Which Compact Flash CF Wireless Card can work on DELL Axim X5 X50 X51?

Based on discussions on Aximsite, the general opinion is the Socket Low Power WLAN card has the best features in terms of power usage, range, and size. Socket has also impressed Aximsite users in being the first company to provide drivers for Windows Mobile 2003 (WM03). These qualities do come with a cost, namely money. The Socket card is the most expensive WiFi CF card on the market. Many members at Aximsite have found very good deals on Symbol WiFi cards. Symbol and Socket developed the original low-power CF WiFi card in partnership, so the hardware is quite similar.
Another card with ‘good press’ is the Ambicom WL1100C-CF. This card is generally less expensive than the Socket and many other WiFi cards but Ambicom has also made an early release of beta drivers for WM03. The card is small and has good range. People have also had good results with Netgear MA701, Linksys WCF54G (Note, this is one of the few 802.11g cards on the market. Linksys also has two 802.11b cards, WCF-11 and WCF-12, both of which are 'end-of-life.' WCF-11 does not have drivers for Windows Mobile 2003), SMC2642W (end-of-life, no longer listed on their webpage), and D-Link DCF-660W (end-of-life, no longer listed on their webpage).

Most Prism-based cards should work on the X5, including prism 2.5 and prism 3.0

Axim X5 users should be very cautious about the Sandisk combo memory/WiFi CF cards. These cards do not work consistently with the X5. I have seen no one that was able to use these with the X5 running PPC02 and, while a few people were able to get the WiFi to work with their X5s running WM03, most could not access the memory on the card. A few people have also reported some problems with the D-Link card and many more have had problems (mostly with limited range) with Dell's TrueMobile WiFi card. Belkin also makes a WiFi card but it has a very large antenna that interferes with the use of the Axim's earphone port. Also, earlier models of some of the cards listed above (Linksys WCF11 and Ambicom WL1100B for example) were larger and will block the earphones port on the Axim as well. The Sandisk combo WiFi plus memory also does not function properly with the X5.

Owners of the Axim X5 should aso be aware that the secure digital slot on that model is not sdio compliant. Thus, it can only be used for memory and cannot be used with sd adapters like sd wireless LAN cards.

Linksys recently came out with an 802.11g CF card: WCF54G. Before getting the "G" card, you should be aware that it will not make your network connection on the PPC any faster than a B (and the B will cost about a quarter to a third what you'll pay for the G). The limiting factor mostly has to do with the transfer rates on the CF interface.
The only reasons for getting a G card is if:
1) you need to access a network that is only G capable (very rare)
2) you want to run a pure G network at home.
You should realise if the second reason is your goal, no broadband connections (cable or DSL) can match the speeds of even a B network so unless you need to transfer large amounts of data between various PCs on your network, there's no benefit to it, either. A major disadvantage besides the extra cost (from what I've read) is that the G card drains your battery much more quickly than a similar B card.

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What about a WiFi card for my Axim X51?
Many PPCs have been released with built in WiFi. However, in the case of the Axim line, each series has been released with a 'low' version which does not include built in wireless capabilities. While it may end up being more expensive to add on the wireless capabilities than to just buy a version with it built in, there are wireless networking cards that can be added. However, the X51 line was released with Windows Mobile 5 and many of the network card drivers originally written for earlier models will not work.

Based on discussions at Aximsite, a few cards have been shown to work- this includes the AmbiCom WL54-CF and WL-11-SD cards, the Socket Go Wi-Fi!™ P300 card, and the Spectec SDW 820 card. [Note that many of these cards are the 802.11g versions. It is likely that other models of cards from these manufacturers, as well as WLAN cards from other makers, will also work.

Anther prosimsing discovery by a member at Aximsite is that the Intersil reference drivers worked with their X51 and a Prism-based WiFi card. Since many of the 802.11b WiFi cards use the Prism chipset, these drivers should work with any of these cards. The easiest way to install these is with h ttp://prism.tjtech.org/ Perfect Prism utility.

prism chipset CF wifi cards list:

Linksys WCF12
SMC 2642W
Zonet ZCF1100
Abocom CWB 1000
AboveCable ACPC2000
Adtec 345CF
Alfa AWCF001
Alfa AWCF001A
Ambicom WL1100C
Asus WL-110
Aus.Linx Technology AL-95002CF
Belkin F5D6060
Bromax BPW250-I
Buffalo WLI-CF-S11G
CompuShack Waveline CS-23-543-06
D-Link DCF-650W
D-Link DCF-660W
GemTek WL-379
Hawking Tech. CF100W
Interepoch IWE100-F
Linksys WCF11
Macromate MWN-311
Micronet SP 903
Micronet SP 903B
Netgear MA 701
Philips PH 10878
Planet Technology WL-3600
Planex GW-CF11H
Planex GW-CF110
Sandisk SDWCFB-768
Senao/Engenius SL-2511CF
Sparklan WL-672
W-Link WEN-2050
Z-Com XI815
Z-Com XI825