Networking Reviews

As with a lot of similar products, sandisk's should only be considered by people who don't need any documentation. That's because there isn't any. If it doesn't work first time, then forget it. There's no documentation, not even on their web site. So please Sandisk, how about some customer support?

I'm writing this review from my Ipaq 1935 using the card. Installation was quick and easy. Loading pages is a bit slow but I'm not sure whether it is due to card or hardware (memory). I'm sure it's not the connection because I'm sitting next to the router. Well, as the title says, the card works pretty good and I recommend it

I debated long and hard about buying a PDA with integrated WiFi and this SD card was my compromise. It's definitely nicer on the budget than splurging for integration. And it's alot less inconvenient then I thought it would be. I've found the card easy to install and it never drops my connection. You just pop it in the memory slot and it does its thing. Even when I'm walking from hotspot to hotspot, I don't have to pay attention to it at all.

Ok here are the caveats. 1) It's a little slow loading webpages, but that could be due to my pda hardware or the network at my school which I found to be slow using the wifi on my laptop. 2) I once had a problem that it suddenly wasn't recognizing the networks. However I reinstalled the driver and it worked perfectly. 3) Sandisk doesn't yet have a driver for Palm OS, a problem that my Palm friends complain about relentlessly. But it serves them right for choosing Palm, right?

Nevertheless, I give this card a 5 star rating because the flaws are rather minor and in the ever-important areas of cost and convenience, it surpassed all my expectations.

I could switch from one of my boxes, but not from the other-- meaning once I switched to the second box, I was hosed! I don't know if it was defective, or if it wouldn't work with that mobo (VIA KT266), or what, but I returned it ASAP.

This product has undocumented problems with Microsoft and Logitech WireLess MultiMedia keyboards (most likely all wireless keyboards), namely the port switching doesn't work (rending it useless).

Shame on Belkin for not reporting this, and shame on them for not providing support for highend keyboards and mice.

Just purchased this KVM (from DELL) and could not be any more delighted!
I have a Windows XP PC and an Intel-based Linux box (RedHat 9.0). I use my 19" DELL monitor, standard DELL keyboard and DELL PS/2 wheel mouse. Both machines have display resolution set to 1280x1024 32-bit color.
I have had zero installation, distorsion, power or switching problems. The wheel on the mouse also works.

If not for the comment left by Keith Peterson from Bridgeport, CT USA I would not have been able to get this working. I spent hours frustrated because the Win98 drivers that came in the box would not install. There online chat tech support left me waiting for upwards of 45 minutes before I gave up on them. I had to install the Realtek drivers to get it to work.

I installed the card on an older Gateway machine with Win98 installed. The card was recognized in the Device Manager but not seen in the Network area. After some surfing I discovered the chipset it uses, Realtek 8139A, downloaded that driver and after installing, everything was recognized and now my network is humming along with no problems. I would have given the card 5 stars if it wasn't for the small driver issue.

Saw the previous comments so I had the Realtek drivers to hand but they weren't required as I didn't have a single problem installing it on my older Win98se machine. And a bonus - it seems to transfer files faster than the previous 10/100 card that I'd been borrowing from a friend (and thought it was time I returned it!) - a sound purchase at 9 GB pounds, and that was from a High Street retailer!

I got this one a while ago. First time it didn't flash the firmware correctly. Got the unit replaced. Then find out it had the wrong firmware TO BEGIN WITH. Get the correct firmware, ran like a charm. Then all of a sudden it just stopped working. This is only after about four months of use.

I bought this bridge/access point based on the good reviews. However, I was using this as a bridge at home to a Linksys router. This seems to be the only bridge that does not connect to other vendor's routers. What a shame. The setup was reasonable, but a little more involved than other vendors. Back in the box it goes.

I bought this Belkin access point a few days ago. It is an excellent device! I bought it to bridge and extend my wireless G home network. It connected without problems to my Linksys WRT54G router. The F57130 is, to the best of my knowledge, the only access point that simultaneously acts as a bridge and a repeater. I am using it to augment my wired network, while ALSO using it to add wireless reach to the upstairs of my house. I would have given it five stars if it included a status indicator in its utilities. It's rather unusual to have a wireless device that cannot indicate signal strength -- but otherwise it works great!

I bought this card for a FreeBSD box in my test lab at home because it is one of the few wireless PCI cards on the hardware compatibility list. So my surprise was complete when it arrived and I found that SMC had, like many other annoying vendors, changed the chipset and not mentioned that anywhere or changed the product number. So it didn't work in FBSD....

I decided to repartition that test boxes hard drive and install Win2k so as to get *some* use from this card while waiting for the BSD driver wizards to put something out. The card installs fine but then when I launch the configuration utility the box freezes completely and I have to manually power it off, then boot into safe mode and take the utility out of startup to avoid a cycle of freezes. SMC's web site was useless as there is no updated config utility; I couldn't even find the version that came with the card, leaving me to wonder what I would do if I lost the CD. I guess WinXP people could still use this card but I'm not upgrading my OS just so I can use this card.

