Linksys Instant Wireless Adapter - WMP11
Linksys Wireless PCI Adapter 802.11b

I tried a D-Link PCI card first, to go with my D-Link router and Laptop card. It froze my Windows 2000 Professional computer everytime! I sent it back and got this Linksys card. Worked like a champ, straight out of the box. No Hassles, Easy Setup. I did connect an external antenna to it, which I already had, so I cannot comment on the strength and/or utility of the built-in antenna. I would highly recommend this product for its quality engineering and the stability of its software.
 
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I really did want to love it. I have never had a problem with any linksys product until this. I purchased it with the 802.11b wireless router and plugged it all up and... nothing. After sometime with their tech support, which could use a little foundation cause it's sinking, they recommended I return the router. Well I got the new router and have the same problem... the first router was good but the card was bad. Got my new card and all was peachy until about another 5 mounths later.. approx 7 days after the warranty expired the card dies again... At least when I held a glimor of hope the SECOND woman I chatted with in linksys' online tech forum tried her heart out to get this darn card to work. Looking at the different driver versions on the linksys site I would venture to say that they might have gotten it right by now... When I bought my wireless stuff everybody said the router was going to be my weakest link... It is still running beautifully.
 
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I linked three computers together with this product and have outstanding performance with the internet at the DSL speed. I really like this product. I highly recommend it.
 
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OK, so I don't understand all of the aspects that Mike's system integrated, but generally I WOULD NOT place an access point on top of a monitor. Monitors generate EM (electro-magnetic) radiation. Read the information supplied with the Card and Access point... Place the access point on top of a cabinet or something, generally above the user level... top shelf of a closet (presuming it's ventilated). Generally AWAY from a computer or TV. My Access point is sitting on top of a cherry cabinet, and my computer sits in a bedroom with copper pipes running above it, about 20 feet away from the access point on different floors. I generally recieve a 94% or 100% performance.
 
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The company I work for recently set up a wireless bridge between our existing wired LAN, and the new wireless LAN in a building 150+ feet away. The WMP11 cards work flawlessly when paired with the WAP11 access points. The WMP11's are working in a very old warehouse/office building, where brick walls and metal structures create the environment - Signal quality only drops below 80% at the farthest workstation from the WAP, but performance seems unaffected, even with 128-bit encryption enabled. (Note: The bridge was created using two WAP11's, and 8.0 dBi gain antennas rather than the diversity antenna. A third WAP11 acts as the access point for the WMP11's.)
 
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I have a lynksis WAP on the 3rd floor and the computer that I wanted to connect via wireless device is all the way in the basement ( 3 floors below). At first, I boought Lynksis USB wireless adapter. After installing the software/hardware the signal indicator showed 90% reception (Excellent), but the page would load in as much as 3 minutes, which was a teribble amount of time to wait. In addition to poor reception, my computer that was wired into the router, lost its performance. Then I decided to change to a PCI Wireless adapter that actually has an antenna that looks like one. WOW, what a difference. At first, my signal came up at 77%, I thought that it would be just as slow. But then after I logged into the internet, I was blown away with the speed. I checked the bandwidth of my wireless connection and it came up at 1.1 mb/s, which is amazing. High-speed cable is only limited to 1.5 mb/s throughput, so getting 1.1 via wireless is very, very good. I am debating whether to upload the new firmware on it. Does anyone see a difference after the upload????? GREAT PRODUCT!!!!!
 
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I have installed 4 of these cards so sar and about to install 2 more. I have the same experience than many here: the firmware upgrade _is_ necessary (not only performance issues, but the built in java webserver for the configuration of the Linksys router has bugs). Once the firmware upgrade was applied in two minutes the connection was up and running at 80-100%, depending where the computer was. The router is in the basement and the computers are about 50-150 feet away. The only significant problem I had was with a Linksys PCCard which really is sensitive to where it is located (I guess because it has a tiny "antenna"). Overall, a Linksys router and these cards I think give you a chep but good way of implementing a home/small business wireless network.
 
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I had the same problem as Ken from Mo.(everything looked fine but data rate was very very slow) and updating the firmware fixed the problem. However, the included 'configuration utility' wasn't updated. Now everytime the config utility runs, it pops up a warning that the firmware is 'old or not compatible'. If you hit OK the firmware gets downgraded and you are back to square one. Select 'cancel' and the config utility will work fine. I recommend removing it from the startup folder so it does not launch automatically at boot up. Linksys tech support was no help with eliminating this small glitch.
 
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One of the WMP11 features I felt very important for my use is the WEP encryption. I have a small system (WAP11 and one WMP11) so I could get my wife's upstairs computer on cable internet access. We use the computers for our office work and wanted the added securirity of encryption while we connect to the company VPN. The unencrypted mode worked well in all setup and tests, but the encryption failed every time. I could not connect to my network. It did not matter whether I tried 64-bit or 128-bit mode. I called Tech Support and the tech instructed me to download new firmware for the card. I did - and it still failed to connect to the network. A second call to Tech Support revealed that I ALSO needed to download new drivers for the WMP. Following the tech support person's detailed instructions, I removed the drivers, removed the card, reinstalled the drivers and reinstalled the card. Everything works well now. I will buy more cards in the future as I add a fileserver to my home network, but I will check for new firmware and drivers befre I install a thing.
 
