WPC55AG Dual-Band 802.11a/b/g Wireless Notebook Adapter

CNET Editors' Rating

4.0 stars
    Overall score: 8.3 (4.0 stars)

Excellent

Average User Rating

28 reviews

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WPC55AG Dual-Band 802.11a/b/g Wireless Notebook Adapter - front WPC55AG Dual-Band 802.11a/b/g Wireless Notebook Adapter - back
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  • WPC55AG Dual-Band 802.11a/b/g Wireless Notebook Adapter - front
  • WPC55AG Dual-Band 802.11a/b/g Wireless Notebook Adapter - back

CNET Editors' Review

CNET Editors' Rating

4.0 stars Excellent
    Overall score: 8.3 (4.0 stars)
  • Reviewed by: Brian Nadel
  • Released on:
  • Reviewed on:

The good: Painless installation; good price; excellent range.

The bad: Lacks printed manual; three-year warranty.

The bottom line: As versatile as it is inexpensive, the Linksys WPC55AG is an excellent choice for those commuting between 802.11a and 802.11b/g networks.

Review: For those who need to jump between wireless networks, including hot spots and corporate LANs, the Linksys WPC55AG is connection central. Say the office LAN has 802.11a, the Starbucks has 802.11b, and at home, you use 802.11g. No problem--with a built-in radio that supports all three standards, this $90 wireless PC Card adapter is an economical way to make sure you get online. If there's a signal, the WPC55AG dual-band Wireless A+G notebook adapter will lock on to it.

The WPC55AG ships with quick-installation guides for Windows XP, 98, Me, and 2000, as well as ... Expand full review
For those who need to jump between wireless networks, including hot spots and corporate LANs, the Linksys WPC55AG is connection central. Say the office LAN has 802.11a, the Starbucks has 802.11b, and at home, you use 802.11g. No problem--with a built-in radio that supports all three standards, this $90 wireless PC Card adapter is an economical way to make sure you get online. If there's a signal, the WPC55AG dual-band Wireless A+G notebook adapter will lock on to it.

The WPC55AG ships with quick-installation guides for Windows XP, 98, Me, and 2000, as well as a CD bearing a 26-page manual and installation software. All told, it takes only a few minutes to set up the card for an XP system and just a little longer for Windows 2000 notebooks, which require you to load the WLAN Monitor software. Windows XP has an integrated WLAN monitoring feature called the Zero Configuration Component, but we preferred the Linksys WLAN monitor, thanks to its helpful visual signal strength, link-quality meters, and ability to store connection profiles for different networks. Unfortunately, the WLAN Monitor is compatible with only earlier, pre-XP Windows versions.

The WPC55AG has a pair of LEDs that show power and link activity, which is helpful when troubleshooting an intermittent connection. They provide you with a visual signal should someone try to transfer data to or from your system. For security, the card provides the standard 64- and 128-bit WEP encryption, which can be given a slight boost to 152 bits when connected to other Linksys 802.11a gear. This summer, Linksys plans to offer free downloadable firmware upgrades that will bring the WPC55AG up to the final 802.11g spec and add much stronger security features, including support for Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), LEAP, and 802.1x.

CNET Labs' tests show the WPC55AG to be a versatile performer. It was able to connect at maximum throughput rates of 20.6Mbps over its 802.11a interface, 17.9Mbps over its 802.11g interface, and 7.6Mbps with both 802.11g and 802.11b clients connected simultaneously.

CNET Labs throughput tests  (Longer bars indicate better performance)
Throughput in Mbps  
WAG511 802.11a
21.6 
WPC55AG 802.11a
20.6 
WPC55AG 802.11g
17.9 
WAG511 802.11g
17.1 
WAG511 mixed
7.7 
WPC55AG mixed
7.6 

While it's slightly slower than the best single-band card in each category, the WPC55AG is the only card that does it all, and its range is the best to date, with high-bandwidth 802.11g connections that reached more than 150 feet in CNET Labs' tests. This places the WPC55AG neck and shoulders above its top competitor, the Netgear WAG511.

Average User Rating

2.5 stars out of 28 user reviews

Rating Breakdown

  • 5 star: 4
  • 4 star: 9
  • 3 star: 3
  • 2 star: 9
  • 1 star: 3

My Rating

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Most recent user reviews

Showing 3 of 28 reviews

0.5 stars

"software messed up windows" By donking!

Pros: did actually work, sort of

Cons: software messed up windows. had to reinstall system.

Summary: This card is very buggy and I highly do NOT recommend it. I got the wireless card for my R505TLK Sony Vaio, running W2K. It did work. But every time I plugged it in and it connected to the internet it would take about five minutes to connect to the ... Expand full review

0.5 stars

"Rated '1' because zero isn't an option" By neilparks

Pros: Can't find any

Cons: Doesn't work worth a cent!

Summary: Bought this piece of junk from Dell and have been trying for days to install on an Inspiron 8000. Software keeps throwing errors in MSVCRT.DLL. Linksys tech support put me through several install-uninstall-reinstalls and then blamed Microsoft.

Avoid this product at all costs!

Updated
No thanks at all to


... Expand full review

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Specifications

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Quick Specs

  • Data transfer rate: 54 Mbps
  • Connectivity technology: Wireless
  • Networking interface type: PC Card

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