3Com Wireless (802.11b) PC Card for $79 shipped

[Bugs66]

I was emailed this offer to my company. As far as I can tell anyone can order it. This appears to be a newer model with retractable antenna. There is a non-retractable older card on Amazon that is selling for $158. There are other cards like Linksys and Netgear that are cheaper but who can argue with 3com quality? Plus a retractable antenna!!!

I ordered mine. A friend also ordered one. The charge statement says $79, so apparently the deal includes shipping and tax.

Order your 3com PC card here

 

[ScAndal]

seems like a smokin deal to me.

Do you have to have a 3com Wireless access point for this to work? Or will it work with any access point?

ScAndal

 

[Bugs66]

According to the product page at 3com "...connect instantly and securely to any Wi-Fi?compliant device or network without additional configuration. "

Specs -3Com® 11 Mbps Wireless LAN PC Card with XJACK® Antenna

 

[tazmania99]

Is it good for Ipaq? The product spec does not include a driver for Pocket PC.

 

[StinkyLou]

This seems pretty hot, although I guess it depends on what chip is in this card (Prism, Orinoco, etc.) . Anyone know?

Have you taken the plunge and ordered yet? If so, please post feedback about S&H costs and delivery times.

 

[TradeOutpost]

Only 40-bit encryption... not one of the newer 128-bit ones.

Also:

Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers error '80040e57'

[Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]String or binary data would be truncated.

/jumppage1.asp, line 38

 

[TheeeChosenOne]

Well, actually its 40 bit WEP encryption.

It does have 128 bit Dynamic Security link encryption.

In any case, it's a good deal.......THOUGH, I'd rather go for a USB connected device from SMC or D-Link. They provide stonger signal strength (i.e. speedier), very small form factor, and same price as one of the wireless cards.

 

[kbaxter]

Well, I bought one. Hard to find anywhere near this price. USB is fine if you can be near the mother ship, but the range on 802.11b is supposed to be up to 100m and I want to *roam*. I also understand that you can set up peer-to-peer connections with other PCs that have the cards installed. I've got a buddy at work that latched on to this deal and we're going to fire them up and try peer2peer.

I really wish they supported WinCE so I could install in my HP Jornada 820, but the 3Com site doesn't show that they support that OS (yet). Maybe a well-worded email will set them straight....

Someone asked about shipping/handling costs; based on what I've seen so far, I think the $79 covers both. Interestingly, I have yet to receive a confirmation on the order, even though it said that it processed just fine. If anyone has better experience with communication, please post it here for all to see!

KB

 

[Souka]

For what it's worth, we use spectrum 24 adapters at my work....128bit encrypt support and they work just fine with Win98/2000/XP and CE.

 

[Kopit1am]

Does this work with the PocketPCs?

 

[crypticlogin]

<< Does this work with the PocketPCs? >>



Unless something was written after this page was updated, I doubt it

 

[mbriody]

Ordered this one (Linksys) from Amazon last week at 71.95 (now 79.95).

Add $20 to get free shipping plus no tax in CA and there may be a $10 coupon to use.

 

[markere]

Has anyone who ordered this card gotten an order confirmation or received their order yet. I have yet to get an email and my credit card has not been charged. I ordered it early last week but haven't heard anything.

 

[mpguy]

the following is a fairly reliable site as far as i've found as for connectivity and news on cewindows/pocketpc.

cewindows.net

www.practicallynetworked.com is a good site.

the 3com apparently DOES NOT have drivers for cewindows/pocketpc. also for my 2 cents i own the smc and linksys cards but really wish i had the orinoco based cards which apparently will work in the mac platform as well. however, the retractable antenna is pretty interesting. also this is a reasonable price since i got both of my cards for around 50 ea. on deals.

 

[TheeeChosenOne]

Still haven't gotten my credit card charged either...still waiting

 

[DSchell]

Are you sure that this is not a scam? Below is the WHOIS on the domain name. Just created on November 5th. Perhaps Visual Services Inc. is the fulfillment group?

