5 Responses to “Cisco-Linksys WUSB54GC Compact Wireless-G USB Adapter”

1. Matthew Leo says:

   July 12, 2010 at 7:04 pm

   First off, the good. The stick gets pretty good reception, IMO.

   Next the neither here nor there: if you follow the advice of the sticker and run the install CD, it will replace the standard Windows wi-fi zeroconf with Linksys’s own utility. Zeroconf is not really all that great, but it would be decent of them to ask you first. If you are used to doing things the Windows way, you’d probably prefer to keep doing so. The Monitor software is not bad, but it has its own faults. You might prefer it to Windows, but don’t expect any help from your resident Windows expert if you have problems with it.

   Next the truly bad: the softwarte mucks around with windows settings (e.g. the notorious GTGINA.dll/logon problem) without asking permission, informing you, or giving you a clue as to who is responsible.

   It is utterly amazing this thing earned a Windows compatibility sticker given this. When you buy something with the sticker, you should at least be confident you aren’t going to be sucker punched by the software installing unasked for and unwanted “improvements”.

   This is why this software is not just BAD, it is GRATUITOUSLY bad. It’s one thing to make software that is dreadful at what you buy it for (which indeed the Linksys drivers are not), it’s another to spread dreadfulness around to completely unrelated functions (which the Linksys drivers do). There is no reason at all for Linksys to do this.

   YOU might not have a problem right now, but in the future you may end up with mysterious and uninformative error messages which will have you digging through the Windows registry to track down.

   For this reason, I strongly recommend that non-experts avoid this device. I understand that the changes this driver installs are intended to make life easier for non-experts. It may even succeed at this for some. But if you run into problems (particularly later), you are going to have to handle your resident Windows support guy getting very cranky. The problems the included software create are not only completely unrelated to the functions this device performs, they persist even if you don’t have the device plugged in.

   It is incumbent on a vendor, when replacing standard ways of doing things with a way that is supposed to be “better”, to achieve 100% success. Otherwise they leave the poor user high and dry with no viable support. Better obvious flaws that everyone knows about than mysterious, untraceable flaws.

   For Linux users, the device works flawlessly, but you have to do the following:

   (1) compile the RT73 driver source and install the package.
   
   (2) obtain the RT73 firmware deb or RPM (From the same soruce as the driver) and install it.

   Once you do this, when you plug the device in the system should recognize it as a wifi network adapter and give it the device name “rausb0″. You then use the method normal for your Linux distro to configure it, either iwconfig on the command line, or the KWifi program for KDE users (also Ubuntu Gnome users).

   If you have never compiled a kernel module before, have no fear. Just google for “wusb54gc rt73 compile” and you’ll find directions. Follow them step by step and you’ll have success.
   Rating: 1 / 5
2. Daniel Rutkowski says:

   July 12, 2010 at 7:36 pm

   At first glance, the WUSB54GC Compact Wireless-G USB Adapter is a simple solution for connecting any computer to a wireless network with support for industrial-strength WiFi Protected Access security (this is abbreviated as WPA and includes the newest version “WPA-PSK2″).

   This is a value option that doesn’t require you to open up the computer to install a network interface card. Therefore, it is conceivable to install the USB wireless adapter by following four simple steps:

   Step 1. Open the package,

   Step 2. Insert the included CD in your CD-ROM drive and install the driver,

   Step 3. Plug the adapter into an empty USB port/socket on your computer (do NOT plug into a USB hub as you won’t get enough power),

   Step 4. Setup the adapter with available wireless network.

   I’ve been using Linksys networking products for twelve to thirteen years, and I’ve been pleased most of the time with the functionality and simplicity of their offerings at a value price. Through the years I’ve gradually upgraded from my first Linksys product (a primitive, but also inexpensive, router…sharing a dial-up modem connection on a wired network with a tangle of cabling to match) to my current, fully functional, wireless/wired network that has seven Linksys products attached to it.

   This WUSB54GC adapter is the first Linksys device I purchased (or replaced within warranty) that did not require a call to tech support for help to hook it up. USB devices are almost always very straightforward and user-friendly out of the box, but unfortunately I ran into a snag right away.

   When it took more than a few minutes to “install” the new hardware and my Windows 2000 plug and pray OS didn’t find the new device, I thought that my latest Linksys acquisition was DOA (dead on arrival). Having had more than my share of networking “experience” and dreading the thought of calling Linksys about as much as…[insert bad memories here], I downloaded the latest driver (there was a newer version than the one that came on the CD with the adapter) and installed it. A search of the Linksys website for “Easy Answers” revealed none, and the User Guide included on the CD provided no help. Before giving up and returning the adapter (after checking to make sure the bar code in the package was not destroyed while unpacking the unit), a closer examination of the USB port on my notebook computer revealed “the problem” — the plug end of the adapter is a flat rectangle that’s 1″ across with no tapering and the USB socket on my laptop is 1/2″ across and recessed about 1/4″ so the USB plug wasn’t fully seated and the adapter wasn’t getting power. Now, you might possibly run into this issue, too, so check your USB ports for clearance BEFORE purchase unless you want to progress to the next step.

