Outpost.com SMC Wireless router $125 After $50 Rebate

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kof

Senior member
Oct 31, 2000
408
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Yup, called - out of stock, week to 10 days for available.
CompUSA is also running and ad with a "$50 mfr rebate" if bought with a pc card.
I called SMC earlier and they said that any rebate not on their website was reseller specific.
Methinks that the 802.11a version is about to debut and the prices are falling.

UPDATE
Called again, now they don't know when it will ship, and if it does not ship by the 5th, the present rebate is no good - ie. FORGET ABOUT IT.:(
 

trikster2

Banned
Oct 28, 2000
1,907
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Mine has shipped already (ordered this morning).

Wow Outpost has it's act together. In contrast I have been waiting two days for newegg to ship the parts for my new system.

It would be nice if the advent of 802.11A (around $500 for card and non-router access point) drives the prices down but I'm forced to buy a new router now.



 

wlj

Senior member
Oct 10, 1999
718
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Beware SMC rebates! -- I've been waiting since 06/2001 for an "allow 8-10 weeks" $50 rebate on the non-wireless version of this router. I've been in contact with SMC since sometime back in September, they've "expedited" my rebate several times, and I've still yet to receive it. Latest word today is that it'll be another 10-15 days. We shall see...

 

need4spd

Golden Member
Dec 15, 2000
1,369
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I am pretty sure that Fry's stores have these for $199.00 (it was in last weeks advert $199 - $50 MIR = $149) or they surely will allow a PM from CompUSA advert of $199 .. also Frys $50 rebate is good only until 1-5-02.

I actually have the Linksys BEFW11S1 which I got from Staples for $149+tax (Staples B&M ..PM with Computers4sure.com's price of $179 and used the $30 off $150 coupon...

But I have heard that the SMC is better....

BTW, anyone know who makes the best wireless USB adapters......?



 

Mysterie

Senior member
Jan 7, 2000
881
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Actually Fry's in SoCal has these for $149 (no mention of rebate). Just called them today and have them check stock, seems they were out. CompUSA would of PMed them if they had them in stock (amazing because they almost never would of before). Oh well it would of been cool to get this thing for the same price as my wired barricade, hmm now if they only got those in stock...:D
 

Athena

Golden Member
Apr 9, 2001
1,484
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«Actually Fry's in SoCal has these for $149 (no mention of rebate). »

Where did you see that? A client of mine bought one at Fry's SoCal last night; the price was $199.99 and he got the $50 rebate coupon (expires 1/5). That's the same price as CompUSA. The CompUSA advertisement is misleading because it implies that you have to buy the bundle to get the $50 off the router but the card is not mentioned on the rebate coupon; just the router SKU.

Update: He went over there again today and found that the price is now $189.99 so he got a $10 refund.
 

rj2828

Member
Sep 28, 2001
59
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OK guys - this is my first post with (what I believe to be) helpful info, so if I'm off base, please lemme know.

I picked up this SMC router, and added an Orinoco Gold PC NIC for $91 shipped, through Gateway:

http://shopping.yahoo.com/domain?d=holiday&cf=posthol01

You'll see a coupon code for $20 off $99 - click on the Gateway link, as I believe you have to be referred through Yahoo to get the coupon to work.

Figure a PM down the line - not a bad price for a well reknowned combination (the Orinoco Gold is regarded by many at alt.internet.wireless and at http://www.practicallynetworked.com to be the best NIC, and the SMC to be the best router for the price).
 

rj2828

Member
Sep 28, 2001
59
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The problem with the rebadged Dell cards (almost got one yesterday) is that they don't directly support the Orinoco (Lucent/Agere) firmware. You have to update them through Dell's upgrade utility, and it supposedly lags behind a firmware revision or two.

I was going to go that route yesterday, until I found out about this in the newsgroup. Apparently, people had some troubles with the Truemobile cards, and couldn't upgrade the firmware, leading to a lot of grief.

Either way - can't go wrong. Quality cards at a good price.
 

Richard98

Golden Member
Jan 30, 2001
1,093
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<< You can get a rebadged Orinoco at Dell for $80 shipped/tax. I picked one up yesterday.

Dell

Dell has 20% all branded products.

