Linksys and Netgear USB Wireless adapters DON'T work under WinXP and USB 2.0...

[flenn]

Just want to share what has been a few hours of frustration for me. I've been trying to help a neighbor with their new Dell desktop, and have discovered something that none of the tech reps could. I started out with a Linksys WUSB11, and after an hour + on the phone with a tech rep with no luck, tried a Netgear MA101. Both would install fine, and see the available network. Both would not connect, no matter what I tried. After a reinstall of XP, I noticed that the Dell is using USB 2.0. I called Netgear back and asked if their adapter supports USB 2.0 under WinXP and, after being on hold for awhile, was told no. Umm, wish that would have come up earlier. Anyway, if anyone is running that combo, beware. BTW, I installed an internal card and had no problems.

 

[lobadobadingdong]

What are you talking about??? USB 2.0 is backwards compatable with USB 1.1, I just set up a wi-fi network on an msi-kt4vl (has 6 usb2.0 and no usb1.1) with xp home, and it worked fine used a linksys usb wi-fi nic with no problems, connected to a linksys wireless broadband router. Did you make sure you used the right ssid and matched the frequency spectrums,or matched the wep?

 

[flenn]

SSID was broadcast from the AP and the client machine saw it fine. Wep was disabled. Not sure what you mean about "matching frequency spectrums". XP has built in wireless support and you don't select channels or frequencies. The machine saw the available network (which means the SSID and frequency are not an issue), it just wouldn't connect.

You're using a WUSB11? If so, what version? As we all know, "backwards compatible" doesn't mean much until a product has withstood the test of time. If you do have a WUSB11 ver 2.6 working with XP and USB 2.0, I suspect that XP has been patched, or there is a fundamental difference with the USB/driver on your VIA chipset (my neighbor's Dell is an Intel). Bottom line is that Netgear states that they DON'T support USB 2.0 with XP.