SMC's EliteConnect HIGH POWER 802.11b card; The best bang for the buck of any 200mW card

[Quickfingerz]

ORIGINAL POST: SMC's EliteConnect HIGH POWER 802.11b card; Is it the best card out there?
After searching, The best appears to be Demarc, Senao/Engenius, and Zcom. These are enterprise-type cards and while the retail price for these cards are quite high, they can be had through auction sites quite cheaply.

Model: SMC2532W-B

Only $57.99 at Amazon

ZDNET'S TOP CARD
CNET'S LIST

SMC is tops for both but I am looking for some user reviews

 

[mcveigh]

never heard of it. the best I have used is Cisco aironet 352 series. It puts out 100mW (I think) how much does the smc put out?

 

[Quickfingerz]

200 mW

uses uses 5V to drive it

 

[JackMDS]

The best Entry Level 802.11b is the Proxim Orinoco Gold.

 

[Quickfingerz]

Hey, but that WAS the case before the SMC high power came out. Now that the SMC is finally readily available and what the Orinoco gold excelled in, the SMC is even better.

The SMC High Power isn't designed to be an 'Entry' level card. I would say it's a 'Enterprise' level card at an 'Entry' price.

 

[mcveigh]

try it and report back here

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: Quickfingerz
Hey, but that WAS the case before the SMC high power came out. Now that the SMC is finally readily available and what the Orinoco gold excelled in, the SMC is even better.

The SMC High Power isn't designed to be an 'Entry' level card. I would say it's a 'Enterprise' level card at an 'Entry' price.

It is puzzling!

Review and users feedbacks seem to indicate that the SMC ?High Power? is not better than a good regular card.

Do you actually tried the card, or you just go by the Advertising?

 

[Quickfingerz]

After searching and looking at expert reviews and consulting with RF experts at the university, this card offers the most bang for the buck.
The card can obtain an 11mbps signal at -89dBm which is remarkable, only bested by Demarc cards rated at -91dBm even more remarkable. The push of 200mW versus 30mW allows a range increase of ~56%.

Senao cards with it's utility can put out 250 mW; about a ~62% improvement in range.

However, the difference between good ranged cards is its recieve sensitivity.

Orinoco cards: -82dBm (which is actually THE BEST of any 3.3V, 30 mW card outside of Cisco and Zcom cards)

So unless the SMC HIGH POWER goes way out of spec, which is unlikely since it's implementation is quite similar to the Senao/Zcom cards, the Orinoco card should not even come close to the SMC HIGH POWER .

Looking at reviews at both CNET and ZDNET also indicate an increase of range of about 50% indicating it's implementation is good.

For $57 I think it's a steal

 

[mcveigh]

so like I said, get it and tell us how it does in the real world