Warning!! Linksys Wifi CF cards DO NOT work with PPC2003

[spinedoc]

Spoke to Linksys support and they say there is no ETA on when a PPC2003 driver will be available for the Linksys WCF12 wireless card. Very frustrating and short sighted, so I ordered a socket card today.

Be warned...

[Pat Logsdon]

Oh, that's just swell. I just bought one. :roll:

Thanks for the heads up.

[esieracki]

I got an e-mail from them after posing a similar question, and they said that testing was underway.

I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

I just ordered my $30 upgrade from Dell.

Hope springs eternal.

[BTS]

I sure hope they're testing it out. I recently sunk $100 CDN into one. I sent them an e-mail last night (Wed) and they replied by saying that "there was currently no driver available" and that they couldn't give me an ETA.

Personally I think this is a very poor response for a company that is one of the leaders in wireless connectivity. For pete's sake even tell me that Linksys is going to have one out soon. That would satisfy me enough to go out and buy a 2210 when they become available (I have $600 just burning a hole in my pocket but I'll buy the 1940 if I can't get the Linksys card to work).

[sbrown23]

Linksys sucks.... like they didn't know this OS was coming. I bought one of the WCF12 cards the day I got my iPaq. I was all excited only to find out it was no go. Geez. Screw the early adopters, I guess? Oh well, I know I'll never recommend another linksys product again with that kind of crappy service.



Yeah, you SUCK linksys! :evil:

[Ipaqian One]

I'm actually on my 4th WCF12 card. The first one lasted about 30 minutes. The second lasted about 2 months. The 3rd one Linksys sent me connected to the network fine but the indicator light wouldn't work at all straight out the box so I had to do a return again. (The light comes in handy when driving around NY City looking for a free network.) The service rep apologized and said that they would take care of ROUND TRIP shipping on the 3rd one since it was an immediate dud and sent to me by THEM as replacement for another dud. (Linksys standard policy is to cover the cost of shipping the replacement but the cost of returning the defective product is covered by the consumer).

Lo and behold when the 4th one came, which seems to be working fine for NOW, (cross fingers) it didn't have any sort of prepaid return shipping label in the box. So apparently Linksys is thinking that I will pay a 4th time to ship one of their defective products back to them. Now I've got to get on the phone again to resolve another headache caused by them. Trust me - avoid this card!

I've never been able to use the WCF12's "Power Save" feature and my WAP is a made by Linksys! Once I turn on Power Save I can't browse the Net. At least the 4th card seems to be easier on my Ipaq 3950's battery life but the 2nd one tore through my battery like there was no tomorrow during the little time it worked. My 3950 has the latest ROM updates to Pocket PC 2002 issued by HP.

I would have to say that Linksys' quality control as it regards their WCF12 card is atrocious.

Originally I was using their WCF11 card but a ROM upgrade of PPC 2002 from HP rendered that card uselless. But for whatever reason I was able to succesfully install the WCF11 driver AFTER installing the buying the WCF12 card and installing it's driver.

Going through tech support with Linksys for both the WCF11 and WCF12 cards was extremely hit or miss. (I don't tend to call just once - if I don't get a satisfactory and competent resolution or answer then I WILL try again.) Some of the reps I spoke to seemed like they had just picked up a Pocket PC for the first time only a day before coming to work while others were on top of their game and gave me a sense of confidence in their knowledge even if we couldn't fix the problem on the phone.

Buyer beware.

[BTS]

I'm wondering if Linksys should be invited, via e-mail, to look at the comments in this forum. Perhaps they don't know how pissed many of us are (they'd have to be dense but....)

[Pat Logsdon]

Sheesh! I knew I was taking a gamble with Linksys, but I thought their support would be a bit better.

I only got this card because it works with Airscanner (http://airscanner.com/downloads/sniffer/sniffer.html). Needless to say, I'm REALLY GLAD I kept my Socket card. :D

[PCPhreak]

Is there a link or phone number that I can call? Maybe we should get another petition going. There is no reason we should have to wait. It would be one thing if they had a release date, but . . . .

[eternalblue]

Can't say that I've ever had a problem with linksys. Just bought the WCF12 2 days ago, and have had no problems with it whatsoever - even created an ad hoc network with my u.s.robotics pcmcia wifi card, without a hitch. I've even had thier cable/dsl 4 port router for more than a year now, no problems there either. And I'm planning to pick up a wireless router next week or so. So what if they don't have a driver for the new os? Its not like they're just gonna sit on thier thumbs regarding this manner. I'm confident that something will be done.