AT thread
>>



I can't tell whether the one from Dell is an Orinoco Silver or an Orinoco Gold. If it's equivalent to the Silver, $80 isn't a bad price, but you can get true Orinoco Silver cards for a few $$ less.
 

Athena

Golden Member
Apr 9, 2001
1,484
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«I can't tell whether the one from Dell is an Orinoco Silver or an Orinoco Gold. »

The client manager identifies it as a Gold card and I'm using it as I type with WEP128.

As far as updating the firmware goes, I been using my card without any problem for over a month but I decided to try the firmware update to see what would happen. It was actually quite easy:

  1. Download the latest version of the Orinoco drivers and the firmware update then unzip them into a work folder somewhere.
  1. Use the Update Driver button in the Device Manager to install the Orinoco drivers (choose integrated card) so that the firmware update will recognize it as an Orinoco card.
  1. Update the firmware using the firmware utility.
  1. When the update is done, delete the card from the device manager then reboot so the card will be rediscovered in its TrueMobile state.
  1. Use the TrueMobile client manager to restore your configuration parameters (SSID and/or WEP) so that it wil be recognized by the AP.

The Client Manager shows the updated firmware version and everything is running just as it should
 

Mysterie

Senior member
Jan 7, 2000
881
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Well after I saw this post and saw how ridiculous the price for the router would be if it was sent to me I decided to call Fry's and see how much they had them (instead of drive all the way down there). They found them and gave me the price as $149, I even compared the model number with them, but they said they were all out in all the SoCal Fry's (San Jose had some thru). Where did he pick up his? I'll try again an see if the price was after rebate.
 

Salvador

Diamond Member
May 19, 2001
7,058
0
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I want to use this wireless router with a desktop pc. What do you suggest? One of these wireless cards with a PC adatper? if so, which adapter should I go with? I've seen cards that attach through a USB port and that seems like the way to go with a desktop.

I'm looking to go wireless with one pc because one room in my house would be a nightmare to run CAT 5 cable to. I figure that a wireless set up will cost just a bit more after I buy materials and either pay someone or take the time and bust my hump to run the cable myself (and make it look decent).

Sal
 

Athena

Golden Member
Apr 9, 2001
1,484
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«if so, which adapter should I go with? I've seen cards that attach through a USB port and that seems like the way to go with a desktop.»

You will probably be happier with a USB adapter because you can change the polarization by moving them around. If you can't find the Orinoco USB adapter at a good price (or in stock) try one of the Interil units that have movable antennae. Be sure to read the reviews at Practically Networked.
 

KenK

Junior Member
Sep 23, 2001
8
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I'm returning the SMC card to compusa. I bought it with the 7004AWBR assuming it was a package deal. I picked up a Orinoco card and it has much better reception. For example turning sideways on a couch or putting the laptop down on the coffee table degraded or lost the signal with the SMC card. With the Orinoco it stayed the same or got stronger. Compusa still has the router for $199-$50 rebate today and was in stock-Oregon. Router works like a champ.

Caution on the SMC wired router. The WAN link is 10/100 and my Fujitu DSL modem would not autosense and connect.
 

Athena

Golden Member
Apr 9, 2001
1,484
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There is no question that the Orinoco gets better reception; if you have the money, go for it.

In my experience though, the quality of the link makes very little difference in the actual performance. I used an SMC card for several months with a link that always showed yellow and was never inconvenienced until I enabled WEP. I ended up disabling the systray utility because it was so distracting.
 

aldamon

Diamond Member
Aug 2, 2000
3,280
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<< Beware SMC rebates! -- I've been waiting since 06/2001 for an "allow 8-10 weeks" $50 rebate on the non-wireless version of this router. I've been in contact with SMC since sometime back in September, they've "expedited" my rebate several times, and I've still yet to receive it. Latest word today is that it'll be another 10-15 days. We shall see... >>



I sent in my rebate for this wireless router and an SMC wireless NIC and got both within three months. No problems whatsoever. Sorry to hear that the rebate process on the "wired" version was not as smooth.
 

fargus

Senior member
Jan 2, 2001
626
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trikster2, regarding your question about cordless phones, I have this unit, a 2.4Ghz cordless phone plus two pairs of 2.4Ghz wireless video transmitters, and have yet to see any interference. Guess they're pretty good at choosing the right channels!