Netgear WG311 54 Mbps Wireless PCI Adapter

Rating:
Summary: forget Netgear; go check out Linksys
Review: I purchased this adapter instead of the Linksys PCI Adapter because it was cheaper. Big mistake. In addition to having a painfully awkward setup and installation process, it just plain didn't work. When I called Netgear's (outsourced) tech support, they were functionally useless as well. They were unfriendly at best and downright hostile at worst.

I can't comment on Linksys's tech support, mostly because I've never needed it. In addition to a wireless router I've purchased from them, the PCI adapter I bought works great. Don't be a skinflint here. Buy a Linksys product now; otherwise, you'll just end up buying one later.

Rating:
Summary: Don't download Service Pack 2 yet !!!!!!!!!
Review: Product works great on Service Pack 1, but I downloaded updates for XP and SP2 came up so I went ahead and downloaded it. Then I couldn't connect back to the network, regardless of what I did. Did some research and found I wasn't the only one, so I am uninstalling SP2, don't need it anyway with a wgr624 that has a firewall in it anyway. Good luck

Rating:
Summary: Works great with Win2k
Review: Purchased with a WGR614 router; works great in an Athlon 64-based system with MSI motherboard (this is the v2 version of the WG311 with the TI chip). Downloaded latest drivers for WPA-PSK support.

Installed a WG311T at the neighbors two weeks ago in a new Dell P4; also working very well, with high (around 80%) signal strength through two floors, a couple of desks, a drop ceiling, and flourescent lighting. Much better reception than my previous 802.11b solutions (D-Link DWL-120 and Orinoco Silver cards).

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: Poor documentation. Incompatible with Windows XP
Review: This is not a card that you can install out of the box. You have to carefully read the one-page documentation provided. The steps included do not tell you what to do in response to various dialogs that pop-up. At the end of the install, a dialog box that recommends us to disable windows XP wireless configurator shows up with yes and no buttons. Pressing either of them reboots the machine. This does not go away on repeated reboots. There is no way to get out of this mode except to uninstall the software while the dialog box is still showing. A half baked product.

Rating:
Summary: Best 54G PCI card around
Review: This is the best. I have read many reviews and talked to friends who have returned Microsoft, DLink and Linksys. PC World just rated netgear on top for Dec 03. It took about 20 minutes of tinkering to get working with XP Pro on one box and XP Home on another. Make sure you turn off XP firewall, that was the reason I couldn't share files and printer at first.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Adapter
Review: This was my first time around with wirless connections and I chose NetGear from reputations I heard from many others. I use this card with my netgear wirless router and am very satisfied. My only suggestion is if you are new to wirless or more of a novice computer user that you connect to your router (if new)with a cable connection. Out of the box and trying to log onto your wirless connection first thing can be a little frustrating if there are any minor problems. Don't let this technology fool you, once you play with it, it is really easy and a great setup. Just make sure you purchase compatable parts (I would suggest same name brand for best performance) and that they are "g" or "g and b" compatable. Don't purchase just 802.11b setups, 802.11g is only a little more now and well worth the money. The future wireless networks will only improve and you will find less support and more problems in the future with 802.11b only setups.

Rating:
Summary: Great Range!
Review: This was my first wireless network card i bought and i am very happy with it. I dont know what all the other customers are complaining about ive had no problems what so ever. It was so easy to set up! As soon as installed the card and driver i was connected straight away! This also has great range, having my router (WGR614) set up down stair in bottom conner of my house and the WG311 all the way upstair in the utmost conrner room i still am able to get a strong signal. 48Mps on average.
i highly reccommend this product to ppl who are just getting into wireless networking or even already avid users because this was so easy to setup and trouble free.

Rating:
Summary: Card was defective VERY poor support dept.
Review: Would rather give it a zero star if they had one. Installed the card with the ver.2 drivers. Card worked for a few hours then started switching on and off about every 30 seconds. After about 5 calls and to tech support over in India and 20 hours of playing around I gave up and bought a Linksys card it works great. Netgear should look at what Linksys does for Tech support. Would never think of buying another Netgear product.