[PCPhreak]

Can't say that I've ever had a problem with linksys. Just bought the WCF12 2 days ago, and have had no problems with it whatsoever - even created an ad hoc network with my u.s.robotics pcmcia wifi card, without a hitch. I've even had thier cable/dsl 4 port router for more than a year now, no problems there either. And I'm planning to pick up a wireless router next week or so. So what if they don't have a driver for the new os? Its not like they're just gonna sit on thier thumbs regarding this manner. I'm confident that something will be done.
Yeah, I totally understand where you are coming from. I have used Linksys products exclusively for the past 3 years, and have been very satisfied. If a product malfunctions, they are great about replacing it. I emailed them this afternoon regarding the driver and recieved and email withing hours (on a Saturday, about 8 PM EST).

It's not that I doubt they'll release a driver, it's just I am waiting to purchase my 2210 until they officially announce that they will support WM2003.

[BTS]

I have been very satisfied with my wireless router and PC Card adapter. I, too, believe that they will eventually have drivers available for PPC 2003. My beef with them is that they had absolutely no comment about upcoming drivers. Even to simply tell us that we will have a driver at some point would have satisfied me. When you spend $100 (CDN) + for a piece of equipment I expect a better answer than what I received from Linksys.

[aroma]

Its not like they're just gonna sit on thier thumbs regarding this manner.

Well, actually, they already have. OEM's and software developers have had development kits available to them for a while now in order to have their software and drivers ready and available with the PPC 2003 launch. That being said, I've been using their products for a while now, both CF cards, PCI cards, and AP's and haven't had a lick of trouble with them.

- Aaron

[Mexico]

I just sent the following message to Linksys:

I hope you find the following link interesting.

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14155&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

You may want to consider keeping your customers better informed. If a driver (or info about it) is not released soon, a lot of us will HAVE to purchase your competition's product.

Best regards,

Manuel de la Torre

Now let's just hope they're smart enough to do something about it before they lose a lot of customers... I encourage you to voice your opinion at [email protected].

M

[Scarpad]

I Found out the Hard way it would'nt Work I bought one. Silly me I own a Linksys Wireless Router and thought the companion card would work. I've heard the Dlink 606 cards wors so I'm gonna try to track one of those down tonight.

[eternalblue]

what about using a driver that is based off of the same chipset? (but from another manufacturer) its the prism chipset, correct? just a thought, i've no idea if anything like this would work on a ppc. but it would in windows, correct?

[BTS]

what about using a driver that is based off of the same chipset? (but from another manufacturer) its the prism chipset, correct? just a thought, i've no idea if anything like this would work on a ppc. but it would in windows, correct?

It may be an idea. I thought that I had read in the Brighthand forums that some folks were doing that with Symbol/Socket cards. Who else uses the prism chipset?

I sent off another e-mail to Linksys support - same answer. They are not aware of any plans at this point to upgrade the driver. I noticed that they are a division of Cisco which really surprises me. It's sad that they have made no move to inform current WCF12 owners. I guess the "little guy" doesn't matter anymore....

[BTS]

Trolling around on the net I found that Zaurus users were using the WCF12 card by selecting a prism2 driver. Are there prism2 drivers available for WM2003?

[Vidar13]

I have an iPAQ 3955 and just picked up a WCF12. Boy, was that a mistake. It works, if you hold it just right on about 1 out of 10 insertions.. and then it either dies in the middle of being used or it takes the iPAQ with it and crashes. The CF expansion slot is fairly new and everything else I plug into it works great. The ROM is up-to-date and so are the WCF12 drivers. But this Linksys card is a POS.. plain and simple.

Guess it's time to sent it off with the rest of the defective cards.

Wish I had known what crap this was before I bought it. 0X I've had many other Linksys products in the past and had no problems with them.

[Fzara]

This is unbelievable. I just emailed Linksys support with the following letter:

Linksys Representative-

Hello, I recently purchased your WCF12 CompactFlash card. However, I have found out your card does not have an ETA for a driver upgrade for Microsoft's Pocket PC 2003 OS (Windows Mobile 2003), from this site:
http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14155&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0and from contacting your support group a number of times. As far as I have learnt, every OEM has had the chance to access the SDK code for the new OS for about 3 months now; a fair enough period of time for any OEM or developer to develope new source code for the new OS.

I wanted to warn your company that if any action is not taken soon, I, and a large number of people, will be reporting your company to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), signing an online petition along with thousands of others, posting this on every newsgroup and forum possible, and finally, I will not buy your product ever again.

If possible, please give this email to your manager/highest possible chain of Management.

Thank You.

Sincerely,

Rishi Bhatia
---

I really hope this will work. If we can inform more users of this, we, as the customer, can prevail.

Fzara_

[christak]

I have the WCF12 working on my 2210, but without WEP...

http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=548641#post548641

[SHoTTa35]

i posted the drivers i got from my boy but the admin took out the link saying it's not legal to post it but if you want it then there yah have it...

