Cisco-Linksys WUSBF54G Wireless-G USB Network Adapter with Wi-Fi Finder Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a direct comparision between the Linksys WUSBF54G and TrendNet 509UB.
Both perform as expected when used as a standalone hot spot detector.
Both perform as expected on Windows XP. Installation was quirky for both. After driver installation, inserting into USB slot it wasn't recognized at all. Fiddled around for awhile and it finally detected the device. Had to disable the notebook's builtin wireless before XP recognized the device.
Client software does not detect a device under Windows Vista Ultimate RC2. I assume this will be true for Windows Vista RTM too. Inserting the device into a Windows Vista RC2 system often completely froze Windows Vista (had to hold down power button for complete reboot). Had to disable the notebook's builtin wireless before Vista recognized the device.
Appears that the TrendNet and Linksys devices are so similar that they must be made by the same OEM or reference design. As expected, evaluation results are similar.
1. Both devices seem to have same sensitivity, similar to notebook's internal wireless card.
2. TrendNet device doesn't have Windows XP signed drivers so an extra click during install is requried. Also installing on new USB ports requires extra clicks.
3. TrendNet device supports 801.11a whereas Linksys does not.
4. TrendNet device sometimes crashes Vista Ultimate RC2.
5. Neither device's software client works under Vista Ultimate RC2. This isn't a deal breaker for me as they both work under Vista Ultimate RC2 networking as a USB wireless key. You just lose the client software feature.
6. The Linksys has a somewhat useful backlit LCD, TrendNet does not.
7. Both devices work as standalone hotspot locators equal well.
8. In hotspot mode, both devices show SSID, channel number, encryption mode, etc.
Conclusion: For XP, I recommend the TrendNet so save the extra dollars. For Vista, I recommend the Linksys device as it never crashed Vista Ultimate RC2 whereas TrendNet device was gave occasional freezes.

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" Linksys Wireless-G USB Network Adapter with Wi-Fi Finder - Add Wireless-G to your notebook or desktop computers and detect wireless signals without powering on your PCThe Wireless-G USB Adapter with Wi-Fi Finder is a handy, pocket-sized device that combines an easy-to-use wireless network scanner with a USB-connected Wireless-G network adapter.Now you can scan for available wireless connectivity before turning on your computer.If the scanner does find a network, just plug it into your PC and get connected.The Wi-Fi Finder detects Wireless-G and Wireless-B networks with a simple push of a button.It displays all pertinent information such as the wireless network's name (SSID), signal strength, the channel used, and whether wireless security is enabled or not.The information is displayed on an easy-to-read LCD display and can be set up to look for only open networks, all networks, or a specific named network.Discovered networks are listed in order of signal strength.The advanced wireless search technology filters out 2.4GHz interference given off by microwave ovens, cordless phones, and Bluetooth devices to provide readouts only on working Wireless-G or -B networks.With the Wi-Fi Finder built into the unit, you no longer need to power on your PC to determine if there's a wireless network connection available.Public wireless hotspots are springing up all over in coffee shops, airport lounges, hotels and convention centers.The Wireless-G USB Adapter with Wi-Fi Finder from Linksys makes it easy to find, and connect to, those hotspots.Also works with :-WRT54G - Share your high-speed Internet connection with Wireless-B, Wireless-G, and wired Ethernet devices.WAP54G - Connects Wireless-G or Wireless-B devices to your existing wired networkWPC54G - Connects your notebook computer to Wireless-G networks.

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Cisco-Linksys Wireless-G Print Server with Multifunction Printer Support Review

