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. Cisco-Linksys AE1000 High-Performance Wireless-N Adapter
The verdict is still out on this puppy. I haven't been able to get it installed and running. My problems are similar to those described in other reviews: Conflicts with other software controlling network and incompatability with my anti-virus program. I can't believe that Cisco hasn't thought about these very, very common situations and developed a fix. Like others, I have been told to uninstall my anti-virus program. I may do that, but am in no hurry. Customer support also seemed to struggle with installing the device under Windows 7. HELLO CISCO!!!!: Windows 7 ships on just about everything these days. Perhaps I will come back in a few weeks and sing the praises of this device, and the Cisco Router I purchased at the same time, but we will have to see. Beware.
I have been using this adapter for a couple of weeks now and it is doing a pretty good job considering the distance I am from the router. Living in the boonies, I have a rinky dink WiFi ISP with only a 1.5Mbs system. My computer is set up in another building about 100 feet from the house. The antenna adapter is outside the building and is connected via a 10 foot extension running through the wall to the computer inside. As you can see, this is not the most desirable setup. So I am asking a lot out of this adapter. My router, in the house, is a Linksys E3000 and is running two computers in there. I usually run the computer in the outbuilding on the 5GHz side and those in the house on the 2.4GHz. Actually, it's just the opposite of the way it should be run. But it works for me. Today I watched a 3 hour Internet movie on the computer in the out building with no drop-outs.
The one problem I have had with this I've also had with my other Linksys adapters, constant drop-outs. Aggravating drop-outs that produce that little white circle going round and round and round. After doing a whole lot of research on the net I did not find anything except a bunch of people putting down the Linksys products. Then I saw one article where a guy said that Linksys (Cisco) has been around for a long time and if they made inferior products they would not still be in business. That made a lot of sense. So, if the router is good and the adapter is good why the problems?
I started searching for the problem. I went to the Device Manager to see what I could find. First place I look is Network Adapters. It lists the AE1000 but also a Microsoft Wireless Router Module. Without getting any good answers searching the net I decided to Disable this. Kazaam! No more drop-outs. So I Enabled it again and the drop-outs were back. I Disabled it again and left it that way. I told a friend about it and he tried it but said it had no affect on his system. But his system is 10 times the Bandwidth I have and he's not had drop-outs to begin with. So I have been running now for over a week with a pretty good signal.
Today I am ordering two more AE1000s for those computers in the house. Oh, and one more thing. If you have an N type router and a G type Laptop put one of these on the Laptop and convert it to an N. You'll be amazed at the difference in speed. - Wireless Adapter - Dual-band - 80211n - Linksys'
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