Microsoft Broadband Networking Wireless Notebook Adapter

by Microsoft

Product Details

Product Manual [941kb PDF]

• Item Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006IJO7
• Item model number: L21-00003
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 19, 2002

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Microsoft wireless notebook adapter makes it easy to add a notebook computer to your network. Share a broadband Internet connection by connecting to a router, share files and printers with other computers on your network, or play games with multiple players on the Internet. You can also connect to other wireless 802.11b/Wi-Fi networks when you're away from home for added productivity on the road.

The wireless notebook adapter comes with an easy-to-use setup wizard, designed to make connecting your computers together easier. It has strong security features, including 128-bit wireless WEP security, and support for 802.1x standards. The Microsoft broadband network utility makes it easy to monitor your network status.

Included with the wireless network adapter are an adjustable antenna and attached cable and setup CD-ROM, as well as a startup guide and a user's guide.

System requirements include: a wireless router (sold separately) or other 802.11b/Wi-Fi device or network, as well as a computer running Windows 98, 98 SE, Me, 2000 Professional, XP Professional, or XP Home editions; Internet Explorer 5.0 or later (setup will install Internet Explorer 6.0 browser components, if necessary, but will not displace your primary browser); 28 MB of available hard disk space if you already have Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6.0 (132 MB of available hard disk space if you are installing Internet Explorer for the first time); a 4x or faster CD-ROM drive; and a VGA or higher-resolution monitor.

Product Description

The Microsoft Wireless Notebook Adapter makes it easy to securely add a notebook computer (or any computer with a PC Card) to the 802.11b wireless network in your home or small office and share a broadband connection, such as a cable or DSL modem. The Microsoft Wireless Notebook Adapter protects your network from unauthorized access with 128-bit wireless security (WEP). It also includes the Microsoft Broadband Network Utility allowing you to easily monitor your network status.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Linux compatible chipset in card, June 16, 2004

By 

J. W. Rogers (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Broadband Networking Wireless Notebook Adapter (Personal Computers)

This is a pretty good card. It uses the Prism2 chipset. Linux recognizes it on my system (MDK10 with kernel 2.6.X), although I have not finished the annoyance that is setting up wireless networking under linux. The MS Windows OS installer ap is annoyingly big, but post-install card configuration is much better than what I have seen with other brands. The stupid inability to cut and paste WEP keys is very standard for all cards I've used. It's not as though such measures really increase security. Disabling cut and paste for the WEP key certainly does not keep one from storing the key locally. Therefore, I really must wonder what manufacturers think is gained. All in all, though, a very good, highly responsive card with excellent range and GREAT compatibility. Supposedly, it _might_ even work under BeOS.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works great with Linux!, April 18, 2004

By 

Crispian J. Thorne "crispian" (Rye, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Broadband Networking Wireless Notebook Adapter (Personal Computers)

I bought this card as a cheap back-up for my SMC2532W-B, and am pleasantly able to report that it work like a charm with Debian Linux! (I am using Libranet, a Debian-based distro, with the wlan-ng wireless pcmcia drivers).

Who'da thunk that a Microsoft card would be recommended by a Linux Geek? But this is one of the increasingly difficult-to-find pcmcia cards using the prism 2/2.5/3 chipset that works really well in Linux. And while it doesn't have the range of the SMC (one of the highest power out-of-the-box cards you can get) it linked right up as soon as I plugged it into my Thinkpad T21 & gave it's MAC address to my Netgear router (I have MAC access turned on) and seems to get as least as good range as the very similar Netgear MA401 I have also used.

I have absolutely no idea how well it works with Windows, I would assume well as it's a Microsoft product. But if you are looking for a budget card for use with Linux, at this price you can't go wrong!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works Great, July 9, 2003

By 

Wayne (Wisconsin USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Microsoft Broadband Networking Wireless Notebook Adapter (Personal Computers)

This notebook adapter worked great on my laptop/server running Windows Server 2003 in ad hoc mode. I also bought the USB version for my desktop running XP. The laptop is no longer portable because it overheats without an external fan so the true test will be when I buy a new laptop. I only gave it 4 stars becuse the software that came with it is bad and I uninstalled it.