   Step 5. While unpacking the bubble pack in Step 1 above, you might wonder why this wireless adapter comes with a 5 foot extension cord. I plugged in the extension cord, plugged the adapter into the cord and it worked. So…now I have a wireless adapter with a five foot dongle (oh well…my wireless adapter isn’t totally “wire-less”), but my old Linksys PCMCIA network adapter that cost almost twice as much as the WUSB54GC didn’t support WPA security.

   WINDOWS XP USERS: You will have an issue if you use Fast User Switching (you are using FUS if you have the welcome screen where all of the user names appear); Linksys has a workaround for that problem on their website.

   The Linksys WUSB54GC network adapter is small, lightweight and it works well; the connection is very reliable and fast, installation is minimally invasive and the adapter monitor that’s part of the driver makes connecting to your network a breeze. It also comes with a three-year warranty.

   Here’s hoping your installation goes as smoothly as 1,2,3 and 4; if so, your rating will be a 5.
   Rating: 3 / 5
3. C says:

   July 12, 2010 at 10:24 pm

   Beware! If your OS is Windows XP and your computer is configured for multiple users who use login screen of Windows XP, this device will disable user login. Linksys support will not provide assistance as they say this product was designed to purposefully prevent use of multiple user login interface built into Windows XP. Search the Internet on:

   Linksys WUSB54GC Windows XP User

   to see many descriptions of this problem.
   Rating: 1 / 5
4. J. Grose says:

   July 12, 2010 at 11:02 pm

   I’m an A+ certified tech who previously worked for CompUSA’s corporate support staff, so I am very familiar with a wide variety of hardware. This USB device is by far the worst I have ever dealt with in terms of usefulness, connectivity, and problems. I have previously used Linksys’s routers, both wired and wireless, and they are some of the best routers on the market. However, they seem to have a big problem when making wireless adapters.

   I purchased the Linksys WRT54GS wireless router with SpeedBooster, and so I tried to by the same capable cards for all computers in the house (5 in total currently). I was lead to believe by the staff at a local computer store and Linksys tech support that using Linksys branded devices with this router would enhance the capabilities of the wireless network, in terms of range and coverage. I have now found that to be a complete distortion. There are two laptops in the house, one of which has a built in Intel wireless (that worked fine) but I decided to purchase a PCMCIA Linksys card because it was advised that it would enhance the range of the device. It did not. I recently purchased a second Laptop custom built by Alienware, and at the advice of a local computer store, opted to leave out the built in Intel network card, which was a huge mistake. The Alienware laptop does not have a PCMCIA slot, and only has a “Express Slot Type II” of which I can find no card from Linksys that functions as a wireless card.

   The USB device WUSB54GC constantly disconnects, especially in the room that I use it, it has constant problems. It reports a USB2.0 socket as not being one, and then I plug it into another one that is USB2.0, it works fine (reading as USB2 socket) I have used Linksys drivers and Windows drivers, and (overall) I have found the Linksys drivers to be mostly worthless, this is including on all the wireless adapter cards I have installed. I have attempted to troubleshoot this problem with any networking site and forum you can name, as well as Linksys and others, to no avail.

   I would not recommend this device to ANYONE, even if you have successfully used other Linksys hardware. This device is absolutely worthless, and I won’t spend another dime in my life on any Linksys adapters. Their routers are fantastic. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same of their adapters.
   Rating: 1 / 5
5. Michael of Berkeley says:

   July 13, 2010 at 12:23 am

   I bought this adapter along with the Linksys WRT54GL Broadband Router. I managed to set them up and install them properly. (The best advice I got from the “Home Networking for Dummies” book was to get a 100 foot Cat5e patch cable so that I could put my router in the place I where I wanted it, and hook it up with a wired connection first. I actually only needed a 50 foot cable, and got it for $20 from a local electronics supply store.)

   So I got everything up and running (remember to install your router first, and then your network adapter), surfed the internet for awhile, and then shut down my computer. Here’s where the trouble started….

   As other reviewers have noted, the Linksys installation makes changes to your Windows XP configuration, de-activating the Welcome screen and the feature Microsoft calls “Fast User Switching.” This happens with no warning.

   When I went to turn on my computer again, I got a new start-up screen for Windows, demanding a password. I freaked out, because I don’t remember ever setting a password for Windows. I called Linksys, and was extremely unimpressed with their customer support. The young woman seemed to be amused by my problem, and was actually laughing at me. She began to start me through the process of completely re-setting the router to the factory settings (this would NOT have helped).

   What finally helped was figuring out (with no help from Linksys) that if you never set a password for your Windows XP logon, all you have to do is hit “Enter” at the password prompt. That’s all there is. Linksys could have told me this, or better yet, warned before installation that these changes to Windows XP would take place and suggest setting up a User Password in advance.

   Another gripe about this network adapter and the Linksys router–neither came with instruction manuals. There is a 60-page instruction manual on the CD rom that comes with the product, but you’ll have to print it out yourself (Do it before you install or try installing the product). In the case of the router, I also had to do deep searching to actually find the instruction manual on the CD-ROM–it wanted to start up the Setup Wizard automatically and the instruction manual was not easy to access from the CD-ROM. I guess this may be the norm now with computer hardware, but it still stinks.

   I do not recommend the Linksys WUSB54GC, primarily because of the unannounced changes it makes to the Windows XP system, and because of Linksys’ non-existent or non-functional and rude customer support.
   Rating: 1 / 5