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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > RANT: Stupid :censor: Linksys!!!

RANT: Stupid :censor: Linksys!!!
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afunches
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Nov 26, 2004, 08:38 PM
 
I recently bought a Linksys WPC54G Wireless-G Notebook Adapter for use in my TiBook 667/VGA running Mac OS X 10.3.6 and AP 4.3. I had an older version of the same card and returned it (long story) and recently replaced it. I noticed that the box had v2 next to the PC Card barcode and decided to call linksys to see if they could be of help.

The gentleman *argued* with me about whether the card should work in a mac or not. I explaind to him the chipset is the same as what apple uses in their Airport Extreme cards and that the previous version of the card worked fine. I wondered if they were using a different chipset in ther v2 cards. He then re-read what he told me 5x before that Linksys does not support Mac Os X and of course he was reading from a script and that pissed me off something else. I asked to speak with a superviser and he said no... can you believe that?!?!

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else has had a problem with this v2 card (sold at Best Buy and other places) running on Powerbooks and if they have a remedy for it. I know other cards work but I'm just curious if anyone else has run into this problem...

ari
     
wuzup101
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Nov 27, 2004, 12:43 AM
 
All the linksys products that I've come into contact with have always worked for me; however, I haven't tried that particular version of their wireless adapter. After reading your post I did try my fathers old wireless B card in my powerbook and it worked fine for me. We also have a wireless linksys router here and it also works fine.
Mac: 15" 1.5ghz PB w/ 128mb vid, 5400rpm 80gb, combo drive, 2gb ram
Peripherals: 20gb 4g iPod, Canon i950, Canon S230 "elph", Canon LIDE30, Logitech MX510, Logitech z5500, M-Audio Sonica Theater, Samsung 191T
PC: AMD "barton" XP @ 2.3ghz, 1gb pc3200, 9800pro 128mb, 120gb WD-SE 120gb
Xbox: 1.6, modded with X3 xecuter, slayers evoX 2.6, WDSE 120gb HDD
     
tooki
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Nov 27, 2004, 12:11 PM
 
Umm, honestly? You have no right to be angry.

Linksys says they don't support their gear on Macs. In other words, they don't want to deal with us because it costs them money to support another platform. Arguing with them is pointless because they don't care.

If the product had said on the box that it works on Macs and they gave you this treatment, that'd be one thing. But it doesn't, and pressing the operator won't help anything.

tooki
     
GuyWithACamera
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Nov 27, 2004, 01:12 PM
 
Call back until you get someone that will help. I called Linksys regarding my router and got a guy who was very helpful and patient. Because of his thick accent, I couldn't understand half of what he was saying but he kept with me until the problem was solved.
I have no lid upon my head. But if I did, you
could look iniside and see what's on my
mind.
     
romeosc
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Nov 27, 2004, 03:52 PM
 
call between noon and 8pm eastern time.... most likely to get us support instead of offshore.
     
audvidsvs
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Nov 27, 2004, 04:37 PM
 
From my experience with LinkSys you never get onshore support.
Either India or Manila. I have had many frustrating days trying to get Manila so I can at least understand and be understood even if ultimately not helped.

If I get India I have never been satisfied. They just don't ever seem to understand the actual nature of what I am asking.

I am not suggesting this is any different than any other tech support but that isn't much comfort when you need help and just get a Parrot on the other end.
     
afunches  (op)
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Nov 27, 2004, 08:38 PM
 
Is there a way to figure out what chipset this card using becuase right now the v2 of the card *does not* work with the built-in AE software.
     
milhous
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Nov 28, 2004, 10:36 PM
 
Originally posted by tooki:
Umm, honestly? You have no right to be angry.

Linksys says they don't support their gear on Macs. In other words, they don't want to deal with us because it costs them money to support another platform. Arguing with them is pointless because they don't care.

If the product had said on the box that it works on Macs and they gave you this treatment, that'd be one thing. But it doesn't, and pressing the operator won't help anything.

tooki
absolutely correct.
F = ma
     
d.fine
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Nov 29, 2004, 07:27 AM
 
Originally posted by tooki:
Umm, honestly? You have no right to be angry.

Linksys says they don't support their gear on Macs. In other words, they don't want to deal with us because it costs them money to support another platform. Arguing with them is pointless because they don't care.