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(More customer reviews)Once you get this gizmo going, it works nicely. You can connect multiple computers on your home network to a printer that's within WiFi range. But setting it up is a challenge, because you have to do exactly the right things in exactly the right sequence, and some of the things you have to do right aren't mentioned in the setup wizard that runs when you insert the Linksys setup CD into your computer, or they're mentioned so late in the process that you may have to start all over again!
The process takes about 90 minutes if you do everything right the first time around and don't have to double back. Most of the time you're watching software load - it's as exciting as watching paint dry. Here's what you have to do, as far as I'm able to recount from having just done it for a friend's home network. If you think the following is written in Greek or maybe in Geek, get someone else to do this for you. If you're up to the challenge, this review may save you time and frustration and prevent more 1-star reviews.
(1) Before you set the print server up, it's a good idea to go to the web site of the company that makes your router (Linksys, D-Link, Netgear, etc.) and download and install the latest "firmware" for your router. That takes maybe 15 minutes.
(2) Move the printer close to the PC that's connected to your wireless router. It has to be close enough to the router for you to connect it via a standard Ethernet ("patch" or "Internet") cable. It's not a big deal, but it means you may have to set the printer up in one place and then move it back to where you want it to be. (Linksys supplies the necessary cables in the box, which is to their credit. Most printer manufacturers make you buy your own cable.)
(3) The printer needs to be set up on the computer using a wired (USB) connection *before* you try to set up the wireless connection. If you're just going wireless with a printer you've already installed on the PC that's connected to your WiFi router, you're all set. But if you're installing a new printer, or trying to go wireless with a printer you've moved from some other computer, be sure to install it as a USB printer first. (3-a) Once you have the printer set up as a wireless "network" computer, you may want to uninstall the USB version of the same printer, because when you boot up, some versions of Windows will give you endless warnings that the local printer isn't connected. (3-b) This also means that if you ever buy a new printer and you want to connect it wirelessly via the Linksys print server, you have to install it first as a (wired) USB printer, and then re-run the "Set Up Computer" wizard from the CD that comes with the Linksys. Don't lose that CD!
(4) The setup wizard asks for a password for the print server. You can use any password you like, BUT then it asks for a passphrase, and the wizard fails to point out that you need the exact WEP passphrase or WEP key you've (already) used to set up your wireless router. (You are using WEP or stronger security on your wireless router, right? If not, go find out how to set up WEP security and do it immediately.) (4-a) The setup wizard asks for a passphrase, but if you've used a passcode on your router, there's a way to enter it you look carefully at the screen.
(5) Once you complete setting up the wireless print server, the wizard leads you through setting up your computer. Again, you must have already installed the printer onto the computer via a USB cable before you get to this point! Follow the instructions and by gosh - it works! Then at the very end there's a small note saying that if you want to set up other computers, you have to install the printer drivers first. Nice of Linksys to point that out at the very end; it would have saved me an hour of messing around if they'd said that at the beginning!
(6) Once the printer is set up, it's the default printer, and it wasn't possible (at least for me, with Windows XP) to set a different printer up as the default printer on one of the computers on my home friend's network. A minor irritation, in most cases, and there may be a workaround. If I find it I'll add it to this review.
So: 5 stars for convenience once it's set up; 3 stars for the glitch with the default; 2 stars for poor setup instructions... how do you rate this thing? 4 stars, I guess.


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Cisco-Linksys WPS54GU2 Wireless-G Print Server for USB 2.0 Review