Whois Results for 3comwirelessoffer.com
The Data in Network Solutions' WHOIS database is provided by Network
Solutions for information purposes, and to assist persons in obtaining
information about or related to a domain name registration record.
Network Solutions does not guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a
WHOIS query, you agree that you will use this Data only for lawful
purposes and that, under no circumstances will you use this Data to:
(1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass
unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via e-mail
(spam); or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes
that apply to Network Solutions (or its systems). Network Solutions
reserves the right to modify these terms at any time. By submitting
this query, you agree to abide by this policy.


Registrant:
Visual Services Inc. (3COMWIRELESSOFFER-DOM)
41000 Woodward Ave.
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304
US

Administrative Contact, Billing Contact:
Visual Services Inc. (Z12316-OR) tkirschner@vsi-hq.com
Visual Services Inc.
41000 Woodward Ave.
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304
US
248.594.7778 fax: 123 123 1234
Technical Contact:
WorldNIC Name Host (HOST-ORG) namehost@WORLDNIC.NET
VeriSign, Inc.
21355 Ridgetop Circle
Dulles, VA 20166
US
1-888-642-9675

Record last updated on 09-Nov-2001.
Record expires on 05-Nov-2002.
Record created on 05-Nov-2001.
Database last updated on 4-Dec-2001 05:06:00 EST.

Domain servers in listed order:

MEDIA1.VSITECH.NET 209.119.84.131
MEDIA2.VSITECH.NET 209.119.84.132

 

[zboy]

There is something fishy here

 

[richardycc]

<< Ordered this one (Linksys) from Amazon last week at 71.95 (now 79.95).

Add $20 to get free shipping plus no tax in CA and there may be a $10 coupon to use. >>



you are gonna be sorry that you got this linksys card! they are cheap for a reason...

rich

 

[cruxader]

ditto...i'm not using linksys crap ever again...theres always problems with stuff from that company

Netgear is the only low end company that I have not had problems yet

 

[vinnyracer]

This could be a scam.

 

[elfbomber]

Has anyone got this card yet?

 

[luv2chill]

I ordered it but haven't yet received it. But I don't think this is a scam. Visual Services, Inc. is probably just the company 3com used for fulfillment of this offer.

Doing a google search, I pulled up this page. They seem legit to me.

l2c

Edit: *CONFIRMED* I wouldn't worry.

 

[kbaxter]

Yeah, I was a bit worried that it might be a scam also. I got an email a few days after ordering that said that they'd erroneously billed my CC under the name "Ford Team Racing". Sure enough, a $79 charge showed up on my statement. No confirmation was ever seen from the order. I, too, was researching and found the scoop on VSI.

I don't think it's a scam; I think they're either inept or overloaded. I tried calling the number on the charge statement, but could never get a return call. I finally called the 3com number and went down the menus to "promotion" and found someone that knew about the "deal". They weren't much better at getting back to me, but there has been some progress: the charge has been removed and I since got an email that said my card would ship within 28 days after the order was placed (which was 11-19 on their records!).

It seems to be legit. I still think it's a good deal. I don't like waiting that long, but since I don't have an access point yet, it is a moot point.

Good luck and everyone keep us posted on receipt status!

KB
:disgust:

 

[kbaxter]

Time for a just-before-New-Years update:

I *still* have not received the card. It took them FOREVER to credit me the $79 from the Ford Team Racing Fiasco. I emailed them a couple of days ago to remind them that their 28 days was up. No response. Time to hit the 3COM 800-number again....

Anyone else have better luck yet? I'd still like to get the card, as I haven't seen a price close to this. But maybe it's not worth it....

Later.

 

[freeloaderz]

I think this is legit. I don't think any fool is going to pay Verisign for a SSL certificate to pull off a scam. I am going to order one too! I like the x-jack antenna that can be tucked in when you don't need it! The external antennas or tabs on the card suck!

Intel and 3com both offer their products almost free in the hopes that you will consider them for your corporation. I have had similar offers in the past from both. If you are REALLY concerned, you could always call 3com, get jerked around for a few hours to verify it.