Customer Reviews

SMC SMC2635W 802.11b Mbps Wireless Cardbus Adapter

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Works fine in my old laptop running WinMe but doesn't in my new ZE4420US by HP. See this link:

[website]

The e-mail support wasn't very helpful. The card would indicate it was communicating with my router but tcp\ip communications would freeze after getting a tcp address via dhcp. Struggled with it for a week then brought the laptop back and they put a Linksys 802.11b card in and that worked like a charm.

I just received this card yesterday. I also bought smc7004vwbr wireless router. I hooked the router to my cable modem and installed the router application on my desktop pc(WinXP Home edition). I connected the desktop to the router with with regulat cat5 cable. Then I pluugged in the SMC2635W card into my laptop (Windows2000 professional) and installed the driver. Magic. I am online from ny desktop and laptop at the same time. The DHCP part of the router worked fine. And I was able to connect to my office via VPN. No problems at all. I read some bad reviews about 7004vwbr. I guess the problems are now fixed. I am getting good signal from it.

The client software/driver for this wireless card is the worst I've ever seen. The configuration utility is not very user-friendly and not very robust. I had to remove and reinsert the card a few times to get it to work properly.

I recommend either the Netgear or Orinoco wireless cards instead.

Watch out before buying: this card IS NOT compatible with some hardware:
HP Pavilion ze 4420 US
a Compaq

whereas it works fine with a PII and a AMD 600

This is the most finicky 802.11b card I've seen; a few minutes after connecting, it disconnects for no apparent reason. The client software is awful. Changing any setting causes the security keys to be forgotten (I typed my security key in so many times, I memorized all 32 hex digits of it). Sometimes, it insists on trying an ad-hoc connection with other PCs around it, even if it set to "Infrastructure" only.

Took it out of the box, plugged it in, popped in the CD, and voila! Instant wireless connectivity. Couldn't be easier. The one I got included sniffer software which is PRICELESS. It automatically detects whenever I'm in range of a working WiFi signal, and tells me whether that signal is open and available or requires a password.

ALSO SMC's 24-hour toll-free tech support is surprising and worth noting (I haven't had any problems but was interested in getting more of these cards for my family which uses Macs. No dice. Only works with Windows. But the tech guys surprised me by answering quickly and being quite knowledgeable and helpful). Would definitely buy again!