Suprised Shipping!!!

[deftech]

Well, I finally decided yesterday (July 7th) to break down and buy a Socket Wi-Fi card. Dell had a good deal on them after rebate, so I ordered from them. My order status showed that it would ship out on July 10th. I chose the free 5-7 day shipping, so I expected to get it next week sometime at earliest. To my surprise today, the UPS guy delivered it to me!! And I didn't order it early yesterday or anything.....it was like 3:00PM CST. So anyhow, with the cheapest shipping options and that shipping date quote.....I somehow received it in less than 24 hours from the time I placed the order. Dell gets +10 points in my book. :D

[ceej13]

Cool deal! Now that is customer service! :)

What was the cost on the Socket if you don't mind my asking? I'm using the Dell Truly Immobile and am looking into getting a new Wi-fi card.

Call me crazy but I'd like to get further than 15 feet from my router before my signal goes marginal.

I'm very satisfied with the battery consumption on the Dell card but am obviously dissapointed with the range, as is the story with most everyone who uses this card on the forum.

Once you have some time with the Socket could you confirm the range and approximate the drain on the battery? And while you're at it could you tell me if the headphone jack is covered while the card is inserted?

Just proves that with Dells service the old southern adage that "even a blind hog will find an acorn now and then" holds true.

[wildcat]

now lets hope the 03 update will start shipping like that

[diesel]

deftech,

how do you like the socket wifi card? i have one myself, got it sometime ago, very low profile though i don't have anything to compare it to, but low profile nevertheless, and with their new driver software that allows multiple profiles and detects any access points, it's such a breaze to use..........

what has your experience been with it so far? i hope it has been as good as mine

[deftech]

Originally posted by jahloysius
What was the cost on the Socket if you don't mind my asking? I'm using the Dell Truly Immobile and am looking into getting a new Wi-fi card.

I grabbed it up through a link in the Hot Deals forum here....it was $120 with free shipping and tax-free at Dell Outlet. And there is a $40 Mail-In rebate on Socket website through the middle of August. $80 isn't TOO horrible, especially considering the quality of the card.

Call me crazy but I'd like to get further than 15 feet from my router before my signal goes marginal.

I'm very satisfied with the battery consumption on the Dell card but am obviously dissapointed with the range, as is the story with most everyone who uses this card on the forum.

Once you have some time with the Socket could you confirm the range and approximate the drain on the battery? And while you're at it could you tell me if the headphone jack is covered while the card is inserted?

The headphone jack is not even close to being covered. This is absolutely the SMALLEST WiFi CF card I have ever seen!! The CF cutout on my Piel Frama case will even fit over it without removing the card when I open the case.....just have to barely stretch the top of the case over it like a millimeter. But all other cards that I've tried wouldn't even come within about half-inch of fitting through there.

The battery drain seems a lot better than even the Dell.....and 100x better than my old D-Link. However, I've only been using it for less than a day.....but I'll post back if my opinion changes on the battery life.

The range is a lot further than my D-Link was, and much further than the Dell cards. I'll fully test the range later today and post back.

[deftech]

Originally posted by diesel
deftech,

how do you like the socket wifi card? i have one myself, got it sometime ago, very low profile though i don't have anything to compare it to, but low profile nevertheless, and with their new driver software that allows multiple profiles and detects any access points, it's such a breaze to use..........

what has your experience been with it so far? i hope it has been as good as mine

I love the driver for it. Very simple to use....and picks up on every WAP that I've tried so far. That will be great once school starts back, as on other cards I've always had to manually enter the SSID every time I go into a different building.

[deftech]

jahloysius (and anyone else):

I got a chance to test out the range this afternoon. I live in an apartment complex, and the only one I tested here was my old D-Link (which has much better range than the Dell TrueMobile). The D-Link would reach outside of my apartment, down the stairs, and about halfway down the breezeway. I'd say it was about 100 feet from the AP with a POOR signal (through a brick wall and about 4 inside walls), and then the signal was non-existent after that. Also, there are no windows on that side of the apartment.

Okay, so now today I did the same with my new Socket card. At the max D-Link distance, this Socket card still had a "Very Good" signal. It reached to the parking lot (about another 50 feet) and still had a "Good" signal. About 35 feet further to my Jeep with a "Poor" signal. At this "Poor" point, I could still access my cable Internet connection at full speed. The signal dropped out of range about 30+ feet past that point. So all-in-all it had a useable signal up to around 200 feet through all those walls. Not too bad if you ask me. I'm sure my measurements are not anywhere near EXACT....but should be pretty close give or take ~30 feet.

It easily reached twice as far as the D-Link, so I recommend the Socket CF WLAN card to everyone!! Get it before the end of August to get the $40 Mail-In rebate from their website! :D

[Snerdley]

Originally posted by deftech
... Get it before the end of August to get the $40 Mail-In rebate from their website! :D

I must be blind, do you have a link to that rebate? Thx

[Wired Pig]

A link to the rebate info page is here
A link to the rebate PDF form itself is here.

I ordered mine this AM, but it wont get here - according to Dell - until the 14th.... why cant we all have Def Tech's luck?

[ceej13]

It should be right on their web page Socket Communications

But, here you go:
$40.00 mail-in rebate on the Socket Low Power 802.11b WLAN

By Socket Comm
Offer valid June 23, 2003 - August 23,2003

You didn't sell me on Thunderhawk but I'm sold on the Socket. Thanks for the info. I'm going to purchase one soon.