My win2k box is service pack 4 with a million hotfixes, and there was no anti-virus or any other weird software on the box at the time (it was a test box!). This product is useless and I feel very much deceived by the chipset switch-a-roo. I will never buy SMC again.

I bought this adapter to get a wireless connection for an old Windows XP Gateway desktop in my basement, thinking that the nice external antenna would help my odds.

PRO:

The card installed perfectly, connection comes up as "excellent" every time and I was into my network and Internet connection within 5 minutes. SMC has 24/7 toll-free tech support.

CON:
The drivers are not certified for Windows XP and the so-called setup utility crashes itself. It's in the "Add/Remove Programs" area but won't uninstall. Don't try to use the utility if using XP... allow XP to manage the network settings and you'll be fine. SMC even recommends it after calling them. The useless utility is there and I leave it alone and use XP to manage settings.

Bottom Line:

Decent wireless adapter if you're running "b" and it does great with my D-Link 614+ router but don't pay much for this adapter. It's worth $25-$30 but not the $58 that I paid for it.

A while back we baught a refurbished computer, which needed internet. We had my Apple laptop connected to our 'SMC Barricade 4-Port 11 Mbps Wireless Broadband Router' basestation by AirPort Xtreme card. Now my task was to connect the basestation to our other computer.

Installing Card: The hardest part was getting the case open! After that I screwed in the new card in a few seconds, put the case back on, and was ready to go.

Installing Software: I put the CD in, clicked a few times, and I was done. All I did is follow the on-screen instructions. After about 2 or 3 minutes I was getting a signal from the basestation.

This card is great! Extremely easy to install, and the connection is way faster than on my laptop. We have a steady, fast connection across the house and through a bunch of walls. A great card at a great value.

Initially, this appears to be an interesting device: four port hub, a networked printer port, wireless access and firewall/router. It could theoretically substitute for my three separate Linksys devices.

I've been using the Siemens/Efficient Networks SpeedStream 2623 for approximately a year with an Intel Anypoint wireless card. The results are somewhat mixed:

Prior to the most recent flash BIOS update, wireless connections the router would frequently and randomly lock up. This was not a factor of distance, and resetting the computer/wireless card would not always fix the problem. I have not had these problems since the most recent flash.

My experience with technical support isn't very positive, but seems relatively typical of the industry. They clearly go by a checklist and endeavor to trying to find point blame it on some other component of the network. Ultimately I was able to find an obscure technical note on their web site that described the same problem.

I could never get the printing functionality to work from Windows 2000. (9x wasn't a problem, however.) I stopped trying when I realized my particular printer model (HP970) has both serial and USB connectors which I connect into each machine.

Range varies -- usually I can work on the front or back porch, or anywhere within the house EXCEPT the kitchen -- a running microwave will kill the connection. Speed definitely drops off with distances or obstacles. With medium/40-bit encryption enabled, 25' and three walls away, I get about 140kbps.

Although I'm happy now, it shouldn't take nine months to work the bugs out of the system. I don't have comparables to ascertain how much wireless networking is overhyped, but feel this sort of box should be relatively easy for a moderately technical user to set up.

I just buy that product, as I thought siemens have name in the Broadband technology, but after installing it, i get very unexpected result. I used netgear wireless card, install it very easily, but after working sometime, it stop responding. first I thought that there is problem in network card, i remove the drivers re-install it, reboot my laptop, but didnt work, i place my laptop adjacent to the siemens AP but no use. Then i reboot the AP and wow, its worked, but after some time ,it again stop responnding. the next thing i did i return it back, now looking for something else!

Great product. Easy, web based setup.
The range is decent, but i wish this unit had detachable/replaceable antennas so i could add a high gain antenna to the unit.

I have this device and a 2-port Linksys. Frequently with this one, I get a delay in or totally lose my mouse control when switching between computers. I'm using a MS optical mouse that is natively USB, with a USB-to-PS2 converter attached that could be a problem. Just a warning to those with similar configurations that they may get similar results. The Linksys KVM has no problems with my setup.

This KVM is very affordable and works great, most of the time. However, if you use a Logitech Mouse, do NOT buy this KVM. Your mouse will seriously mess up. This KVM is designed for use with Microsoft mice. I would frequently switch between Windows and Linux and this would confuse it greatly. Windows would forget what my keyboard repeat rates were and the mouse would move erratically for the first few seconds. Linux was even funnier and would frequently refuse to work until I restarted X-Windows using Ctrl-Alt-Backspace as trying to move the mouse at all would result in a plethora of random movements and mouse clicks. Of course, restarting X-Windows caused me to lose everything I had open. So if you have an Intellimouse, this should be fine, but if you use anything else, go with something else. Linksys, for instance, works great with Logitech.

