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Netgear MA521 802.11b Wireless PC Card

Netgear MA521 802.11b Wireless PC Card

List Price: $48.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Despite clunky software, excellent card
Review: After several experiences with cheaper wireless cards, this NetGear is finally the one. I purchased and passed along wireless cards from Adaptec, SMC and Gigafast, which in one way or another were lacking; their software was not working well (SMC), connectivity was not too great (Adaptec) and the updated Windows XP driver just killed the card outright (Gigafast). I decided to spring for a more expensive card and got the MA521 and it is the best so far. It cooperates well with my Adaptec access point, reception working well across my 3 bedroom apartment. Its management software could be better, but all in all it works great.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good Wireless Netgear MA521
Review: At first it will now work on my Compaq Armada 100s 550MHZ AMD K6 (June 2000) 16bit card bus with Win98 (not SE) giving out " NDIS.VXD NTKERN.VXD device loader for this device could not load the device drive {code 2)" error and exclamation mark under device driver. I suspect it to be either the previous PCMCIA LAN Card I used and interfering with this new wireless hardware or the anti-virus program. I have no time to find out. So I reload my laptop with a clean install of Win98SE (SE this time). This time it works and no more code 2 errors. It averages 85% signal strength and 85% link quality thru walls and close doors.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Very poor signal quality
Review: Do not buy this item if your signal is not all ways excelent.
I have prevously owned the two older versions of the netgear 802.11b pci cards and both were much better than this one.
Only buy this item if you want a small compact card and you have an excelent signal quality.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Absolutely superb!
Review: Found the MA521 in my Christmas stocking, installed the driver software in my Dell Inspiron 7500 and went to the local public library's WiFi hotspot, planning on spending some time configuring things. I was pleasantly surprised to see that no tweaks of any sort were required. Both browser and email came right up. I don't know what the range is, but it worked flawlessly throughout the building. When anything is this plug-and-play, I figure it deserves five stars!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Happy in Houston
Review: Have used this card for a week and no dropped connections. Works great in my small two story townhouse. Setup took maybe 30 minutes and I'm a novice. I have a Dell 1100 computer and a D-Link 714P+ router and so far everything is working well together. I thought the Netgear setup guide was good-helped me understand things about the router I didn't get from D-Link.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excelent buying option!!
Review: I bought some time ago NETGEAR MR814 802.11b 4port ROUTER and I have finally bought this item to complete my wireless home network. It has not dessapoited me: excelent presentation, easy installation and configuration. Good signal power (could be better indoors). For security reasons I have chosen one with 128 bit encryption and same brand as my router. Next time I will get USB/PCI wireless network adapter.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Nice range; limited support
Review: I bought the whole deal - 2 wireless Neatgear MA 521 PC cards for our 2 laptops and the FM114P.
I am quite pleased, so far, with how it works (granted I've only been using it for a week).

The cards were the easiest thing to deal with. No problems there.

BUT - if you're using Windows XP, be prepared to figure out any problems by yourself. The support staff, via the web, could only quote the manual for me.

HINT: if you are using the FM114P with Windows XP, DISABLE the XP firewall in the Network settings. Your computer won't be able to find the Printer Port on the FM114P, otherwise.

You're not going to need that Firwewall, anyway. The router IS a firwewall. I used to get upwards of 30-40 potentially harmful inbound events registered on my Personal Firewall software before using the Neatgear router. Now, I'm surprised if I see 3 to 5 (even with XP's Firewall shut off).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Love this card! !!
Review: I bought this card after having lots of problems with a linksys card. I have a dell laptop and I'm running Windows XP Home. The linksys card had poor signal strength and repeatedly dropped signals, even if seated next to the router. This netgear card is phenomenal. The signal hasn't been dropped yet and I have a signal throughout my house (4000 sq. ft.) and outside! Avoid the linksys card and buy netgear! I can't say enough good things about this card. I love it!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Compatabilty Problems
Review: I bought this card and after installing the drivers, Windows XP could not recognize the card. When I talked to Netgear customer support they told me the card was defective and I should return it. I sent the card back to Amazon and Amazon quickly sent a new card to me (Amazon was great about the whole thing.) After going through the whole process with the second Netgear card, that card didn't work either. I ended up installing a Linksys card and it works great.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Very poor implementation; install hairy and hardware is poor
Review: I bought this card at Best Buy for $... after rebates. Good deal. However, the first card I brought home had a very variable signal. Walk onto my porch, 15 feet away which has a line of sight through a window, and the signal droped. Called NetGear support and they told me that while this product is using inferior Texas Instruments hardware, it should have gotten a better range than that. So, I exchanged it. Same problem.

As a result, I'm taking the 2nd level support guy's suggestion and buying the MA401. I recommend you do the same.


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