Belkin F5D6000 Wireless PCI adapter $9.50 (was $40.) Staples B&M Clearance

[msh111]

Belkin F5D6000 is clearanced at my local Staples for $9.50, was $40. This may be store specific, regional or national, of course, YMMV. I bought several. It states in the product description online AND in the box:


<< Requires the use of a Belkin Wireless Notebook Network Card Model#F5D6020 not included. >>


Tech support for Belkin claims the same thing. I'm using a D-Link 650+ and a Dell TrueMobile 1150 with no problems whatsoever. YMMV on compatibility as well.

 

[Acme]

And your local store would be?

 

[msh111]

My local store is irrelevant, I bought them all. Just suggesting you check YOUR local Staples to see if they have these originally $40. PCI cards for $9.50. The Netgears they have also but they are $50. Great deal if you have a wireless PCMCIA card you aren't using in a laptop to convert a desktop via PCI to wireless cheaply.

 

[SharkyTM]

we just want to know where you were, you said that this may be a regional thing.... jeez, dont be a bast@rd

 

[Acme]

So that one store near where you live in oh, say, Anchorage, Alaska (we'll have to guess since it seems to be such a big secret), had some of these and you bought them all. I was in the Staples in Lewisville, TX, yesterday and I looked in the clearance aisle. There were none of these. This sounds like a Brag & Moan to me.

Thanks for all the help.

Acme

 

[msh111]

How you pull my being a bastard out of that post is beyond me. I thought I was being pretty informative and generous. Bitch would be the more appropriate term to use in the name calling if you must.

I'm in DE

Acme>>> not a brag and moan and not in clearance aisle, on the shelf, marked clearance in the wireless network locked case, where they usually reside. I just talked to a friend in Charlotte NC who said they have them in their Staples too.

 

[Branded]

Thanks msh111, I will be checking this out. Would you happen to have a sku or upc code handy ?

 

[Branded]

I guess I should have looked first.

Linkified on staples site

sku 482088

 

[msh111]

Yep Branded...that's the one. Cheap easy way to make desktops wireless if you have the cards unused as I did.

 

[Acme]

On the regular aisle?? I better go check again then. This really is a deal.

Acme

 

[Kraeji]

this still requires a pcmcia 802.11b card right?

 

[cyberwizard]

Originally posted by: Kraeji
this still requires a pcmcia 802.11b card right?

Yes it does..this is the adapter only. Confirmed 9.50 at Staples in fremont, CA. Bought 1- there are two left on the shelf. I only have one card and don't really think there is much resale value in this. OfficeMax was bundling this adapter for free if you buy the Belkin 802.11b wireless card.

 

[RadioactiveMagpies]

Confirmed in Dallas, TX $9.50



I can't seem to get the dlink 650+ that I got from amazon to work, has anyone else gotten it to work?

 

[undefined]

msh111 (or anybody): what/who's drivers are you using to get the dell and dlink to work?

i bought the officemax belkin deal (card w/ this adapter free) and both a usr & proxim card (all prism-chipset based) and using the belkin windows drivers, it won't recognize the non-belkin cards. i think i'm using the drivers off of the belkin website (as is my habit as the shipped drivers are usually out-dated).

i know it's not a hardware problem because under linux (using the orinoco_cs drivers while running from the knoppix live-cd) the other cards work fine, but the windows driver doesn't want to recognize the non-belkin cards.

what's the secret to using non-belkin cards in the belkin adapter?

 

[manly]

These PCI adapters are basically a PCMCIA controller on a PCI card. To use them, your operating system needs to support that particular PCMCIA controller. For example, Linux and Windows XP should have built-in support for any common controllers in the market. Most likely, the package includes drivers for older Windows operating systems such as NT or 9x. If the PCMCIA (or CardBus) controller shows up in Device Manager, you're in business.

As for the PCMCIA devices you plug into the adapter, those probably could be any device (with some unknown restrictions?). Install the normal drivers for that device, such as the PC card's 802.11b client drivers.

I bought one at the Hawthorne, CA Staples for $9.50. They had plenty in the locked display cabinet. I'm not sure what I'll do with it since I don't currently need an adapter, although I do have a spare 802.11b PC card client on hand.

 

[undefined]

Originally posted by: manly
These PCI adapters are basically a PCMCIA controller on a PCI card. To use them, your operating system needs to support that particular PCMCIA controller. For example, Linux and Windows XP should have built-in support for any common controllers in the market. Most likely, the package includes drivers for older Windows operating systems such as NT or 9x. If the PCMCIA (or CardBus) controller shows up in Device Manager, you're in business.

thanks for trying to be helpful, but your wrong.

layman's (well, kinda) answer
http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/dev/linux-wlan/2000-q4/0042.html

technical description
http://www.plxtech.com/products/9050/default.htm

so, no, the adapter is mainly just an isa-pci bridge, and at a base level, pcmcia (not cardbus; it's pci-based) is isa. the card probably just has a physical interface for pcmcia, but digitally converts isa to pci, not caring that the device is technically pcmcia.

i already have the general idea, i'm just missing some implementation details (specific driver versions, installation order/procedure), because the belkin pcmcia card is working, but not any others.

maybe i just need to play around with it some more (but darn windows, once you install a driver, it's tedious to totally uninstall it).

 

[msh111]

Check your settings for the network etc., because either card I plug into it works fine. D-Link 650+ (drivers out of the box), and the Dell Truemobile (ditto on out of the box drivers). I did dl the updated driver for the PCI card and installed it instead of the out of box for the PCI card. Link for dl is f5d6001. Using XP Pro.

 

[RadioactiveMagpies]

Check your settings for the network etc., because either card I plug into it works fine. D-Link 650+ (drivers out of the box), and the Dell Truemobile (ditto on out of the box drivers). I did dl the updated driver for the PCI card and installed it instead of the out of box for the PCI card. Link for dl is f5d6001. Using XP Pro.

Can't get those drivers to install, are you sure its not the f5d6000?

 

[manly]

Some useful information on Linux setup.

I bought one, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it.

 

[chrisjor]

got one here in Cincinnati

 

[english101researcher]

My store in Fort Wayne, IN had a couple. I didnt buy any. Someone go get them...

 

[VirtualLarry]

Trying to figure out from this thread what these adaptors actually are. They ARE NOT PCI wireless network adaptors themselves, correct? Are they cardbus or pcmcia-to-PCI adaptors? Is it likely that I could use any old notebook PC-Card/PCMCIA cards in this device? Do they take single or dual cards?

I had a laptop that died, so I have several cards that still work that I might be able to use, and perhaps most useful would be a compactflash-to-PC-Card adaptor, to read the flash that my digital camera uses, without having to use one of those slow USB readers.

 

[IYEE]

Manly has the general idea but undefined has done a little more research, but I think that the issue with the other PCMCIA cards besides MSH111, working is due to the firmware. I believe that each company who makes these cards adds code that checks for there own PCMCIA card and doesn't work if it isn't there. Has MSH111 given anymore detail on how he got his to work? Has anyone else got it to work?
Undefined can you give me the part number to the chip on the PCI board?
Thanks