Rating: 
Summary: good product, bad standard
Review: I think it must be the fault of 802.11 that these things have such poor range. My stupid 900mhz cordless phone goes all the way to the neighbors house yet this thing won't go from the office to the living room (I could probably do infrared from the office to the living room) without losing 74% of its signal strength.That said it was easy to setup, though it didn't have DHCP capability, so required me to set an IP address and it would have been better if they had allowed me to configure it via the net rather than a USB cable since it's on top of a tall bookshelf on the end of a 50' net cable (to get range). But that said it's a pretty solid piece of hardware and works flawlessly within the confines of the standard.
Rating:
Summary: Easy Setup, Marginal Range
Review: I was able to set up this AP easily including WEP encryption using the admittedly limited documentation. Connecting to Cable Modem through a Netgear RP114 Router worked well. My client was a Casio E-115 Pocket PC with a Netgear MA701 CF card and I was able to connect to Internet first time. My issue, which eventually resulted in returning both items, was that I could not find a location for the AP that would allow a good connection everywhere within my house. I have a finished attic that I use as an office where the router is located, but putting the AP in two locations in the office still resulted in poor / no reception on first floor; a first floor AP location left me with no reception in the office. Finally pulled another hardwired location to a 2nd floor bedroom, and reception was marginally acceptable up and downstairs, but not on my back deck.
Maybe a different client card, maybe a marginal unit, who knows? I would recommend this for it ease of use and price for persons in small homes or requiring limited roaming capability.
Rating:
Summary: Easy Setup, Marginal Range
Review: I was able to set up this AP easily including WEP encryption using the admittedly limited documentation. Connecting to Cable Modem through a Netgear RP114 Router worked well. My client was a Casio E-115 Pocket PC with a Netgear MA701 CF card and I was able to connect to Internet first time. My issue, which eventually resulted in returning both items, was that I could not find a location for the AP that would allow a good connection everywhere within my house. I have a finished attic that I use as an office where the router is located, but putting the AP in two locations in the office still resulted in poor / no reception on first floor; a first floor AP location left me with no reception in the office. Finally pulled another hardwired location to a 2nd floor bedroom, and reception was marginally acceptable up and downstairs, but not on my back deck.
Maybe a different client card, maybe a marginal unit, who knows? I would recommend this for it ease of use and price for persons in small homes or requiring limited roaming capability.
Rating: 
Summary: Very nice; great performance and stability
Review: Nice unit; save yourself some time and download/install the latest Netgear drivers for both the AP and the MA402. The MA402 utils comes with a WEP passphrase option, but no go for the SNMP util. I downloaded the latest Linksys WAP11 SMNP utils which has this feature (look for it soon from Netgear). Very nice, using the passphrase I easily set up 128 bit WEP and am surfing from the sofa.
Rating:
Summary: Easy setup if you use Windows.
Review: Personaly, I use a linux box with 2 nic cards as my firewall/router/server. I didn't really need the wireless routers that are available so I opted for this simple access point that would add wireless capability to my home network. I was a bit worried about getting it installed on XP, but it went without a hitch. You have to say Yes to the unsigned drivers, but everything installed fine with no driver errors. However, you do need to configure this device from a Windows computer via USB. Once you configure the access point, you no longer have to have it connected via the USB. They should have put some documentation in the software, but it's pretty self explanatory. Don't forget to set the encryption to at least 64bit. Also don't forget to set the 4 keys! Just enter a bunch of numbers and write it down so you can then do the same thing on the pc connecting into the network.
Rating:
Summary: Easy setup if you use Windows.
Review: Personaly, I use a linux box with 2 nic cards as my firewall/router/server. I didn't really need the wireless routers that are available so I opted for this simple access point that would add wireless capability to my home network. I was a bit worried about getting it installed on XP, but it went without a hitch. You have to say Yes to the unsigned drivers, but everything installed fine with no driver errors. However, you do need to configure this device from a Windows computer via USB. Once you configure the access point, you no longer have to have it connected via the USB. They should have put some documentation in the software, but it's pretty self explanatory. Don't forget to set the encryption to at least 64bit. Also don't forget to set the 4 keys! Just enter a bunch of numbers and write it down so you can then do the same thing on the pc connecting into the network.
Rating: 
Summary: sent it all back
Review: Purchased the ME102, MA401, and the RP114. Ended up returning it all because we couldn't get it to work together. Customer support was awful... impatient and totally scripted. No room for any discussion. Ended up replacing this all with the SMC Wireless Broadband Router with 3-port switch and print server and had that up and running in 20 minutes!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Very technical
Review: Synopsis:
If you are looking for a simple plug-and-play solution, the ME 102 is NOT for you. The Bad:
I have called a technical support line once in the past four years (long time sys admin). I have been on the line three times with Netgear and still no resolution. This should be an indication of complexity. The "manual" included is a poster. A PDF setup manual (on CD) is only slightly better and simply does not explain the setup program options. I should qualify that setting up the access point as an open point (no encyption) is fairly straight forward for experienced wireless admins. The WEP tools are poor at best -- e.g., hexidecimal keys only (no pass phrase supported). Warning: Tech support seems to be outsourced to an offshore group and there are some language issues. The Good:
The unit does have good reception and output -- regularly connect at 11 Mbps even several dozen feet away from the access point in a "noisy" office. Connecting the unit is simple. The provided USB cable and CAT 5 cable are a nice bonus. Notes:
May not work well with the Dell TrueMobile 1150 wireless card used in Dell laptops -- WEP encryption is a problem.
Rating: 
Summary: Great product, bad documentation
Review: The good: The product is solid and works perhaps better than advertised. I have a 100 year old Victorian house. The AP is in the basement, the laptop with wireless Orinico Gold card is 2 floors up and running at 6 Meg. No interference, no loss of signal. When I am on the main floor it is rock solid at 11 Meg. (BTW: This house is FULL of electronics , wireless and otherwise.)
The bad: The documentation is so bad if you don't have networking experience you may be in over your head. Don't think for a minute that the Netgear website will help. The website has even less information than the included "flyer.". My recommendation is to set up the AP with no encryption or WEP to begin with. Get your Wirelss card and the AP talking first and make sure you can connect to the internet.
The do some research on setting keys and configuring WEP.
Rating:
Summary: Could not use
Review: There are several problems. Documentation is obviously the biggest but I am not sure if I ended up buying a defective piece. I have not been able to connect to the box using the SNMP manager. I have ensured that the IP that I assigned to it using the USB Manager is correct for my network but the SNMP manager wont find it. Nor can I ping it from another host on the LAN. So after two days of frustrating attempts I still dont have a wireless lan running and still no word from Netgear technical support. Next time ill buy a Netgear product only after a successful demo at the store.
| 
