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Linksys Wireless-G Music Bridge WMB54G Review
by admin ·
Ed from Fremont, CA on Oct.012011
out of 5
I have been using two WMB54g music bridges on a Win-XPH-SP3 platform for many years. One Music bridge is 2.11 (Jan 17, 2006) firmware and is wired through a couple of Netgear HDX111 power adapters and the other bridge is version 2.9 (Nov. 17, 2005) firmware and is hardwired through about 75ft of CAT5 cable. Both bridges work well providing excellent quality in the described configurations. I have never had good success trying to use them on a wireless network as interrupting pauses mid-play were ocasionally experienced.
The problems that I have discovered and overcome are software conflicts and setup issues.
In my opinion, there is a conflict between some third party processes and the WMB54G.
Notably
Redchair Anipod manager
Apple Quicktime
Some other Apple Music services
You must disable or uninstall such conflicting software and sometimes it is hard to get rid of.
Also, for best setup results:
1) Install user GUI software provided on the CD, version 1.1 but do not setup the bridge interface from this disk. Instead, downloadversion 1.3 from
( http://homesupport.cisco.com/en-us/support/bridges/WMB54G ).
2) Always setup the bridge hardware interface only from downloaded version 1.3 software when needed but do not install driver from this version.
This is also very convenient because unlike the CD 1.1 version, you can run 1.3 it from a shortcut on the desktop when occasionally required.
The problem with the version 1.1 bridge interface setup is that it does not provide the opportunity to select a wired network if no wireless networks
are found.
The problem with the 1.3 driver is that it only supports bridge firmware version 2.18 or later and would not find my 2.11 or 2.9 firmware bridges on the wired network. Also, there have been some problems reported when upgrading to 2.18 firmware and Linksys removed the firmware download from their website.
Hope this helps.
Originally posted at Buzzillions.com (legalese)
Linksys Wireless-G Music Bridge WMB54G
Works with any program: media players, games, streamed Internet audio, etc. Connects your stereo system to a Wireless-G or wired network Listen to your digital music collection in the living room Creates a virtual sound system in your PC to send audio output to a stereo system anywhere in the house…
