Netgear EA-201C 10Mbps ISA Card and Adaptor

Rating:
Summary: works pretty well in Linux 2.4
Review: After much effort, I did finally get this card to work reliably with Linux. It is an ne2000 clone. I had to tweak a few settings (turn off Plug N Pray in the bios, specify interrupt and address space), but Slackware now has no problem with it - I just wish it was capable of 100BT.

Rating:
Summary: Great for File and Printer sharing
Review: I bought this product so that I could share one of my BW printers and to store my database of Cd's Movies, ect. So far it has been a reliable tool.

Rating:
Summary: Beware - did not work with Windows as claimed
Review: I consider myself a fairly knowledgeable person when it comes to PC's and networking. I have a Win 98 SE PC with only an ISA slot free. I tried and could not install this card successfully even after several attempts. Windows does not like the supplied Driver when installed in PNP (Plug and Play) mode. Tech support was unwilling to spend even 5 minutes on the phone and blamed it on Windows. Apparently this product has a problem with Windows! So what other OS is there, really!! They e-mailed me a set of long-winded instructions to install in non-PNP mode but I could not even get past a few steps (example, find and write down free IRQ's) and no, they won't guide you through this workaround on the phone. Windows crashed with the dreaded blue screen and I was unable to boot, even after uninstalling the card. Netgear's tech support bailed out saying that I would have to 'find a Windows expert' to fix the problem. Luckily I was able to fix the problem myself after several hours. Netgear's ad touts this product as 'This easy-to-install Netgear ISA network card will have you network compatible in no time. Its plug-and-play technology automatically configures the adapter'. How I wish there was some truth in that. It would be best to avoid Netgear if you can. Unfortunately, if you need an ISA card there aren't too many choices. My ...Netgear EA-201C 10Mbps ISA card is sitting there collecting dust...

Rating:
Summary: works pretty well in Linux 2.4
Review: The box claims the EA201C works with anything from an 8-bit XT and up. Many drivers are supplied, so theoretically the card is very adaptable. However, the card I received was fixed permanently in 16-bit mode and refused to work in an 8-bit ISA slot. Netgear tech support (in India, apparently) didn't know the first thing about their card or their setup software. They insisted this was a plug-and-play 16-bit card only, and they would provide support only for Windows. If that's not your setup, good luck.

Rating:
Summary: Not all it claims
Review: The box claims the EA201C works with anything from an 8-bit XT and up. Many drivers are supplied, so theoretically the card is very adaptable. However, the card I received was fixed permanently in 16-bit mode and refused to work in an 8-bit ISA slot. Netgear tech support (in India, apparently) didn't know the first thing about their card or their setup software. They insisted this was a plug-and-play 16-bit card only, and they would provide support only for Windows. If that's not your setup, good luck.

Rating:
Summary: Don't touch or buy this card
Review: The FA311 was shipped with the wrong drivers and would not install. I contacted the company said new of the error and would email the patch to make it work. I have been in the computer business for 20 years. I lost 1 1/2 hours at $125.00 and they said sorry.

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.