Rating: Summary: It's a great card, sort of. Review: I bought this to use with a Dell Inspiron 3800 laptop and the SMC Barricade Wireless router (which is FAB, btw.). I have yet (after many google searches, downloads, emails with customer support, etc.) to get the drivers for this card to load on the inspiron (win2k). However, I popped it into my Lattitude (work laptop) and was on the network in a couple of minutes. Go figure. The range is great--I have an 1100 sq ft condo--and I can take the laptop anywhere and the signal is strong. If it works for ya, hooray!
Rating: Summary: An Excellent Product Review: I recently wrote another review for the Linksys wireless pc card, and I can say that the SMC product is by-far a superior product.I got both the SMC Router and SMC wireless PC Card, and I'm completely satisfied with both. Set-up was a breeze and the drivers and software are rock solid. I was completely disatisfied with the Linksys combo. Read my review of the linksys wireless PC Card for more details. I've been using the SMC card and router for over a year, and I have not had a single problem with it. I've even dropped a soccer ball on the antennae, and cracked the casing (it's now bent at a 5 degree angle) and it still works like perfect. I think the product is terrific.
Rating: Summary: It does work with Windows 2000 !!!! Review: I bought this card along with SMC7004AWBR thinking that they shouldn't be having problem with each other. The router got installed within 5 minutes but this card installation on W2K took more than 3 days and 2 phone calls. As everyone is complaining it does not get installed in W2K right out of the box. It keeps complaining "Driver could not be loaded (Code 31)". So I called tech support and got a reply that he will send me new drivers but never received them. Wrote an email from their site. No response. So yesterday after waiting for 40 minutes to get connected to their tech support, I got the answer that the Code 31 is a common problem and he is going to send me drivers. Fortunately I received the drivers and was able to install the card with no problems. Once installed everything is easy. I get 70% connection around the house. The drivers which came on CD do not match with the manual. Also the drivers which are on the web site will not work for W2K. If anyone needs them, I have it. Let me know. . A simple question I would like to ask SMC is that if you know the Code 31 problem and have drivers for them, then why not load them on your web site. It will save headache for users....
Rating: Summary: Doesn't Work with Windows 2000 Professional Review: Bought this card and could not get to install on Windows 2000. Called tech support and they emailed me an updated driver but it did not correct the problem. The computer recognizes the card but there is the dreaded yellow exclamation point by the device with a Code 31 error. After spending a few hours, I threw in the towel. I think I'll try a DLink or Orinoco.
Rating: Summary: Didn't ever work, terrible tech support Review: I could not get the (unsigned) driver to install on Windows 2000. I called tech support, which sent me to a call center in India. They said that they would email the correct driver and never did. I have downloaded the driver from the web site, and that doesn't install either. Unfortunately, I bought it at Microcenter, and I don't know if I can return it.
Rating: Summary: Great Wireless Product - Small installation Problem Review: This is a great wireless product. Only had small issue with installation, in that SMC had not put updated drivers for Windows 2000 on the web yet (the dirvers on the install DC did not work). When FREE tech support was contacted, they instantly diagnosed my problem and e-mailed new drivers. Once the new drivers were installed, it worked like a charm. I am using it in conjunction with a SMC 7004AWBR.
Rating: Summary: Garbage card Review: I got a Card/AP combo. the access point configuration is '93 web graphic design in a relatively new product. I am not using WEP so no issues with that. The PC card itself is garbage, out of the box it worked for about 20-30 mins then lost the connection. I thought initially this was a problem with my laptop (Dell CPI-A it runs rather hot) So I borrowed 2 cards from IT at work, a Sony Vaio card and a Lucent/Orinoco Silver and they both worked for over 2 hours with no problems. I sent an email to "support" a while ago and got an autoresponder that said someone would contact me (it has been a month since then) I am not inclined to spend 3 ours on hold with these people (I have a job and not enough free time for that nonsense) They offer (from what I understand) AOL support (800# and a long wait to talk to an incompetant) I don't think that is acceptable. I am replacing this card with the Orinoco which I have read a lot of positive reviews of. As a side note the reported signal/link speed is not always accurate, and I had problems with the drivers making a WinXp home laptop from toshiba unstable. (big no no) DO NOT BUY THIS CARD. It is GARBAGE
Rating: Summary: Will not work fully with Win2000, poor customer support Review: I am an IT professional and have a Master of Science (MS) degree in physics (so these observations are not due to lack of knowledge or experience on my side). This card will function fine if you don't want to use the encryption, however if you don't use the encryption you are probably a bit naive since that means that anybody with the wireless card in your neighborhood can use your connection, and what is worse can hack into your computer. So, you must use the encryption; however this SMC product will not function if you do it on a Windows 2000 system. The drivers and utilities for the wireless card that come with the product will not support it, and the drivers you need are NOT on the SMC website. I spent about 1.5 hours on hold waiting to talk to their obviously overworked support technicians. Finally when I did make the wait, Bryan the tech there told me that he will email me the driver I needed. Well, it has been now two weeks and I still don't have this device working! He did try to send me drivers but apparently THEIR email system doesn't allow them to send over 1MB so the attachment never got through. Imagine that: they don't give you the Win2000 driver with the product, they don't provide it on their web site, and they can not email it to you because their server has a 1MB limit built in (and the driver is bigger than that). Also, the configuration interface to this router is at best very, very amateurish. It looks and functions like a 5 year old put it together. I have seen freeware that works better. BTW, we bought [several] of these SMC devices for the whole office and are now kicking ourselves! We will never, ever again buy anything from SMC ... will you?
Rating: Summary: Great for a wireless card Review: I work for an IT department and just installed this type of smc wireless card in a computer, and set up the access point about 20 feet up on the second floor and about 500 feet away from the pc using the card, and it is working very well so far with very few problems. If you have windows XP Professional it will recognize the wireless card as a plug and play device, and install it automatically which is very nice. As of right now the card is transmitting and recieving very well, and the only problem that we are having with it is the fact that we have alot of wiring, and other wireless devices that are transmitting in the same area that the computer is located, and therefore ocassionally have problems with a weak signal, but we haven't lost it yet. The card has a transfer rate of 11mbps which is not the fastest, but it is still fast for what we are using it for. Overall it is a great wireless card, at a great price, and is fairly stable with few problems.
Rating: Summary: Worst electronics ever Review: I bought this one in January 2002 along with a SMC Barricade. Since then I had to reinstall the drivers maybe 200 times. Very poor range. You can do what this does with 5 meters of cable. Because after that range you lose the connection and the drivers require to be loaded again. I sent 3 e-mails to the technical service. No reply. If you have 3 hours you can call them because that is the time that you have to wait to talk to someone. With XP it is even a worst experience. Don't even want to talk about it... Stay away from this one. Actually stay away from SMC.
|