Rating: 
Summary: Mac Airport to PC User
Review: My setup isn't the most complex nor the simplest in the world with a Apple iBook (Airport inside) connecting to a IBM Thinkpad with XP on it. After plugging the card into the IBM, it found the drivers (version 2.0) automatically and that was it! It just worked. My only problem was getting Windows XP to understand that it was talking to a Mac and getting 'Computer to Computer' enabled in XP. Once done, it worked like a dream with connection speeds staying at 11Mb/sec and signal strength at 'Good' with a distance of about 60 feet through a floor and 2 walls. I managed to back up my Mac to the PC in about 1 hour wirelessly, cool!Critisms are hard to find but if I were to be overtly critical, some guidance from NetGear on how to setup the SSID, WEP and Sharing aspects of Windows (these are spread all over the place in Windows). Admittedly this information is available on the web but if you cannot connect to the web, how can you locate these resources. One observation with the one or two of the other reviews here is that the majority of problems people get into is the Win2K or XP configuration and not NetGear's fault. The NetGear Ma401 worked within 30 seconds of plugging it in - and once plugged in it is faultless. I would recommend this product to anyone and buy it again without hesitation.
Rating: 
Summary: A breeze to set up and use
Review: The card works just fine. The real-world operational range of Netgear's MR314 router/MA401 PC card product package, though, is quite limited. I have a 1960's house with relatively thin walls. When I take my laptop from the bedroom with the router into a bedroom 20 feet down the hall, my signal strength and throughput speed drop to "poor." When I go into an open living room 40 feet away but around one corner, the signal similarly degrades. In summary, performance is reliable, but the operational range of the Netgear "system" is limited, probably due to the router.
Rating:
Summary: good card once you get it working
Review: I had some difficulty with the MA401 but once I got it working everything worked smoothly. Initially it worked fine but around 6pm (when my neighbor's came home) it suddenly turned red and stopped working.
Basically my neighbour's 2.5 GHZ cordless phone interfered with the connection. Customer service did not know how to fix it (why I gave it 4 stars). I changed the channel from 01 to 04 in the Wizard setup of the Wireless router (netgear MR314) and that fixed the problem. Since most cordless phones are set to 01 I think the default for the router should be something different.
...my download speed has been around 1 Mbps. The signal strength has been close to 100% thru walls and ceiling.
Rating:
Summary: works great....
Review: this item works great...absolutely pleased with its performance..installation was a snap...initial contact with my wireless router was a little challenging..had to call the help desk at Netgear for assistance...I got hold of someone who could hardly speak English..finally worked through the issues. The instructions do not cover initial contact with a wireless router.
Overall, I am very satisfied with this product.
Rating:
Summary: Great Product!
Review: Works perfect with my Netgear MR314 router. Great signal reception/transmission. I have had a few problems on Win98 with the software at shutdown. Mainly I have to tell Windows to cancel the program at shutdown. I haven't looked for a software upgrade at the Netgear web site yet so I guess it hasn't made me that mad. In all I'm just happy to be wireless at 128 encryption with no slowdowns from connectivity. Best bang for your buck!
Rating:
Summary: Works well but configuration software needs more features
Review: I bought this card together with a Linksys WAP11 and everything worked flawlessly. I am getting about 120 feet range throug about three walls which is kind of what I expected. One feature netgear forgot to implement however, is the ability to have separate profiles for the card, so that I can use it on several wireless network: one profile for home, one for work and one for the local coffee house. Each have different SSIDs and differen encryption pass phrases.
Rating:
Summary: Works Great
Review: It works great from inside my roll top computer desk downstairs to my D-link DI-713p router upstairs. The only issue was installing the driver in Windows XP. The driver that comes with the card won't install.
Rating:
Summary: Works Great
Review: I am using this with the MA301 PCI adapter. It works great with my D-Link DI-713p wireless router. Even from inside my rolltop computer desk downstairs to the router upstairs. The only issue I ran into is the driver it comes with won't install correctly on windows XP Pro. If you go to the Netgear website and download this driver everything installs and works fine.
Rating:
Summary: This card works well
Review: I spent a lot of time reading the reviews about wireless access points, wireless routers and wireless network cards. I finally decided on the Linksys router and the Netgear MA 301/401 interface card. So, here's the deal. I have a PII-400 running Win98 that is connected to the router using Cat 5 cable, which is then connected to a cable modem. For those of you who don't know, Cat 5 cable is simply the standard ethernet cable. I then installed the MA 301/401 combo on another computer, a Packard Bell PII-233 running Win95. Unfortunately Win95 had an IRQ conflict with the PCI card (MA 301) that could not be resolved. I installed Win98 and the IRQ conflict disappeared. After getting the Packard Bell system set up, the MA 301/401 would not link up with the Linksys router. I called Netgear tech support and discovered that the SSID on the card must be identical to the SSID on the router. I discovered that the Linksys SSID was "linksys" and the SSID on the card was "Linksys." When I changed the "L" to an "l", the card connected to the router immediately and I was in business. The Packard Bell machine is on the 2nd floor of my townhouse and the Linksys router is in the basement. The signal, therefore, is passing thru 2 floors and 2 walls. The link quality and signal strength are consistently in the "good" category and sometimes they are "excellent." These are qualitative measures reported by the Netgear card's software. As for performance, I downloaded a 19MB file off Microsoft's web site and it took less than 5 minutes via the wireless connection. I have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive about buying the Linksys router. The reviews are mixed and some people have totally trashed it. I decided to give it a try, figuring that I would return it if it didn't work well. The same thing for the MA301/401 card; some loved it and some hated it. I was also concerned that having a router and card from different manufacturers would cause problems. It turns out that I didn't need to be concerned at all because both pieces are working perfectly. Contrary to what others have said, my connection has not been lost and it takes only a few seconds to establish the wireless connection on startup. I have found that the documentation provided with both items was adequate. However, I wish each of them would have mentioned the importance of having the same SSID on the router and the card. I have not talked with Linksys tech support, but the two calls to Netgear went well. Things to watch out for: 1)The Netgear MA 301, which is the PCI card that plugs into the desktop computer must be used with the Netgear MA 401 wireless PC card. This PC card will also fit in a laptop. 2) As I mentioned, the SSID must be the same on both pieces of hardware. 3)I have not activated the WEP encryption so I have no idea how it will affect performance. The bottom line: I highly recommend the Linksys BEFW11S4 V.2 router and the Netgear MA 301/401 interface card.
Rating:
Summary: simple
Review: Using Netgear card with Linksys wireless router. Took me less than 30 minutes to set both up. Totally worth the investment. I chose to mix vendors bc I heard the Linksys card was a nightmare to configure.
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