Rating: 
Summary: Easy setup on WinXP
Review: Setup took less than 5 minutes on WinXP Professional. I installed the drivers from the CD, plugged the MA111 into a USB port on my IBM ThinkPad laptop and it immediately got detected. I opened the icon from the system tray and saw that it was aware of my Linksys DSL router within range. I selected the encryption/WEP type and entered the passphrase to match those set for the Linksys router -- it's connected and I was on the Web!The signal strength wasn't very strong (40-45%) at 1 floor down & 2 rooms away (kitchen) from the router (den). Nonetheless, I was able to stay online without problems. I bought this form factor instead of PCMCIA card so that I can use it both on a laptop and desktop.
Rating: 
Summary: Great, especially with the 4 feet cord
Review: I'm a college student with a cheap ass roommate. And I use this on my Centrino laptop to extend the modem through the window to steal wireless internet that connects at 11 mb per second from my neighbors. W/O the cord this would not be possible as I would have to stand outside. Therefore, I love this product because I wouldn't even be on the web posting this message without it.
Rating:
Summary: Works fantasic for me!
Review: Just picked this product up a couple of hours ago together with the MA311 PCI card. Had absolutely no probs installing on XP, just followed the manual. This is my first attempt at home networking and have just set this up for ad-hoc mode to connect my laptop downstairs to my desktop PC upstairs. I have shared my ADSL connection on my desktop PC and am now writing this review, literally 2 hours later from my laptop!! Quality product from Netgear IMO. Don't let some of the reviews on here put you off, I read the reviews whilst waiting for my order to be shipped and was disappointed to see the mixed reactions, but this is one of the greatest value for money things I bought!
Rating:
Summary: Save some time, read this review
Review: I bought this product to go with my Netgear Wireless Router (MR814v2-truly plug and play). Given my positive experience with the router, I decided to go with Netgear again with this USB adapter. After an unsuccessful 30 minutes (something close to my attention span), I called Netgear support. The support guy took me through everything I'd already did, then he had an idea that the problem was with my TCP/IP. He directed me to my computer company's support line. I skipped the likely frustration (is e-machine even in business these days?) and added both a NetBui and a TCP/IP driver. I then uninstalled the netgear MA111 software. After a restart, I reinstalled the MA111 software and it worked immediately. Once it's up and running, it works great. None of the reviews of this or the previous model seem to dispute this. So good luck getting it going. Once you do, you'll be pleased.
Rating:
Summary: tricky for xp
Review: this adapter should come with a warning: "if you're using xp, do not install anything from the netgear cd!" with xp's own driver, it works like a charm. with the netgear driver and tool, it worked sometimes for me, but only when i was logged in as administrator, and only when i was using the netgear utility program, and even then it was kinda unpredictable. if you have already installed the netgear stuff - remove it with the uninstall tool that's in the folder. make sure you removed all files in c:\program files\netgear (or whereever you installed it). uninstall the driver for the device under wireless network -> properties -> ma111 / general -> configure -> driver -> uninstall. then unplug the usb adapter, reboot your computer, plug it in again, and just use the settings/driver that xp will come up with. now it works great for any user on the computer, and it's definitely a neat and cheap device!
Rating:
Summary: Works Great for the Price
Review: You can't beat this for the price. Be sure to update the driver or you might run into problems. When I first installed the adapter I had to restart my computer 2 to 3 times for it to be detected. After I updated the driver I have not had a problem since. I only use it over small distances (around 30 feet) so not sure how it works for larger distances. Either way if you want something cheap that works buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible Tech Support
Review: I found that my USB Adapter was dropping the connection consistently after 2½ minutes. Tech Support never answered the phone or even offered me a chance to leave a message. I finally emailed them only to receive a form response. To be honest, I was able to solve the problem after wading (hit or miss) through the largely incomprehensible email. I am good with computers but ignorant about networks. I spent hours getting this to work.
Rating:
Summary: Unstable - the worst piece of hardware I have
Review: I experienced what many users here also experienced. My MA111 is a pain in the back. Bought it after better experience with a MA101 but could not buy another MA101 - so I bought the first available one from my local store without looking at reviews. What a mistake!
First my Win XP machine started rebooting time after time. After I upgraded the driver of the MA111 from 1.1 to 2.0 the machine is no longer crashing uncontrolled but I get breakdowns of the wireless conection by the dozen a working day. Intollerable! I did not buy mine at amazon - so I cannot return it for a refund.
Rating:
Summary: this thing crashed my windows
Review: I installed this device and when I rebooted, my Windows was NEVER able to run again. I had to reinstall EVERYTHING. This is truly a piece of junk. Wasted hours and hours of my life. And now I'm not using it. Yeah, really good deal. I paid big bucks so that I can not use it and have it trash everything. Genuine garbage.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't work as promised
Review: I installed the CD, and I couldn't get the wireless connection to happen at all, much less have problems after it. It also doesn't help when the documentation just assumes you'll be connected right away. It didn't happen. I'm still not connected. I tried configuration without the CD. Windows configuration is total junk. 2.0 MBPS and pretty much can't get half-descent signal. It's a shame this "reputable" company produced something like this. I've had experience with generic brands that just outperform this thing. Easily. No contest. They work great and are easy to setup. This is like....doesn't work.
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