rice75's Full Review: Linksys Instant Wireless WPC11 Network Adapter
To finish off my reviews of the different components of the Linksys Wireless-B Network Kit, all that’s left is the Linksys Wireless-B Network Adapter (WPC11). In this case, we’ve saved the worst for last. The Linksys Wireless Router is a great piece of equipment but the Linksys Wireless-B Network Adapter is an unreliable network card.
The Linksys Wireless-B Network Adapter is a basic wireless network card. It operates with the 802.11b protocol, topping out its speed at 11 Mbps. This is sufficiently fast enough for sharing an internet connection but not fast enough if you will be transferring big files over your network. It should be fast enough for online games, as well. Other features include plug and play (what isn’t plug and play any more?), 128 bit WEP security encryption, and excellent tech support. Even with all those great features, it doesn’t make up for the fact that this network card doesn’t work reliably.
Installing the card is simple and is done in a matter of minutes. On boot up, the laptop instantly recognized the card and installed the needed drivers. It didn’t even ask for the CD, it had the necessary files already (I am using Windows XP Home Edition). Setting up the parameters for jumping on the wireless network is easy. Setting the TCP/IP settings to automatic detection allows the card to jump onto the wireless network. The signal is picked up immediately and the laptop is assigned an IP address by the router. Sometimes. The first couple of times I used this card it worked like a champ. This good functionality continued for about a month or so. Then things started acting up.
I haven’t been able to pinpoint what exactly happened, but the time it would take to connect to the network slowly deteriorated to unbearable periods of time. It seemed that it would take forever for the laptop to recognize the signal from the router and even longer for an address to be assigned. Once an IP address is obtained it seemed to take forever to load a web page. According to the network properties, it was sending packets at almost a 10:1 ratio to receiving packets. It took entirely too long to load even a minimal web page. To ensure that it wasn’t the router that was bad, I tested out the connection to the wireless router with my laptop and I didn’t have a problem. Since I could easily access the router through both the main PC and my laptop, the only variable here would be the card. I did a few Google searches and found that many others are having the same problem. From what I can gather, it appears the card version I am using (ver. 4) doesn’t work as well as the earlier versions did. Unfortunately, there weren’t any updates on Linksys’ web page, so fixing the problem has proved to be impossible.
I know a lot of people have complained that the range on this card is bad but I never experienced that. I would probably put the blame on the router they are using, not the card. It has a good RF sensitivity, so I know the problem definitely wasn't the cause of the problem. I had the laptop right next to the router and I couldn't surf the web.
I haven’t rated anything with one star lately, but I have to do that to the Linksys Wireless-B Network Adapter. It is a flawed wireless card in a world of a lot of choices. Avoid this card if you can. Nothing good can come of it.
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