Cisco-Linksys AE1000 High-Performance Wireless-N Adapter

After reading reviews, I was a little skeptical about ordering this product. I shopped around and some places are selling this adapter for $50 - $60+ for a new one. I ordered it used. The estimated delivery time was June 28, 2011 - July 14, 2011. I was pleasantly surprised when it showed up on June 29th. It came in the factory box with the accessory and software disc. I uploaded the software, and plugged in into my Sony Vaio laptop. It works great. I had to order this since the my built in wireless adapter doesn't always connect to the new wireless routers out there. If you are looking for a great product and don't want to spend alot of money, buy this.

Lot of negative reviews. This product is great. I installed onto a Windows 7 64-bit machine without problems. I've never lost connection. The connection never fluctates. I can easily pick between the two different frequencies. I doubt I got the only one that works - a better scenario is that folks don't know what they're doing. Some of the complaints have been software conflicts - well, you can't test every product with every other possible product. Some of the reviews have been fluctuating speeds - reposition your router or the wireless adapter, or realize that everyone else in your neighborhood is using the same settings.

After running into error that said "other wireless manager" which wouldn't allow the Linksys adapter to be installed and following, without success, the recommended steps to fix that, I called Customer Service for some assistance. Big mistake. First time in my life I have ever given up on a Customer Service Rep. I am pretty patient -- I once suffered through a 3 hour phone call with several different TracPhone representatives because by golly, they were incredibly polite! Unfortunately, the rep I talked to was not only NOT helpful, but I could have sworn I heard her her gritting her teeth while she was "guiding" me through the steps to solve my problem.Part of the conversation: "Did it work before?""What? Well no, I'm just now trying to install it.""Did it work before?""Well I don't know. I've never used it before.""Did it work before?""Before what?!!"(Well, I guess that was because I bought it used through Amazon and the warranty had expired. I didn't think of that. I just wanted some help but I get that). Maybe she was having a bad day, and I know that trying to teach a computer illiterate can be irritating/exasperating, but wow, the rudeness was bubbling just beneath the surface throughout the whole phone call and I finally told her that I gave up and I hung up.I hate to rate a product low just because I can't figure it out (and the rep didn't seem too interested in helping me) but nonetheless, two stars seems about right after an experience like that.And please, no contact re this. I'm just going to take it to my local computer guy and let him do the work.

I've been working to get the AE1000 (Windows 7-64) consistently connected to my E3000 router on N on 40Hz for over two weeks now. This is what I have learned:1) If you are running Zone Alarm firewall software you need to uninstall it, not disable it, prior to running the AE1000 setup. If you do not the setup will indicate you are running wireless management software that is not compatible. You can reinstall Zone Alarm software after the AE1000 is setup.2) All important wireless features work, including WAP2, MAC address control, and QOS.3) I was able to get 250+ Mbs from one end of my house to the other with signal strength in the 50% to 70% range even through two walls and 50 feet away.4) All the above dies after anywhere between 8 and 30 minutes, especially if there is significant throughput, like streaming music or video. The blue light on the AE1000 glows a steady blue and there is no connection to the router.5) A reboot and reconnect works for a few minutes and then the connection to the AE1000 is dropped again.6) Updating to the latest firmware for the AE1000 did not change things.Other wireless N devices I have connect to the E3000 on N on 40Hz with no problems and maintain stable connections for days with not problem. I'm going to try the AE1000 on an XP Pro laptop to see if it is only a Windows 7 64 problem and will update this review at a later date.Cisco-Linksys High-Performance Wireless-N AdapterTried using the AE1000 with an XP Pro laptop on 2.4Ghz G with no success. I've returned the AE1000 to Amazon for a replacement and hope it was a defective device.I received a new AE1000 in one day from Amazon. This is the first time I've had to return a product I purchased from Amazon. I was very easy to get a replacement. This is my experience with the new AE1000:1) The drivers were already installed and updated from the prior installation and Zone Alarm already "knew" about the device. I plugged it in to a 3 foot USB extension cable and it was immediately recognized.2) I had MAC address control turned off and SSID Broadcast turned on. I made a wireless connection to my 5 Ghz network with WPA2 without a problem. Speed was 271 Mbps.3) I turned on MAC address control after adding the MAC address for the AE1000 and the connection remained solid.4) I have been showing 50% to 70% signal strength over a distance of about 125 feet and through two walls and one floor with a consistent 271 Mbps connection speed.5) It's been up and running without a problem for 24 hours now.Remaining things to check:1) Does the connection survive a reboot without having to specifically reconnect to the network.2) Can the connection be maintained with SSID turned off.At this point I am changing by rating to 3 stars and will rate it higher if it continues to function well.Update:I have been able to establish a stable connection at 271 Mbps for 48 hours using WPA2, MAC Address Control and SSID broadcast off. It appears that the device I was initially using was defective. Amazon sent me a replacement device that appears to work with no problems.