The Microsoft wireless notebook networking kit comes with a wireless base station and wireless PC Card adapter. The kit makes it easy to add a notebook computer to your 801.11b network. Share a broadband connection by connecting to the base station, share files and printers with other computers on your network, and play games with multiple players on the Internet.
The wireless notebook adapter comes with an easy-to-use setup wizard, designed to make connecting your computers easier. It has strong security features, including 128-bit wireless WEP security, and support for 802.1x standards. The Microsoft broadband network utility makes it easy to monitor your network status.
The base station also features an easy-to-use setup wizard. The router comes with strong security features, including a built-in firewall, Network Address Translation (NAT), and access control lists. The 4-port router easily connects to your network using universal plug-and-play technology to allow voice messaging, video messaging, games, and more. You can also monitor your network status easily with Microsoft's broadband network utility.
System requirements include: a computer running Windows 98, 98 SE, 2000 Professional, Me, or XP Home or Professional editions; Internet Explorer 5.0 or later (setup will install Internet Explorer 6.0 browser components, if necessary, but will not displace your primary browser); 28 MB of available hard disk space if you already have Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6.0 (132 MB of available hard disk space if you are installing Internet Explorer for the first time); a 4x or faster CD-ROM drive; and a VGA or higher-resolution monitor.
Now you can share a broadband Internet connection, files, and printers between a desktop and a notebook computer. Wirelessly. Effortlessly. Go from room to room - or even outside - without losing your Internet connection. Share a single broadband Internet connection with all the computers in your home or small office. The Microsoft Wireless Notebook Kit includes everything you need to setup a secure 802.11b wireless network between a desktop and a notebook computer. The kit includes a Microsoft Wireless Base Station and a Microsoft Wireless Notebook Adapter. The easy-to-use Microsoft setup software makes it easy for you to connect multiple wired and wireless computers in your home or small office to the Internet through a single broadband connection, such as a cable or DSL modem.
1 Great
This Router Is A Great Buy I Would Never Give it Up For Any Other Router AND NO I DONT WORK FOR MICROSOFT. Ha But The Card And The Router Works Fine With Me There Was No Problem Setting It Up Or Anything Like That Its Was A Great Purchase. And The One Problem I Did Had Was Well After I Set It Up And Microsoft Support Worked Fine And Helped me Fix In In About 10 mins. If Your Looking For A Good Router And A Card This Is The One
2 Not Good
Anyone who rates this a 5 must work for microsoft. The wireless card is ok, but the router is absolutley worthless. I never could get the installation software to work with my windows 98 operating system. I had to configure it manually. Then the router would have to be reset 2 to 3 time a day. So when I tried to upload a software update sent by microsoft online, the router stopped working and would not even reset. I had mine for over 90 days, so when I asked microsoft for help, they wanted a service fee. So much for microsoft products. I went out and bought a Linksys router. It installed in 5 minutes. I threw the microsoft router away. I sleep better at night now.
3 Great Price, Great Gadget
Here in Pakistan, technology is just coming up. Networking is common but wireless networking is just round the corner. Brand new D-Link/Linksys equipment is available but quite expensive. An Access Point/Router with a laptop PCMCIA card (802.11b) costs about $160 here. So purchasing this Microsoft kit for only $39.88 was peanuts. Setting it up was a breeze! And in no time I was up and about, surfing the web (broadband connection) on my Acer laptop. I was in a state of ecstasy, roaming in different parts of my home with my laptop and browsing the web. I heard about it but experiencing for the first time myself was a feeling out of this world. NO WIRES OR CABLES but full web access everywhere!!!
Nobody believes me that I have made this wonderful purchase for such a good price.
4 This is an amazing product
I ordered mine one month ago and I am just fascinated with this product. I can share a broadband connection across my flat and I even connected my Pocket PC to the network.
I highly recommend this item. Is cheap, is reliable and is easy to setup. Just don't forget to get the firmware update and install it before you start connecting computers to the network.
5 Better than expected performance
Though configuring (particularly the PC-Card) took more time than I expected, when finished I realized the excellent performance and ease of use of the pack. I got really happy for the value of my purchase.
6 try netgear instead
I tried this despite the mixed reviews. If you value your time at all, I would say buy Netgear instead. I wasted hours with this before sending it back. I think there is a reason why the price on this thing is dropping. I think Microsoft owes an apology for the quality of this product
7 Very limitted
I just received and set up this unit. First let me say setup was very easy and painless.
The product works, I now have a notebook that operates wirelessly.
That is about the extent of my praise. One major drawback for me is the limitted distance. This isn't a complaint about this product so much as it is a complaint about wireless routers/base stations in general.
What makes it such a problem with this product is that as far as I can tell there is no way to increase the range. Products like the "Cantenna" won't attach to the basestation or PC card whereas most units such as Linksys do.
Also, the wired PC connected to the router now has apparent DNS issues. When visiting a web site I frequently get the old IE Cannot find server message. Refreshing 1-10 times fixes the problem, but it is now a persistent problem. I have disabled my software firewall so that isn't the problem.
If I was to do it again (and I may return the unit) I would go with Linksys simply because they are a dominant player, their products have good 3rd party support and they seem to work well.
