SMC2435W 11/22 Mbps Wireless PCMCIA Card $20 after MIR

[Garet Jax]

This is a great compliment to this router.

Here is the PCMCIA Wireless card.

Here is the rebate.

 

[cchen]

anyone know if this card is any good?

 

[Fritzo]

It's very good. I use SMC equipment a lot. Quality stuff.

 

[CStrikeADDICT]

cheaper, no rebate.

 

[Garet Jax]

Originally posted by: CStrikeADDICT
cheaper, no rebate.

It is cheaper, it has no rebates, but it is a different product.

The 2465W does not support Turbo 802.11b (22Mbps) whereas the 2435W does.

 

[dougtran]

I would personally shy away from the SMC Wireless offering. My two 7004ABWR needs constant rebooting (buggy firmware?). I hear this from many SMC 7004ABWR and 7004VBWR owners. Further, from the amount of returns I saw at Micro-center (at least 1 dozen at any one time) many others are having a tough time with the SMC wireless routers too.

Interestingly enough, I replace the wireless version with a SMC wired version (7004ABR) and it has been rock solid!

On the PC-CARD side, I believe they use the cheaper Prism II chipset which has a low transmit and receive sensitivity. However, they are cheap. I would spend an extra $20 and pick up an Orinocco Silver for about $40 which has a very good transmit receive capability, not to mention you can add an ext. antenna.


Doug

 

[Kostya17]

> On the PC-CARD side, I believe they use the cheaper Prism II chipset...

Ok, since they use el heapo components.. is this one any worse than SMC? They are on pricewatch for $13+$4.75 (1st entry under Networking->wireless LAN).

Any info on these?

 

[Quickfingerz]

Xterasys and Compaq are the worst offerings for wireless.. that link is for an xterasys card

 

[Kostya17]

Originally posted by: Quickfingerz
Xterasys and Compaq are the worst offerings for wireless.. that link is for an xterasys card

Thanks for warning! Is this one for $18.40 any better?

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

What's a good wireless pcmcia card to use with the D-link 614+? Any ideas? Thanks.....

 

[dakata24]

Originally posted by: BigEdMuustaffa
What's a good wireless pcmcia card to use with the D-link 614+? Any ideas? Thanks.....

i would assume this one. since the D-link DWL-650+ and this card both use the same TI chip thus the 22Mbps turbo mode.

 

[Quickfingerz]

I wouldn't even know where to begin with such generic seeming cards. There are some generic-seeming wireless cards that are made by some taiwanese companies that are actually of high quality but sell for a very low price.

I'm sticking by the fact that the SMC EliteConnect is the best PCMCIA wireless card (It's essentially a rebadged Zcomax) that normally sells for near $50 with the power of the enterprise cards that sell for over $100. Great if you connect to AP with high signals (ie: universities, libraries, city halls).

200mW and -89dB reception sensitivity at full speed is spectacular only Senao, Demarc, and Zcomax cards come close. Probably all brands you've never heard of.

 

[BigEdMuustaffa]

Thanks all...

 

[tarfu]

i have this card - connected to an smc2404wbr. when the laptop is only 40 ft away, signal strength is 1mbit. both card and router i consider to be crap. smc is rma'ing my router, the card i'll hang onto and ebay to the next sucker. if anyone wants it for 30 out the door - its theirs!

 

[jrichrds]

Originally posted by: dougtran
On the PC-CARD side, I believe they use the cheaper Prism II chipset which has a low transmit and receive sensitivity.

Each wireless brand (D-Link, SMC, Linksys, Belkin, etc.) has had multiple versions of their 802.11b products using multiple chipsets. Oftentimes, the same model # has had 3 different chipsets in its history.

This particular card is based on the TI ACX100 DSP, and is pretty much the best you can get for an 802.11b product. There should be little to no difference between this one and any other TI ACX100-based PC Card. They're all made by the same few OEMs in Asia.

 

[Kostya17]

This particular card is based on the TI ACX100 DSP, and is pretty much the best you can get for an 802.11b...

Can you say anything about the cards with Realtek chipset like this one (yet another pricewatch listing...)?

 

[jrichrds]

Originally posted by: Kostya17Can you say anything about the cards with Realtek chipset like this one (yet another pricewatch listing...)?

It's one of the later, cheaper .11b chipsets to hit the market (much like the ADMTek ADM8211). I've used the ADMTek, but not the Realtek. They're better known for their cost-effectiveness than their performance/reliability.

 

[brenttruell]

Originally posted by: tarfu
i have this card - connected to an smc2404wbr. when the laptop is only 40 ft away, signal strength is 1mbit. both card and router i consider to be crap. smc is rma'ing my router, the card i'll hang onto and ebay to the next sucker. if anyone wants it for 30 out the door - its theirs!

I'll give you $100 for it.