Rating: 
Summary: Not a Problem
Review: The HE102 is a great product that meets all of the expectations of 802.11a technology. Contrary to some other reviews here, this product does indeed work through walls, and work well! I am currently writing this on my laptop (with a netgear adapter) about 60 feet, one floor, and about 3 walls away. The utility shows about 18 MBPS transmit and 24 MBPS receive. Contrast that with the prior 802.11b system I also use that works at around 2-3 MBPS. The difference is that interference from our cordless phones do not kick off the signal randomly. Set up about 3 weeks ago and not one disconnect.Ensure that you set up the infrastructure properly. The WAP setup screen defaults the NETID name to blank. Most adapters default to, oddly enough, "default". If you are having problems getting more that about 10 feet away, double check this.
Rating:
Summary: Another great Netgear product that meets expectations!
Review: The HE102 is a great product that meets all of the expectations of 802.11a technology. Contrary to some other reviews here, this product does indeed work through walls, and work well! I am currently writing this on my laptop (with a netgear adapter) about 60 feet, one floor, and about 3 walls away. The utility shows about 18 MBPS transmit and 24 MBPS receive. Contrast that with the prior 802.11b system I also use that works at around 2-3 MBPS. The difference is that interference from our cordless phones do not kick off the signal randomly. Set up about 3 weeks ago and not one disconnect. Ensure that you set up the infrastructure properly. The WAP setup screen defaults the NETID name to blank. Most adapters default to, oddly enough, "default". If you are having problems getting more that about 10 feet away, double check this.
Rating: 
Summary: poor technical support
Review: The User's Guide for this product says "estimated setup time
is 10 to 15 minutes." It took me over 10 hours to get this
system to work in conjunction with a Netgear Wireless PCI
Adapter. I had to hire a network expert to get it to work. Do not expect help from Netgear's technical support if you
buy this product. Long hold times await you if you call them.
If you post a question via e-mail, you will receive a useless
response. When I tried to call technical support, I was on hold for 30
minutes then disconnected. Then I posted my questions to
technical support via e-mail. In response, I received an 11
character to tracking number "To help us provide you with the
best possible service, please refer to this number with all
correspondence or if you call Customer Support regarding this
matter." I wrote back asking for help, not a tracking number. This
time the response said "Use the following link to view the case
on-line:", followed by a link back to Netgear's web page. Upon
clicking on the link, however, I was denied access to the very
link provided by technical support. After much trouble shooting, we found and corrected the
problem that precluded this device from working. The problem was
that an ethernet card in the PC conflicted with the companion
product, the Netgear 802.11a Wireless PCI Adapter. The ethernet
card had priority over the wireless card. Removing the ethernet
card solved the problem. Nothing in the User's Guide alerted us
to this potential problem. Had technical support been any good, I would not have lost
10 hours in getting it to work. The equipment works well,
but the inclination is not to mess with it once you get it
working. In spite of the terrible technical support that I
received from Netgear, I reluctantly give this product 4 stars.
Once installed and configured, it works as advertised.
Netgear loses a star for unacceptable technical support.
Rating:
Summary: Netgear Equals Superb Service
Review: This holiday season I was a good santa and purchased numerous wireless networking products for my various family members. Sure it was partially a selfish act as I wanted to be able to easily connect when I went to visit, but for the most part it was just an act of giving. I purchased mainly G products and they varied from routers to USB adapters to PC Card adapters. I did also purchase a couple of B products for those in the family that already had some wireless networking products (yes, I know they are backwards compatible but I didn't want to take any chances).
Only two members of the family had installation problems (considering my family is very non-technical I was quite impressed) and those two people both had yet to upgrade to Windows XP SP2. The rest of the family members were up and running within minutes.
As for the couple of family members that did have problems, well they called me first (of course) and I told them to just run back through the installation procedure again. This solved the problem for Uncle Dennis but Grandma Joyce still couldn't get it to work properly. I reluctantly told her to call Netgear's technical support (hey the reviews on Amazon haven't been too pretty for their tech support). I however was quite pleased when an hour later I got an email from Grandma Joyce thanking me for the great gift. I called her back and she told me that after fiddling with the settings with the Netgear people she was up and running within 30 minutes.
Overall, I consider this the ultimate test of product quality and support and I would give Netgear two thumbs up.
I hope this review was helpful to you in putting your mind at ease regarding ease of setup and trust of technical support if needed.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to use, still not up to 802.11b range though.
Review: This system was EASY to install. Basically, you plug it in and it broadcasts. It's speed level is fantastic. However, I found that its range was not nearly as good as with my SMC 802.11b system. I am still glad I bought this product, but it is shocking to me that the system doesn't always get good reception from but one room away (It works, but not always particularly well). I should mention how the system works speedwise. It's speeds are significantly higher than the 802.11b, but there is more of a lag. So, you might go to a website, get a slight lag where nothing shows up on the page, and then boom... it all appears instantaneously. I am sure that some of this delay is because I've created another point for data to go through - I am using this system through my SMC barricade. The Netgear HE102 does NOT have a firewall built into it, and so you should really should route this system through one for added security. So, should you buy and use this? Yes and no, depending upon your set-up. NO: If you live in a big home where you don't have to worry about outside disturbances (ie multiple microwave ovens and 2.4 gig phones.) In this situation go with 802.11b for the greater range at a lower price. YES: If you need to move massive amounts of data though your network. 802.11a is MUCH faster when it works, and you do notice the difference with larger files. YES: If you live in a high density area such as a condominium were you have to worry about interference from your neighbors. This netgear system will bypass most interference since it operates at a higher frequency, and the lessend range actually becomes an advantage since it means you are less likely to get interference from other 802.11a systems as well.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to use, still not up to 802.11b range though.
Review: This system was EASY to install. Basically, you plug it in and it broadcasts. It's speed level is fantastic. However, I found that its range was not nearly as good as with my SMC 802.11b system. I am still glad I bought this product, but it is shocking to me that the system doesn't always get good reception from but one room away (It works, but not always particularly well). I should mention how the system works speedwise. It's speeds are significantly higher than the 802.11b, but there is more of a lag. So, you might go to a website, get a slight lag where nothing shows up on the page, and then boom... it all appears instantaneously. I am sure that some of this delay is because I've created another point for data to go through - I am using this system through my SMC barricade. The Netgear HE102 does NOT have a firewall built into it, and so you should really should route this system through one for added security. So, should you buy and use this? Yes and no, depending upon your set-up. NO: If you live in a big home where you don't have to worry about outside disturbances (ie multiple microwave ovens and 2.4 gig phones.) In this situation go with 802.11b for the greater range at a lower price. YES: If you need to move massive amounts of data though your network. 802.11a is MUCH faster when it works, and you do notice the difference with larger files. YES: If you live in a high density area such as a condominium were you have to worry about interference from your neighbors. This netgear system will bypass most interference since it operates at a higher frequency, and the lessend range actually becomes an advantage since it means you are less likely to get interference from other 802.11a systems as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Works in a straight line
Review: While this product works as advertised, I'll be returning it today. The problem is that there must be a DIRECT line-of-sight connection between the wireless access point and the wireless adapter. I couldn't make a connection if I was one room away, or sometimes even if there was a screen door and 15 feet between my notebook and the wireless access point. Forget using it on another floor of your house or out in the yard. If you can't see the antenna on the base unit your laptop will not be able to connect.
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