Netgear MA521 802.11b Wireless PC Card

Rating:
Summary: Sets the standard.
Review: OK you have tried Linksys, now come try the best, Netgear. I have been using this card for a month now at T-Mobile Hot Spots such as Kinko's and Starbucks with no complications whatsoever. If you are operating under Windows XP Professional, installation of the card is as simple as "plug and play". Just put it in and go. Be sure to ignore the disclaimer about the operating system, everything works just fine if you let Microsoft Windows do what it's designed to do, and run the show. That way you will have one less driver software program to clutter up your hard drive. This is a must have product that sets the standard for its category.

Rating:
Summary: Works great - up to 500 feet
Review: Recently purchased this card in lieu of the MA401 by NETGEAR. Plugged it in & I was off & running!! Have it configured to a MR814 NETGEAR Router. I have the router upstairs & I can actually reach my deck on the first floor (about 500 feet away).. So now I can sit outside and "surf!" I highly reccomend this & the MR814.

Rating:
Summary: Dodgy driver install, but otherwise fine
Review: Several people have noted that Windows XP does not detect this card automatically. This is true. The trick is to install the latest drivers (from the web, not the CD), then insert the card. Of course this might be a chicken-and-egg kind of problem, since you need to have access to the web before you can install the card. I downloaded the driver on my Ethernet-connected desktop, burned it to CD, then installed it on my laptop. Then (and this is very important), I told the driver install program to let Windows manage my wireless networking. The built-in Windows XP wireless utilities work much better than the Netgear ones, especially if you have Service Pack 2.

Once everything's set up, the card works great, and drop-outs are usually attributable to the router or access point, not the card itself. Netgear just needs to write better drivers. Three-and-a-half stars overall, but Amazon doesn't let me assign half stars.

Rating:
Summary: Same card as the Linksys WPC11 v.4
Review: They changed the chipsets in these cards to Taiwanese Realtek chips. Where the Linksys WPC11 pre-v.4 was easy to install and was supported by AbsoluteValue systems' linux-wlan project, (http://www.linux-wlan.org/docs/wlan_adapters.html) the realtek chipsets are not. They are a real pain to configure now. If you want to run this card / chipset under Linux, look elsewhere ... like at the Netgear MA 401 which is supported by AVS.

Rating:
Summary: Do NOT use this card with Win98!
Review: This card is incompatible with Win98 SE, regardless of what the product listing says. I spent the past 55 minutes with Netgear tech support, with no resolution to the problem other than "contact Microsoft because their operating system isn't installing these drivers correctly." Pshaw! My prior Netgear card (MA401) worked fine on the same machine. This new model simply won't work with Win98 SE.

Rating:
Summary: Easy setup and strong signal
Review: This card was extremely easy to setup and linked up quickly. The signal is strong even across the house.

Rating:
Summary: Easy setup and strong signal
Review: This card was extremely easy to setup and linked up quickly. The signal is strong even across the house. Only while running the microwave do I ever lose the signal.

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: Great for the price
Review: We had problems with our Netgear wireless router, but this card has worked great in several hotels.

Rating:
Summary: Quick & easy wireless access for our laptop
Review: We'd just set up our wireless network using a Netgear MR814 router, and had one desktop computer plugged into the router via cable. Next step was to get my wife's Toshiba/WinXP laptop connected wirelessly to the network so that she could simultaneously roam house and net. The Netgear MA521 card slid right in, and the installation software was straightforward (including printed instructions to walk the uncertain user through each detail). Installation and configuration took maybe 15-20 minutes (and we're very slow and methodical about such things). Connection strength and speed throughout the house (typically 40-50 feet and 2 or three walls away from the router) is high. It's been a few weeks now, and we haven't had to touch card or configuration once since installation...