Home > Consumer Reviews > Linksys WCF12 Wireless-B Network CompactFlash Card (Type I)

Bought this to use in my Dell Axim X5 device, and it works perfectly! The install was very smooth. The configuration utility was simple to master and handled both my 128 bit WEP and my non-standard SSID like a champ.

I routinely use it between two different wireless networks and can switch between their configurations with a couple of taps on the Axim's screen. Link and signal quality have been excellent even sitting in my car a couple of hundred feet away from the SMC2655W AP located in my home.

The only trouble I've had is with physically inserting the card in the Dell Axim device -- it takes quite a bit of alternating force and finesse to get it started into the CF slot. This thing is just a smidge wider than other CF cards which insert into the device with no resistance.

I purchased this card to work with my Zaurus SL-5500 and had a difficult time setting it up. There was a user that gave some advice in a review of the product and made it sound so easy. Well, his method did not work for me. Here is the method that did work.

Hard reboot the system. When the reboot is finished, install the terminal ipk file. Once that is installed, use vi to edit the /etc/pcmcia/wlan-ng.conf file. Add an entry that says:

device "prism2_cs"
class "wlan-ng" module "prism2_cs"

at the top of the file. At the end of the file, ad an entry that says this:

card "Linksys WCF12 11Mbps 802.11b WLAN Card"
version "Linksys", "Wireless CompactFlash Card"
bind "prism2_cs"

Once you have done this, reboot the Zaurus and once it has restarted, insert the WCF12 card. The link light should flash and the ifconfig eth0 should return useful information.

Other than the difficulty that I had setting up the card and getting it to work the first time, I've not had any problems with the WCF12. It's a great card but it's hard to get it setup on the Zaurus if you don't know much about Linux.

Well I just got this card in the mail today and it is performing flawlessly. I have an iPaq 3640 which has the PCMCIA jacket. I am actually writting this review and listening to streaming music on my iPaq right now. For those of you wondering, I am using a PCMCIA to CF adaptor.

When I turn my iPaq on it it takes about 2 seconds to link up to my wireless router. The drivers are very good. A small icon shows up in the bottom right corner of the iPaq on the "today" screen. From there you can change the speed of your conection, encryption, and a bunch of other network settings. You can also keep an eye on how good of a conection you have. At 11mb I only get down to a 60% conection quality at the bottom, inside of my house. That is going through brick walls and all.

My advice is to buy a wireless network and get this card for your PDA to greatly increase its usefulness, functionality, and gadgetyness.

Network consists of a Netgear WAB102 802.11a and 802.11b dual band access point, Linksys WET11, Netgear WAB501 Cardbus for Compaq laptop, and a Dell Axim PDA using the WCF12. Had no problems installing it and immediately was surfing the net from the PDA. Network should be configured for DHCP for easy installation. Have had one problem that I don't think is with Linksys, Netgear access point stopped working on the 802.11a channel while 802.11b still worked. Cycled power and all was fine again. WCF12 was scanning away as it should be trying to make a connection. Have since upgraded the firmware in the access point so will see what happens... Also no problem inserting the CF card in the Dell Axim as a previous reviewer did. May be a manufacturing tolerance problem which I lucked out on.

Clicked it right into my Dell Axim, running a LinkSys wireless router. Installed software on my Pocket PC, recognized the wireless network and I was surfing the internet!
Works great, it eats the battery pretty fast, but not too bad if you check "Auto Power Save" in the options. Besides most of the time, I use it to sync my device with my office computer upstairs without going upstairs, then disable it. By the way, I used to have a wcf-11, this new model wcf-12 is A LOT smaller!! Perfect, I hate huge CF devices sticking out of my Pocket PC