Rating: 
Summary: Nice card, nice price
Review: To keep my small business network running, I've always tried to reduce costs where possible. Unfortunately, when it comes to network cards, using the lowest possible priced Ethernet card can be false economy.The Netgear FA311 is one of the only cards I've come across where oddball compatibility issues don't arise. With others, there's always an issue or two, however minor they may be. A D-Link card that prevents a home automation package from working. A Linksys card that conflicts with an online streaming video technology. I could go on. The Netgear costs just a few dollars more than these others, but is still well under the price of brands such as 3Com in most cases. For me, on all the machines I've tried, the FA311 installs quickly and easily, and works marvelously. I have only one caution: Windows 2000 users should download and have ready the latest drivers from the Netgear web site. Across two FA311 purchases, the drivers delivered on the packaged floppy had various problems (e.g., major packet loss). I'm used to doing that as a matter of course for the majority of driver-dependent computer goodies, so I didn't find it to be a hassle in this case.
Rating: 
Summary: FA311 for: Windows 9X = 5 Stars. Linux = 5 BROWN Stars.
Review: If you are a Windows 9X user connecting to a Cable/DSL connection, you really can't beat this card - Especially where price is concerned. I've had this card up and running on a Win98 machine for about 4 months now; with nary a glitch. However, there is one *big* caveat with this card that has to do with false advertising on Netgear's part. Netgear claims that this card is Linux compatible. If this is the case, then I would love to know what distribution of Linux they have running over there at Netgear. I have yet to come across a kernal that comes loaded with the drivers to support this NIC. After spending days sifting through usenet groups and downloading a supposed driver update from Netgear, I never got this card to work on my Linux box. If you're looking for a truely Linux-friendly NIC, try Netgear's FA310tx. Every major distribution of Linux comes loaded with the tulip driver needed to get that card up and running.
Rating:
Summary: Ethernet card works flawlessly at a great price!
Review: I have bought over 5 of these for home and office use. They work flawlessy and for the price you cannot beat the functionality. I was running Windows 95 or Windows 98 on all the computers. Setup was a snap. Just pop in the card to an empty slot. Then install the drivers from the floppy disk that comes in the package. Worked flawlessly everytime. I had no problems hooking up the ethernet card to a Linksys DSL/Cable Router, Netgear ethernet hubs, or a college dorm ethernet connection. Get this card and you will get the convenience of file and print sharing when used in conjunction with some sort of hub and windows network neighborhood. Anyone with little to no computer expertise can do this just by following the instructions. It may be a little difficult if you are scared of computers, but it can still be done. Just follow the pictures that come on the step by step setup foldout.
Rating:
Summary: Great performer on RED HAT LINUX 9.0 on a old pentium PC
Review: Great card.....Gave no problems with linux and a 6 year old
pc configuration. Like netgear for support with multiple
operating systems.....Linux, Windows, Unix.....
Rating: 
Summary: The worst network card ever
Review: I have had some NICs of questionable quality, but this card is a joke. I bought it almost a year ago, and it worked just fine for the majority of that time. Recently, it has made my system unstable and I blue screen several times a day while attempting to download. My advice: get a better card from a better manufacturer.
Rating: 
Summary: Great card (so far) - supports XP Pro
Review: I bought this card for ... after my previous RealTek card ... out...The package had a 'Supports Windows XP' sticker on it, but I was still happily surprised to see XP find it and welcome it without so much as asking for either the included driver disk or the XP disk. I'm on a dual-boot system with 98, and of course 98 was fine with it too - although I did have to go through the 'search for the best driver' rigmarole and use both the driver diskette and the 98 disk to get it going. Anyway, the card's looking good so far. I'd give it 5 stars, but I've only had it a day and, of course, Things Could Come Up.
Rating:
Summary: Stay away from NA311, can't say on FA311TX
Review: This is the closest area I could write about the Netgear FA311. You CAN'T use it. On a simple network with 3 computers and a SMC hub, it either locked my computer or made my computer reboot consistently. I thought it was conflicting with my modem - took that out and did no good. I thought maybe it was the hub. Just added Earthlink to the house with a Netgear RP614 Router (THAT ROUTER DEFINITELY ROCKS:)), the cable modem and the other 2 pcs and the card STILL locked up my pc. I replaced the card with an old 3COM Soho card - no problems. I had all 3 computers (2 win98 and 1xp home all with 3com network cards with a motorola cable modem) running with smooth sailing. If you need a good network card, try 3COM.
Rating:
Summary: Netgear - Avoid the FA311!!
Review: If you are planning on using the FA311 in a Win98SE Environment then DON'T - buy something better than this Fisher Price "My 1st network card". After 3 days I finally manage to get Win98SE to accept the drivers and the PC's to acknowledge each other, but connect to the internet and use the networked PC to download websites, or send email and the Netgear crashes and re-boots the pc! - then the card isn't even recognised anymore!!. Avoid this piece of junk - at least until Netgear learn how to write a reliable, easy to install driver!. What a relief to buy a competitors product and get the network up and running within minutes! - Netgear TAKE NOTE your competitors have the edge on you!.
Rating:
Summary: Warning: This card can crash you machine.
Review: The NetGear driver is faulty and under certain circumstances, the FA311 becomes overloaded. When it does this, it will turn itself off and back on. After turning itself back on, it will suffer the exact same failure and try to restart itself again. During the time it is off, Windows XP will freeze. If you use Windows XP Firewall, your computer will crash (blue-screen crash).
Rating:
Summary: Works as it should....
Review: Installed in a few minutes. Windows XP recognized it automatically. I didn't have to fool with installing any drivers. It just worked... Great product.
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