[christak]

I have the WCF12 working on my 2210, but without WEP...

http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=548641#post548641

The WCF12 works (including WEP) with the native Connections software using these Senao drivers... WLAN_ForWinCENET400.zip

http://www.senao.com/service%20&%20support/drives%20download.htm

There is an app installed that is not really needed and doesn't work called WLANSTA.EXE... If desired, it can be deleted along with shortcuts to it... The WCF12 works perfectly with these non-Linksys drivers.
8)

[ahp]

Hi

Can you give an explanation on how you made the drivers work ?

I have installed the driver, but get this message when i insert the WCF12:
"Unrecognized Card"
"Enter the name of the device driver...."

/ahp

>********
>The WCF12 works (including WEP) with the native
>Connections software using these Senao drivers... >WLAN_ForWinCENET400.zip
>
>http://www.senao.com/service%20&%20support/drives%20download.htm
>
>There is an app installed that is not really needed and
>doesn't work called WLANSTA.EXE... If desired, it can
>be deleted along with shortcuts to it... The WCF12 works
>perfectly with these non-Linksys drivers.
8)[/quote]

[christak]

Type in wlannds.dll and you will be in business... 8)

[Underwater Mike]

I saw that this thread hadn't been updated in a while. I just downloaded the most recent driver from Linksys, and it works fine with WM2003. Connection Manager on the desktop is now giving me fits, but that's not the driver's fault. :wink:

[JustinGTP]

So does the Linksys WCF12 Work on WM2003 without a hitch? I was talking to someone else and he said that he had to get beta drivers...

[christak]

The WCF12 works perfectly on my iPAQ 2210 with the Senao drivers that I mentioned above... I cannot comment on the Linksys beta drivers, though I have read that some folks have trouble with them.

8)

[Underwater Mike]

Get the most current drivers from the Linksys site, ver. 1.1; release date 19 JAN 04 (http://www.linksys.com/download/driver.asp?dlid=82&osid=6). I was unprepared for the differences between the old driver and the new one, in terms of appearance (i.e., no separate WCF monitor app), but the functionality is there.

I almost tried the Senao driver, but figured I'd give the new Linky driver a shot. Guess you can use whichever you prefer.

[lmtuxinc]

Heres what you do people.

If you want the signal meter to work like it did in pocket pc 2002 follow all steps.

If you dont care about the singnal meter just folllow steps 2, 4, 9 & 10

DO NOT USE THE 1.1 DRIVER FROM LINKSYS SITE. IT DOES NOT WORK. you can only get a 169 ip address. :evil: i spent 40 minutes on the linksys support online chat trying to get that to work and in the end they had me go back to the beta driver.

1 . Down load the pocket pc 2002 driver from here (http://www.unimatrix-01.com/WirelessCompactFlashCard.2577.zip) rename .zip to .cab

2. Download the 2003 Beta Driver from here (http://www.unimatrix-01.com/SW_CD_Beta081903PPC2003.zip)

3. Copy the cab file to and install on your Dell Axim X5 (I have the 400 MHz version but it should also work on the 300 MHz)

4. Unzip and install the beta 2003 driver from your computer through activesync. you shouldn't see any activity on your Axim.

5. Undock and insert your wcf12 in the CF slot. it should recognize it immediately. if not the name is prismnds.dll

6. it should be assigned a 192.168.1.xxx ip via dhcp if you have it turned on, but you can not connect to the internet yet because it tells you you need to set up a proxy server.

7. The signal meter should appear at the bottom of the screen (red or blue) click on it and pick the "Advanced Configuration"

8. Create a profile by typing in any name in the profile line (i used home) and your ssid in the ssid line.

9. Under the connections tab in the settings panel, click wireless ethernet. you should see your network there, if it says available click and hold then choose connect.

10. Click on the network adapters tab, and mak sure the your network card connects to "The Internet" not "Work"

You should be able to connect to the internet and your network now. :D

[tmulli]

Can someone reccomend a good wi-fi CF card that is relativly inexpensive and works with PPC2003 without third (or fourth) party drivers (i.e. a driver from the card manufacturer for their actual product)? Thanks!!

[Ripper014]

I have a D-Link 660w... and it was not to bad as far as price goes... but the D-Link 650 was on sale at Moblie Planet for $49.95 less $20 I think... but you may have just missed the rebate... you may wish to have a look and check it out... but it seems to me that these cards have been on rebate a lot lately... so if your willing to wait a bit... I am sure it will be again...

[Dr Jekyll]

Can someone reccomend a good wi-fi CF card that is relativly inexpensive and works with PPC2003 without third (or fourth) party drivers
Im sending this from an ipaq 2100 (PPC2003) with the linksys wifi card and drivers from there site.

Works for me, but the card does generate a bit of heat, is this normal?