I have been using this KVM switch every day for a month. I use it for constant switching between two PCs. So far, I have never been "locked out" of my PC after switching channels like I have been with other KVM switches. There are two ways to switch: the scan button on the top which moves left-to-right between ports (which will stop on all ports even if there is no signal), or you can press Scroll Lock twice on the keyboard followed by the up and down arrow. The second method provides fast switching between two PCs on adjacent ports and avoids empty port scans.

One neat feature is that if all ports have no signal, and you turn on a PC, the switch will select the active port. Other switches will always select port 1 at power up, but this auto-port-select saves time by selecting the active port.

One drawback I can think of is that the unit emits an audible "chirp" sound when you first turn it on, and when you switch ports. I haven't found a way to turn it off. Also, there is no way to switch more than 1 port at a time. For example, you can not switch from port 1 to port 3 without switching to port 2 first (or port 4 if you go the other direction via the keyboard).

This unit does not come with an AC power adapter. The unit is powered by the PS/2 connection to the PC. Thus, if you use this switch for monitors only (no keyboards or mice) then you will need to buy the AC adapter in addition to the switch.

This is one that I have seen that I could actually buy.
It has everything that I need for a phoneline network adapter.
However I am not buying at this time.How ever it will be on my wish list.
I'm sure someone will buy itfor it is a good item

Purchased a Linksys Phoneline router and USB Phoneline network adapter and instantly networked my home office and kid's computer. Now we all have the DSL!

Very happy

I could not rewire my house. There was too much distance and too many obstructions for wireless - and I was concerned about security. I installed the Linksys phoneline router and USB phoneline adapters. Everthing installed easily. Works great. And has been working great for about a year. Slower than Ethernet (I can tell when I transfer files between PCs) - but faster than my DSL connection - which is all that matters. Anyone who wants a no new wires installation should consider this approach.

I got this because I was tired of horrible compatibility of my Netgear WAB102 dual band 802.11a/b access point (Centrino laptop won't transmit data through it and 802.11a doesn't work with WEP enabled). I got the D-Link unit home, pulled it out of the box, plugged in the antenna, and plugged it into the wall... no lights, no ethernet connection, DOA.

The specs for range were impressive, but after reading some reviews of compatibility problems, bad support, and having the DOA unit, I don't trust D-Link products any more than my shoddy Netgear.

When will the Wi-Fi sticker actually mean the products will interop? As it stands right now it is pretty meaningless. I guess you have to go with the masses and get an ugly and basic (but functional) Linksys.

I purchased a DLink networking system last month and I finally gave up and switched to another brand.
I was online with their tech for days spanning three weeks of hell. I would spend an hour with a tech only to find out that the access point would not work with my router.
I purchased what I thought was the correct access points and stayed online with tech for two days. After two days, they said that this access point would not work with my router.
Finally, we were able to key in on the right product and I spent all afternoon and into the night with it. Still would not work.
All the PC magazines I have read rated the DLink as the best on the planet. I buy as much as I can with Amazon and just ordered a networking system by Linksys.

I hope to God this system works.

Never been so miserable in all the years with anything PC related.

If you are busy and cannot take the time to be on the phone for three weeks with tech, do not buy Dlink.

This Wireless Access Point provides great additional coverage in my home. We already have a DI-624 to cover half the house, but I wanted something to cover our expansive back yard as well. So I run a Ethernet cable to the sliding glass door downstairs and have this wireless access point setup on the table next to the door. Now I can roam the backyard with my laptop and have an optimal connection to the Internet.

Setup was simple, basically follow the instructions and it works. Wireless Access points aren't hard to to setup anyway, but this was about as easy as it can get. My entire network is 108Mbps enabled.

I spent 6 months off and on trying to install the adapter cards onto my Win98SE computers. Windows could never find the driver from the CD nor from the two files sent by LinkSys tech support.

I then bought the Netgear wireless MA311 cards; they installed perfectly and network is running the same day I took it out of the box.

I have a Linksys Homelink network system that has now been unusable for months. When I upgraded to Windows ME, the only problem I had was with the Linksys card. Neither phone support or email support has been able to fix the problem. Email support rarely returns any messages, and if they do, all they say is they are working on the problem. I have four computers and a laptop and all were working decently on the network before upgrading to ME - not good, just decently - but what is so discouraging is the lack of support. I will NEVER buy another Linksys product!

Much to the chagrin of the local computer networking company who had hoped to completely rewire the old house we bought for our office for an ethernet network, these cards work fine. We are running a 733 with windows 98, 533 with 98, and a 200 with 95. I'm going to be adding two more computers in the near future and will report back on that. No significant problems although I had to pull all of the cards from one computer because the order they were inserted in was important-- I think the winmodem in that computer was using a resource that didn't show up in the control panel.