If you’re the head of a purchasing department for several mobile users, getting a stack of WaveLan Turbo cards for use with AirPort is a lot easier than for those end-users who just want to buy one card. It seems Lucent’s current distribution model favors large orders. PowerPage reader Paul Sian called up Gallo Networks, a national vendor of Lucent products, and tells us about the situation:
I contacted Gallo and they said they don’t usually sell one piece at a time withregards to the Wavelan turbo. While they have been getting numberous calls theycurrently are not geared to selling them. But they gentleman I did talk to saidhe would discuss it with the Lucent representative to see what they should bedoing. He said he would call me back letting me know how I can buy one (whetherfrom them, or from another company).
Another PowerPage reader is also looking for these cards:
We are having trouble finding dealers that sell them. The few Lucent dealers that know what they are need to order them and want to sell them at the full retail price ($500 or $600, I think).Maybe some of your readers have suggestions on where we can find them?
We do know of one catalog reseller who is accepting orders for the WaveLan card. CDW has the Lucent WaveLan Turbo Silver for US$169.56, however it’s a ‘Pre-Order’ item, which means that they don’t know when they’ll get the cards. From what our readers tell us, there’s a huge demand for these cards and the wait will be 6-8 weeks before any end-users see these cards.
