card and when I moved my laptop to another room 50 feets away it stopped connecting. Even 900 MHz phone works there.

Currently I have 2 wireless workstations in my house, and both use the Lucent Silver card. For access point, I have the Lucent RG-1000 residential gateway (I know, it's older, but I got into the Wifi game early).

When I wanted to add another wirless workstation to my Wifi network, it was a pleasent surprise to find that the cards no longer costs over a hundred dollars as before. They now cost well under fifty. So I purchased by price and bought the U.S. Robotics wireless card, thinking that they should all interact together.

Once I received this card, I immediately installed the software. As for the management software included, it's pretty standard, but not as nice as the Lucent nor the Linksys. You can set up multiple profiles, but to switch between the profiles is not as easy as with the other two brands.

Then, I spent several hours configuring the WEP configuration on the AP gateway as well as on the card, but couldn't get them to talk to each other. I would consider myself to be technically very competent, having worked with these things since they first become available. But still no dice. Note that I have my RG-1000 configured with WEP turned on, with a custom password.

I then tried a Linksys card (also 128-bit in 64-bit mode), and it worked with my Lucent gear right away as it should.

I give it a 2-star because I'm sure it's compatible with most other environments. But if you have a Lucent RG-1000 and want to expand your wireless network, you may want to look elsewhere. As for me, this card is going to eBay.

While I did not have much problems configuring it to use with the wireless network I have access to, I've watched with envy as some of my colleagues enjoyed wireless access in a much wider area than I did.

Keep in mind, that "open field" distance on this model is only around 300feet, or about 1/3 of other products available on the market. If your wirelss network is strong, it's probably a less of a concern. But if you want to have a longer "electronic leash", go ahead and buy something else.

The card itself is not so bad... It works well on my XP and my wireless router (dlink), but I could not get it to work with another access point. Well it happens, but the support is really bad! It's the reason I had to give it up. I tried to write them several times about the problem I have, but I never get any instructive answer. It took me almost a week to get this answer:

"Thank you for choosing U.S.Robotics.

USR would like to apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced as a result of this matter. We thank you for your patience. Additionally, we would like to thank you for taking the time to write, and for the constructive
criticisms that you extended. We value our customers and we would like to make your experiences with USR pleasant.

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to assist you. Should you require further assistance with your U.S. Robotics product, please feel free to contact us again.

Again, thank you for choosing U.S.Robotics."

They don't even have a toll free number. When I call the long distance number, I was put on hold for 20 minutes...so I hanged up.

One thing I learn is I will never buy anything from US Robotics again, regardless of their coupon!

This is the worst card in the market. Tried netgear , linksys and USR2410 cards. It is far inferior in signal range. This website drivers are useless on XP. The support is horrific. 9am to 5 pm and no weekends and has you on hold for over an hour and no toll free number. Barely useful support.

I thought the card was cheap for $$ bucks. But it is ... for a reason. The range is 300 ft outdoors for this card Vs 1650 ft for linksys/netgear.

I just returned my card and getting myself a linksys.

Not worth the hassle of even trying.

I did not receive any mail-in rebate, take care about that!