If the product had said on the box that it works on Macs and they gave you this treatment, that'd be one thing. But it doesn't, and pressing the operator won't help anything.

tooki
That may be true, but you're still a customer. just because a customer used one of their products on a platform they don't really support doesn't mean they shouldn't support the customer at all ... they should help, I agree with the original poster.

stuffing feathers up your b*tt doesn't make you a chicken.
     
cambro
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Nov 30, 2004, 01:11 PM
 
Originally posted by afunches:
Wireless-G Notebook Adapter for use in my TiBook 667/VGA running Mac OS X 10.3.6 and AP 4.3.
What's wrong with this picture? This PB does NOT SUPPORT AIRPORT EXTREME.

Don't you need Wireless-B to have any prayer?
     
cpac
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Nov 30, 2004, 01:26 PM
 
Originally posted by d.fine:
just because a customer used one of their products on a platform they don't really support doesn't mean they shouldn't support the customer at all ... they should help, I agree with the original poster.

It's ridiculous to expect companies to provide support for products they don't claim to support in the first place. It's not like they secretly have support for OS X and are just withholding it - they just don't have OS X support - so what can you really expect?

"Hi, I'm trying to use your card with OS X"
"We only support windows, sir"
"Yeah, but since I bought the card, I thought you could at least support me"
"Ok - but I really don't know anything about OS X at all"
"Just support me dammit!"
"Ok - 'good job sir' 'well done' 'I support you'"

cpac
     
DeathToWindows
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Nov 30, 2004, 10:22 PM
 
Originally posted by cpac:
It's ridiculous to expect companies to provide support for products they don't claim to support in the first place. It's not like they secretly have support for OS X and are just withholding it - they just don't have OS X support - so what can you really expect?

"Hi, I'm trying to use your card with OS X"
"We only support windows, sir"
"Yeah, but since I bought the card, I thought you could at least support me"
"Ok - but I really don't know anything about OS X at all"
"Just support me dammit!"
"Ok - 'good job sir' 'well done' 'I support you'"

*smackdown*

Don't try to outweird me, I get stranger things than you free with my breakfast cereal.
     
Person Man
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Dec 1, 2004, 02:54 AM
 
Originally posted by cpac:
It's ridiculous to expect companies to provide support for products they don't claim to support in the first place. It's not like they secretly have support for OS X and are just withholding it - they just don't have OS X support - so what can you really expect?
Yes, but he wants to know if the v2 version of the card uses a different chipset than the original version of the card (which worked in a Mac).

Even though they don't support OS X with their products, that doesn't give them the right to not tell the person if the card uses a different chipset (that answer will be the same regardless of the operating system you use the card with).

He seems willing to accept no support for the operating system. What he should do is call them and tell them he is "thinking about buying one of the cards for a PC and wants to know if the v2 card uses a different chipset than the original version"
     
tooki
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Dec 4, 2004, 11:50 AM
 
Do you think the tier 1 tech support people know what chipsets they use? Not a snowball's chance in hell. Tier 1 tech support serves two purposes: to help simple problems by following scripts, and acting as a gatekeeper to higher-level tech support.

Tech support is very costly, so to keep the product cheap, they have to limit the use of tech support, especially the costly upper-tier people. So they decide what platforms they'll support, and that's it. If you aren't running a supported platform, they want you off the phone, because they aren't trained with the information you need, and anything they tell you could be legally binding, so it needs to be kept in tight check. Imagine if they told you something that turned out to be wrong, and caused you data loss or something. Where would they stand then?

Sorry, I stand by my belief that if they don't claim to support Macs that they are under no obligation to talk to you about using it in a Mac. It's also unreasonable to expect the tech support people to know about the innards of their product -- networking gear is little black boxes, the insides are basically irrelevant to supporting them.

tooki
     
d.fine
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Dec 4, 2004, 03:36 PM
 
Originally posted by cpac:
It's ridiculous to expect companies to provide support for products they don't claim to support in the first place. It's not like they secretly have support for OS X and are just withholding it - they just don't have OS X support - so what can you really expect?

"Hi, I'm trying to use your card with OS X"
"We only support windows, sir"
"Yeah, but since I bought the card, I thought you could at least support me"
"Ok - but I really don't know anything about OS X at all"
"Just support me dammit!"
"Ok - 'good job sir' 'well done' 'I support you'"

Not like that

They could at least refer you to a service or so that can help you. you get the point, maybe

stuffing feathers up your b*tt doesn't make you a chicken.
     
waffffffle
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Dec 5, 2004, 09:17 PM
 
I've found this site to be a great help for these issues.

http://home.earthlink.net/~metaphyzx/Wireless.htm
     
   
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