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(More customer reviews)After reading the mixed reviews for this, I still decided to try the Linksys Wireless Print Server. Although this is more expensive than the wired print server, I thought that it may be nice to locate my printers (one is USB and the other is parallel/USB) and wireless router in different locations. Neither printer is multi-function. I first tried a "wired" Linksys print server, but was unable to connect (2) USB printers using a hub - plus the price of the print server and the hub was nearly the same as the wireless device.
So far so good, but there are some things that I suggest you do when installing this device. These are based on personal experience, which has been a process of educated trial and error. An IT professional may do things differently, but if you were an IT professional, you probably wouldn't be reading these reviews. My network is almost entirely Linksys components (wireless router, wireless adapter, and print server), although I am using the network cards that were pre-installed with those computers that are hard wired to the router.
First, disable your firewall. This will allow you to test the compatibility of the printers, the network, and the print sever without the extra component to worry about. Once everything is up and running, you can enable your firewall and tweak any networking restrictions at that time.
Secondly, when configuring the router (which is the first step), you will need to have this "wired" to your router. This is part of the instructions, and should not come as a surprise. However, make sure you leave this "wired" until you have installed the print server drivers and software on all your networked computers. The install utility seems to have trouble finding the print server if you have disconnected the hard wire connection, even if the print server lights indicate it is already on the wireless LAN.
Thirdly, if you are using MAC address filtering, temporarily disable this. One you get the print server set up and running, you can find its MAC address using the web utility or the BI-admin utility, and then restore the filtering after adding the print server. However, if you want to use the web based configuration utility (like you use with your router), please follow the instructions in the following paragraph.
Fourth, once you have installed everything per the instructions, I recommend the following: give your print server a fixed IP address on your network (e.g. 192.168.1.171). My experience is this: If your router uses DHCP to assign IP addresses to your networked computers and servers, the print server does not always communicate back to the router, and your print server will sometimes "disappear" from your network after computers have been turned off and on. Something to do with the order the computers and servers are turned on. Setting this to a fixed address has cleared up those problems for me. Also, because the print server's address is fixed, you can access the web based configuration utility by typing in the same IP address each time.
Fifthly, find the MAC address using the web based or BI-admin utility. Now, if you are using these, reinstate your MAC address filtering, adding your print server's address to the allowed list.
Sixth, test and test again. Reboot your computers and unplug and re-plug your print server. Send documents to all your printers from all your computers - not just printer test pages. Print actual documents from a "Wordpad" or similar program.
Seventh, enable your firewall, remembering to enable access to your print server at the fixed IP address used above.
Eighth, test again just to make sure. If it doesn't work now, you know it's the network settings of your firewall.
This has seemed to work for me.


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The Linksys Wireless-G PrintServer for USB 2.0 lets you connect a USB or parallel printer (or both!) directly to your network, eliminating the need to dedicate a PC to print sharing chores.Using a PrintServer frees up your "print share PC" so you don't have to leave it on all the time.It also removes the printing bottleneck, and sets your PC free to do more useful work.Connect the PrintServer directly to your network by 10/100 Ethernet cable, or wirelessly over 54Mbps Wireless-G (802.11g).The wireless option lets you put your printers wherever you want to, without having to run cables.Whichever way the PrintServer is attached to your network, both your wireless and wired PCs will have access to it, and the printers it's connected to.And if you don't use wireless for general networking in your office, you can still use the Wireless-G connection in ad-hoc mode to print from visiting Wireless-G and Wireless-B PCs.The USB port is compatible with USB 1.1 printers, as well as printers that support the new high-speed USB 2.0 specification for even faster throughput.There's also a separate port for a standard parallel printer.For even more versatility, you can connect two printers, one to each port, and send your documents to whichever one is most appropriate for each print job.A user-friendly Setup Wizard makes installation easy, the compact case fits anywhere, and the three megabyte print buffer size handles even large graphics-intensive print jobs.Let the Linksys Wireless-G PrintServer for USB 2.0 bring efficiency to your printing tasks.

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Cisco-Linksys PSUS4 PrintServer for USB with 4 Port Switch Review

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(More customer reviews)Like a number of the other reviews mentioned, the PSUS4 works fine as a printserver but the included setup software isn't worth even removing from the box. I am by no means a networking expert but I had the time to tinker with the device and found that you really need to be ready to configure the PSUS4 directly using your browser and then configure each computer for local printing by creating a new TCP/IP port using the IP address of the unit and configuring it for printing to "USB1". If this sounds complicated it really isn't and with a bit of searching you can find quick and easy instructions from an article on the Linksys website (note the lack of mentioning USB1 in the article).
Long story short, don't buy this if you want plug and play but if you have a basic understanding of networking you will find this works fine after a bit of a painful initial setup. I found that it took much longer just to find the information I needed than actually setting up the unit.

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Share your USB printer and expand your network with one compact box The Linksys PrintServer for USB with 4-Port Switch is a double upgrade for your network. First, it lets you connect a USB printer directly to your network, eliminating the need to dedicate a PC to print serving chores. Using a PrintServer frees up your print share PC so you dont have to leave it on all the time. It also removes the printing bottleneck, and sets your PC free to do more useful work. In addition, the PrintServer includes a 4-port 10/100 switch, so you can easily add more devices to your network. All four ports are auto speed negotiating, and have automatic MDI/MDI-X crossover detection, so you dont have to worry about the cable type.

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