Rating: Summary: WG511 great reception Review: In early 2003 I purchased a Netgear MR314 wireless hub and a MA401 card for my laptop. This router and card are built to the slower 802 11b standard. Recently I purchased a second laptop and wanted an additional card for the second laptop. Rather than buy an additional slower card I purchased the new WG511 wireless networking card (faster 802 11G standard) to be used with the slower hub. The new card is 'backward compatible' to the slower wireless router and has noticeably stronger reception than the MA401 card. The newer WG511 card allows me to take advantage of faster 802 11G wireless networks when travelling,and to use the card on my existing network when at home. Setup was seamless, and the price with the rebate is about good - other 802 11G cards are selling for around $20 more. Netgear products have proven to be consistently reliable and a good value for the $.
Rating: Summary: I hope you don't need tech support Review: While many people who have purchased this product were able to plug it right in and go, I actually had some problems in the setup of my Netgear Acccess point and this PC card. The technical support by Netgear is horrible. If you have any problems you are going to spend a long time on hold and then speak with technical support people who only know how to fix the basic items that can go wrong. At this point I was referred to second level support and told I would receive a call back in 24 hours. Over a week has passed and I haven't received the phone call. I've since purchased a Linksys wireless router and PC card and was able to connect right away.
Rating: Summary: Incompatible with Dell Dimension CPi Laptop Review: When I tried to install this network card in my Dell Dimension CPi, setup appeared to work fine, but then the icon in the system tray never appeared. Dell's awful BIOS doesn't allow you to change the IRQs that it uses, and this stupid card doesn't give you the chance to change its IRQ/Memory range settings as some cards do. Therefore, it is simply incompatible with my computer. The 20 minute wait for tech support was also very frustrating.
Rating: Summary: Awesome PC Card - Exceeds my expectations Review: Contrary to most people here, I don't use this network card in infrastructure mode (with an access point). I use it in ad-hoc mode (peer-to-peer) for connecting my laptop to a PC hooked up to the internet. I bought this WG511 card with an MA111 USB adapter acting as the "other" network card, which I take with me to my friends and relatives houses and even to different buildings at work. I just plug in the USB adapter to my friends or work PCs and I have a wireless network in minutes. Next time I go to that place, I don't even have to install any software and I am up in less that 20 seconds. Now this is a really "portable" wireless network that I take with me anywhere I go. No need for an access point. The range is excellent and I get good connection speed over many walls. Since I don't use an access point, my whole portable network cost me around [amount](the two networks cards). The WG511 has excellent speed and range, is easy to setup and use, and connects well with other vendor's cards and access points too.
Rating: Summary: Very hard to install Review: I just purchased the WG511 wireless card and have had great difficulty installing the card. I have a Compaq notebook computer running Windows XP and using a Netgear MR314 router. The card cannot make a connection with the router. I downloaded the latest drivers to no avail. This card is difficult to use with XP. I previously had a MA401 card and that card stopped working after 6 months. I am very disgusted with netgear products and support service. Service is essential and Netgear is lacking.
Rating: Summary: run, do not walk, run out and buy this card. Review: or just click the "Buy" button. :) This card performed very well in tests by ZDnet. The manual: clear and comprehensible. Signal strength: excellent. I can roam from my back fence to my neighbor's across the street, and never drop below 50%.
Rating: Summary: Easy install, great spead! Review: Works great in "Hot Spots" - always get a least 80% signal strength with 11Mbps conection, and in my home office with NETGEAR WG614 router/access point - within 50 metres 90-95% signal strength through 3 walls with 54Mbps connection! It's hot-swappable, good-looking and secure (128-bit encription) + WEP!
Rating: Summary: Excellent product Review: The installation is easy. This is a excellent product.
Rating: Summary: Excellent product Review: I'm a fan of netgear now. Ease of Use: 10 The range is unbelievable when combined with the Netgear WGR614 router. Unlike the linksys router that looks and weighs like a vcr with antennas, the WGR614 router is slim and sleek. Anyway, back to this card... all i can say is that it works! I'm in the basement and I have 78% signal strength! I don't know why they took down the picture, though. That's what this card looks like!
Rating: Summary: Worked the first time in! Review: I had purchased a DLINK DWL650+ card at first. However, after several evenings with this card and one hour with DLINK tech support I gave up. Funny thing is that the DLINK card is supposed to be talking to a DLINK DI-713P wireless router that I installed last year. I went to Fry's and asked two different beleagured sales associates which of the WiFi cardbus adapters brands they sold had the fewest returns. Independently, they both mentioned that Netgear had the fewest. So, although priced higher, I bit the bullet and got the WG511. No problems with installation and it worked the first time with a Compaq Amada M700 running Windows 2000 server version. I am definitely thinking more about using Netgear stuff.
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