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I bout the WMP11 and the 2.4 GHz Wireless Access Point. Installation was a breeze for both (especially if you follow the directions). I had my network up and running in less than 15 minutes. This is so GREAT! For the price, it cannot be beat. Wireless networking on two desktops and a notebook for less than $500.00! Two more desktops are on their way to join the network!
 
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I recently purchased one of these. If your thinking about buying one upgrading the firmware is a must. It corrected my horrible connection problems in a flash.
 
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I tried one of these across a distance of approximately 30 feet in a multi-story house. The signal strength was poor and attempted surfing/gaming resulted in machine hangs. To resolve the hang, the machine had to be powered down, the card had to be removed, power up, power down, re-install card, power up. A simple reboot would NOT solve the problem! I replaced this with a Linksys wireless USB device (WUSB11) and life is good! That is, signal strength is dramatically improved and there are NO hangs... Also, the version of the PCI card I had only worked after updating the driver from the Linksys website...
 
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Do not buy this product unless you are fond of installing and reinstalling drivers and utilities countelss times. The combination of documentation that is is severely lacking and WinXP drivers not included on the CD make this product near to impossible to install on your own without tech support. Even with tech support, the card dropped the connection multiple times leading me to want to rip it out and go back to my regualr wired connection. I do not know if there are any wireless PCI crads better than this, but it would not take much to beat this one ...
 
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I have a Linksys wireless router with 4-port switch in an upstairs bedroom and I purchased the wireless PCI card for a PC that is located downstairs in the living room. The card and the included software were easy to install. However, the wireless PCI card was initially useless. Even though the signal strength and link quality stayed in the very good to excellent range, the transfer speed hovered around 600 bytes per second. The card would receive data at this rate for 30 - 60 seconds, then quit receiving data altogether. I moved the wireless PCI card to a PC in the same room as the router. The diagnostic software showed 100% signal strength and link quality but I still had the same problem. I had downloaded and installed an updated driver, tried a variety of different settings, and was just about to call tech support when I noticed that there was a firmware upgrade on the Linksys website. I downloaded and installed the firmware upgrade and the wireless PCI card began working great. I have moved the card back to the PC downstairs and it still works great. I haven't bothered to check the transfer speed since it now keeps up with my cable modem.
 
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I owned Linksys PCMCIA wireless card (WPC11) with the PCI card. Reception was usually at 70%. Sometimes better, sometimes worse. Wife broke her wireless card so I purchased this one with the antenna and right out of the box (same computer, same location) I got 100% reception. New design, new antenna - don't care, just much better performance.
 
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It took me 4 days to get it working correctly, but once it started working, it worked great. Be sure to remove all 2.4 GHz phones from your house, as they make all wireless linksys stuff not work. 2 walls, and about 50 feet between this computer, and the router, and the signla strength is usually 'very good'. Good if you don't want to pay cable companies for each computer using it.
 
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I would just like to point out that putting the WAP on top of your monitor is probably your problem, and NOT the adapter. Monitors throw out all kinds of EM (electromagnetic) interference. Try moving the WAP and see if that helps...
 
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For a desktop device, I would heartily recommend this product over the PC card/PCI carrier combo. The signal strength is MUCH better with this new product. My daughter in the farthest reaches of the house has a much better signal with this integrated card than another daughter much closer to the AP with the combo set up. All in all, a big improvement!
 
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I setup this card with the Linksys WAP on a desktop that's only about 30 feet away through 3 layers of bedroom walls. The reception was terrible at 35-40% at the most. Even after the firmware upgrade, the reception only improved a bit. No matter how I adjust their antenna, the connection quality remains poor. Later I found a smiliar type of product made by a company called Sohoware which came with a wired antenna that's easily adjustable and the reception quality improved dramatically to 70-80%. So, I would highly recommend checking out other integrated wireless PCI network card made by other vendors before trying to save money by getting this CHEAP card. You get what you've paid for.
 
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I recently purchased the same items as Mike from Fl and had mediocre performance at relatively short distances away from the access point. I called Linksys support; they suggested downloading and installing the latest firmware update for the WMP11. I did so and the update fixed the performance problem.
 
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Six months ago I purchased a WPC11 and wireless cable/DSL router BEFW11S4 with the hopes of not having to run CAT5 throughout my house. My sons room is 30 feet down a hallway from the wireless router which sits on top of my monitor. After I installed the WPC11 and PCI bus converter in the tower and averaged 40% signal which equated to poor performance. When I saw the WMP11 with the antenna, I figured Linksys had enough complaints with the WPC11 that they resolved the poor reception by adding an antenna. When I installed it, I received a very good signal at 80%. The performance was still poor and made simple games at cartoonnetwork.com too painful to wait on. Sadly, I must now run CAT5 to this and other locations. My house has metal studs, and sheetrock, which hopefully wouldn't cause a problem. My 2.4ghz phones work great.
 
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