SMC2632W 802.11b 11Mbps Wireless PC Card with integrated antennae

by SMC

Product Details

Product Manual [5.26mb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005ML58
• Item model number: SMC2632W
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 11, 2002

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The SMC 11 MBps PC Card provides true wireless LAN networking for your notebook PC. The card supports up to 128 users on a peer-to-peer basis or connected through an existing network using the optional access point. Its operating range goes up to 1,500 feet. The new card is ideal for use with cable modems, DSL, and SOHO applications, and it provides guaranteed broadband compatibility with the optional access point.

Product Description

The SMC 11 Mbps PC Card provides true wireless LAN networking for your notebook PC. The Card supports up to 20 users on a peer to peer basis or connected through an existing network using the optional Access Point. Its operating range is up to 1,500 feet. The new Card is ideal for use with cable modems, DSL or SOHO applications, and provides guaranteed broadband compatibility with the optional Access Point.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great card (and supports Windows CE!), August 14, 2001

By 

Steve Mueller "Software Developer" (Hollister, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: SMC2632W 802.11b 11Mbps Wireless PC Card with integrated antennae (Personal Computers)

I bought two of these SMC2632W cards along with the SMC700AWBR Wireless Barricade Router. My intent was to share my dial-up modem connection between my Fujitsu Lifebook C-6577 laptop and my 10-year-old daughter's Sony VAIO PCG-FX210 laptop. (I have ordered DSL, but don't have it yet.)

I didn't get the system working wirelessly with my Fujitsu laptop at first (I'm a software developer, not a hardware person), so I hard-wired my laptop to the router to get the router and modem set up and working. (I'll write a review of the router -- if I remember -- once I get DSL.)

UPDATE: I got DSL, and everything still works fine.

I then put this PC card in my daughter's Sony laptop, and it worked after installing the drivers and configuring the network settings. The router is in the back of our 2000+ square foot house, and she can use her computer in the front of the house with no problem (through two walls on a diagonal).
While installing the drivers, I noticed a Windows CE directoy on the driver diskette, and wondered if my other PC would work in my Compaq iPAQ with the dual PC card sleeve. I copied the CAB file to my iPAQ, double-clicked on it, and the software installed. I can now use my iPAQ around the house to wirelessly surf the Web and chat on AOL Instant Messenger.

As a caveat, I mentioned I'm not a hardware person, so I haven't done any speed testing. Things seem OK to me, but I don't know what kind of throughput I'm getting.

Because installing and configuring the card was so easy with the Sony laptop, and because it all seems to work well, I give this five stars. Because I got the extra capability of Windows CE, I'd give it another 1/2 star, if possible. :-)

The one downside with using this card on Windows CE is the settings application. First, I can't seem to find it again (probably my fault). Second, it seems to have been developed for Handheld PCs, not Pocket PCs, so the settings screen gets truncated on the right with no possibility to scroll. That's why it only gets an extra 1/2 star instead of an extra full star.

UPDATE: I found the settings application again, and created a shortcut for it so I can find it more easily. I also found that I can see the rest of the dialog by moving the dialog's main window around. I hadn't tried that before because most Pocket PC applications seem to be full-screen and not movable.

(NOTE: The driver diskette also seems to include Linux drivers, but I don't have a Linux system, so haven't tested this.)

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great card, solid tech support, and easy installation., November 9, 2001

By 

Richard A Ambrose "ambrose01" (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: SMC2632W 802.11b 11Mbps Wireless PC Card with integrated antennae (Personal Computers)

This networking card is simply fantastic!

USE:
This card operates at very high speeds and is surprisingly unaffected by interference. No matter how far I roam from the SMC 7004 wireless barricade (which this card communicates with) the connectivity is exceptional.

I live in a moderately large condominium that is part of a huge building with dozens of units. This building is a VERY unfriendly place for anything wireless. In fact, my cordless phones have always had some static problems. It should be noted that these are all high grade phones and I have phones for every bandwidth (analog, 900 mhz, 2.4 ghz). Despite this unfriendly environment, the card remains unaffected and works great. Also important, it does not interfear with my 2.4 gig phones.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT.
Their technical support people are friendly and knowledgable. The tollfree number is great, and their email support is good too. Sometimes the wait can be pretty long to get ahold of one of them, but it is a toll free number, and so at least it is on their dime and not yours.

INSTALLATION:
This card is very easy to install. In fact, the first time I installed it I thought something went wrong because it was so easy I didn't think anything had happened. In fact, the card was fully installed and working great.

There is one caveat though. If you install this card on your system and then upgrade to Windows XP, you could have trouble. As of now (11/9/01), if you want this card to work you will need to do a full install of XP and not just an upgrade install. Then when you install the drivers you should be fine. Frankly, I recommend this anyways, as when I did the ugrade install I had problems with several programs that disapeared when I went back and did the full installation.

Bottom line: Great card, solid customer service, and easy installation.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars replaced Netgear with SMC, July 23, 2001

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: SMC2632W 802.11b 11Mbps Wireless PC Card with integrated antennae (Personal Computers)

I returned all the Netgear stuff I had purchased because of problems and because of bad customer tech help and replaced it with the Wireless Broadband Router with 3-port switch and print server and the wireless PC card for notebooks. Had it up and running in 20 minutes! Instructions are very detailed and precise and not too "techie". Now I can sit on my couch in front of my TV and surf the web while my other PC and printer, etc is 2 rooms away. I just love it!!!!