Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointed here....
Review: After reading several reviews at another site, I decided to give this a try... Setting up the Base Station (router)went like clockwork until it asks you to save your settings on the supplied floppy. The floppy wouldnt even work! I got an error screen saying that the floppy was incorrectly formatted and to use another...or print out your settings (which I did). No big deal, I figured. Everything went downhill from there! After loading the software for the wireless card and going through the setup for the wireless card, right toward the end, where it asks you to enter the WEP numbers that I wrote down, it kept giving me an error screen saying that the number was wrong! Well, after trying several times, I contacted customer support. Well, the first woman I talked to could barely speak any English...after 15 minutes of "pardon me", "excuse me" or flat out "huh"? (I couldnt understand her) we finally got to the point of her transferring me to another woman. Lordy, it must have been her cousin...her English skills were just as bad!THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS! After 1 1/2 hours on the phone, we got it working. It worked well for (3) days. Then the whole "kaboodle" quit working. After resetting it THREE times the router started working...but NOT the wireless part of it. Now I get a message on my laptop "no wireless group available". No way am I going through tech support again...this is getting returned!
Rating: 
Summary: Like Cake
Review: As a Wifi newbie and general Luddite, I was apprehensive about this technology. I'm running just one semi-ancient ultraportable Pentium III laptop with no Ethernet port, no internal CD/DVD drive, and only one PCMCIA slot. Nevertheless, I didn't have any problems setting this kit up. Installation was flawless: loaded the software, configured the adapter card and then set the router wirelessly from the laptop.Dunno if support's as lousy as everyone says, because I haven't had to use it in two months I've had this. No problems with interference, lost connections or other weirdness. Download speed is faster than my workplace LAN. Caveat: I live in a small apartment and am not running a bunch of wireless devices. YMMV. For the price, I'm pleased. It seems custom made for dummies like me.
Rating:
Summary: Like Cake
Review: As a Wifi newbie and general Luddite, I was apprehensive about this technology. I'm running just one semi-ancient ultraportable Pentium III laptop with no Ethernet port, no internal CD/DVD drive, and only one PCMCIA slot. Nevertheless, I didn't have any problems setting this kit up. Installation was flawless: loaded the software, configured the adapter card and then set the router wirelessly from the laptop. Dunno if support's as lousy as everyone says, because I haven't had to use it in two months I've had this. No problems with interference, lost connections or other weirdness. Download speed is faster than my workplace LAN. Caveat: I live in a small apartment and am not running a bunch of wireless devices. YMMV. For the price, I'm pleased. It seems custom made for dummies like me.
Rating:
Summary: Microsoft is getting out of Wifi business! Bad cust ser wil
Review: FYI. Microsoft is getting out of the Wifi business. So the lousy call service will get worse. They botched the g version loyally as they tried to design it instead relying on SMC like they did on b version. Result? LOUSY hardware! What the hell do they know about hardware anyway. As for calling them, I called and was greeted by someone in US and he promptly handed me to somebody in India and I swear I couldn't understand them (spoke to 2 people). Lousy hardware and service... AVOID AND GET REAL WIFI PRODUCTS FROM LINKSYS, NETGEAR, DLINK OR HOST OF OTHERS. PS - good riddance by unloading it on ebay.
Rating:
Summary: DON'T BUY IT
Review: I also purchased this based on the excellent customer support references. Those references must have been given before Microsoft sent their tech support overseas. On my first call I talked to two support people. They couldn't understand me and I couldn't understand them enough to tell what they wanted me to do. The second one kept saying "This is not a problem." It is. I'm sending it back.
Rating: 
Summary: Easy Install - Works Great
Review: I had a DLink wired router through which I connected my desktop (Gateway), Laptop (Dell) and IMac. I bought an IPAQ 4100 (built in 902.11b) and thought I might as well get onboard the wireless wave and try it out. I nervously tore the DLink out, followed the directions that Microsft sent with the unit and I was up and running in no time. I had a little trouble at first, but a quick call to Microsoft Network Tech support (free for two years with purchase of product)solved the problem. They just had me shut everything down, then resart everything. It all worked - the laptop through the included wireless network adapter, the IPAQ, and the Imac (wired). The shared printer took a little time to figure out, but that too is now up and running.
Great product. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Constant Loss of Wireless Connection
Review: I had no problems at all with the computers that were connected via wires to this router. The wireless connection, on the other hand, was HORRIBLE!!!! The signal strength was great throughout the entire house, but the connection would just drop (every minute or so) for no reason.
I was hoping the firmware update that the other reviewers mentioned would fix the issue, and unfortunatelly it did NOT. The connection just keep dropping. Hopefully there is a fix out there. If there isn't, I will be returning this kit. I will let you know how this turns out!!!!! EDIT-12/12/03. I found the issue. The channel I was using was the problem. I was using channel 5 instead of the default channel 6. Once I swichted it to channel 6 everything was fantastic (maybe something in my area was causing interference with channel 5 - there are no other visible wireless networks in my area). The signal strength was strong. I even tried blocking the signal as best as I could, but no matter what I did the signal remained strong and download speeds were unaffected. Its a great buy!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Buggy router firmware
Review: I had to return the router because the wired connection to my desktop dropped the internet connection every few minutes and I had to reboot the computer/dsl modem/router everytime to reset the connection. Apparently, this was a common problem of people who connected to the internet via PPOE. I do not understand how Microsoft delivered this product without proper testing; I guess it is just like their operating systems and other software: Just rush them out to the market and the fixes will follow.
The wireless PCMCIA card worked just fine, I must admit. But since I wanted a complete set of hardware, I returned both.
Rating:
Summary: Easy Set Up, Software Problems
Review: I mistakenly rushed to get the 802.11g kit from Microsoft because I liked what they'd done with the 802.11b notebook kit and wanted a higher data transfer rate on my wireless network. As usual, set up is a cinch. Installation and initial configuration takes about 5 minutes. I would like to have seen Microsoft provide some more advanced installation options like selecting non-default gateway IP address, a wizard for selecting which ports to forward, etc. Then the problems start. Basically, my network and internet connection drops every minute or so requiring a restart of both the router and my DSL modem. I've been through the manual a million times, nothing works!!! This is completely substandard considering that early reports showed the 802.11b kit suffered from similar problems. I've figured out that the problems are related to the firmware which the kit ships with. I hope Microsoft will come out with an update very soon, otherwise I'm returning this thing!!!! Wait to buy the 802.11g until they fix the bugs otherwise try the Linksys.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Wireless G Router!!
Review: I ordered the MN-820 from amazon for $129 w/ a $30 rebate. Just got it in hand 25 minutes ago and i'm already setup, updated and enjoying excellent signal strength all over my house. Very easy to set up. I am using an IBM laptop with win xppro and all went without a hitch. i also ordered the wireless xbox adapter but that order has not yet arrived. but if it's as easy to setup as the PC was, there should be no problems. excellent product.
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