8 great replacement for my SMC router
I had an SMC 2404WBR barricade turbo wireless router/notebook card, and it was a pain in the ass from day one. took a whole day to finally get it working, and many other days in this past year trying to keep it working. The SMC router also woulnd't work with my dad's new Dell axim X3i PDA, so that's why I bought this one. Had this router set up and installed and the notebook card installed in less than 30 minutes, and my dad's Axim works PERFECTLY. i love this router already, and it looks damn good and is small and compact. A+++ good job microsoft.
9 Use a good channel!!!
I made the mistake of using channel 5 when I first set up this router. I got an excellent signal, but I would loose my wireless connection every minute for no reason. Then I decided to try the DEFAULT CHANNEL 6 and it has been working great ever since.
Thanks Amazon and Microsoft for a great deal on a great product.
10 Easy to Install
I was so proud that I did this one myself! I hooked it up to a wired Linksys router as a WAP for my XP laptop. Total installation time to get everything working was about 25 minutes. I have a two-story home and the base unit is in the laundry room in the basement. I can sit on my bed in the furthest corner of the top floor and get an excellent quality signal. I can't believe it was so easy and affordable with this kit.
11 Boy, was this easy!
I bought this to allow my wife wireless access to our DSL internet line; she has my old laptop running Win98 and I just bought a new desktop with XP Pro. I nosed around and considered some Linksys components, but after reading the reviews here on the Microsoft system I went ahead and got it. Installation was very easy and it worked first time.
Following the recommendations of some other users here, I went ahead and downloaded the updates for the base system during installation, but it installed without a hitch, and putting the notebook adapter on the laptop (a Dell Inspiron 7000 running Win98) was a snap. The Microsoft installation CD has you put the network information on a floppy, so you don't even need to write down or remember any network addresses; when you install the adapter on the notebook, it just takes that information off the floppy.
I have a low frustration threshold and I'm not real comfortable with installing and configuring stuff like this, so I was a little worried, but it all went very smoothly, so a few days later I bought a USB adapter for my other, even older, desktop so my kids could access the DSL line while on it. It was just as easy and works just as well. I have to give this product the 5 star thumbs up.
12 Great Product
Like many out there, I was biased by the fact that this is a Microsoft system. Throughout the years, I too have grown to greatly dislike anything from Microsoft. Man, was I shocked with this product! Everything works flawlessly.
I first purchased the Linksys wireless kit, but it gave me the same problems everyone else was saying, "no signal range, and the support is terrible." When I called Linksys customer support, someone from another country basically was typing every question I said into a search engine, and was then reading the screen. They appeared to have absolutely no technical knowledge. After several hours of tech support (long hold times), I immediately brought the router and card back. My time is simply worth way more than any savings they could give me on the cheaper system.
Then, after much research this time, I purchased the Microsoft kit. It installed very quickly on XP (desktop) and believe it or not, even quicker on Windows 2000 (laptop)--go figure. The 128 (or 64) encryption was also a breeze to setup. Also, with the router located in the identical location the Linksys router was previously in, I was able to reach every corner of my house. Believe me, I tried everything with the Linksys. The Microsoft system software is intelligent enough to give up transfer speed to maintain signal strength. This is great! After all, who cares that they can transfer at full speed half of the time if you need to reboot the router and computer the other half of the time. Even at the reduced transfer speeds (~2 Mbits/s), it's still faster than my broadband connection at 1.5 Mbits/s. I tried everything with the Linksys, but the Microsoft system lived up to the hype. I still think they are too much of a monopoly, but to end the frustrations with this issue, they can stay a monopoly for now. I'm using it now, and it's great.
13 so you want to go wi-fi (aka 802.11) on me???
Last summer the local parks went wi-fi, and when I finally decided to buy a new computer I decided on a 802.11b notebook. When my new roommate started having difficulties dialing up, it seemed a natural progression to go 'wireless'. Her notebook is older(running 98se, no modem, low memory pentium mmx et al) so I decided to go with the commonality between our two systems microsoft OS.
While I didn't need the 802.11b adapter, my roommate did so I went with the kit. I was prepared to be disappointed with microsoft and to have to spend much time trying to set up my roommates older notebook.
But I was shocked to say the least when everything loaded quickly and as laid out in the set up guide. In fact it loaded quicker than setting up my dsl connection. I think part of it was due to me making sure that my viruscan firewall was down.
My roommate has had no problems with her notebook adapter and has used it outside of the house through other hotspots. My third roommate who has an ibook (which also has an intergrated 802.11b) also hasn't had much problem logging onto the network.
Our apartment consists of two floors in a townhouse and the signal is consistently strong throughout the apartment. It was worth the 90 dollars spent and worth the less than 15 minutes of set up time. After two weeks of use I have not seen any of the problems described and feel confident that I won't.
14 Easy to use, great range, no problems!
At first I was leaning toward a more established networking vendor like Netgear or Linksys, but after reading the reviews here I bought this, and it was almost TOO simple! Just pop in the CD, hook up a couple of wires, and you're ready in 5 minutes, even with the reportedly complicated Westell modem provided by BellSouth.
The range is excellent; my house is pretty big with lots of walls, and I'm able to use it everywhere. Kudos to Bill for a great product!
15 Great Gold Box Offer!
...Easy to install (even for a novice like me) and works GREAT -- data rates are fantastic and I can now use my laptop anywhere in the house. A cheap and fantastic upgrade to my laptop's usefulness. I doubt my desktop will see much of me anymore.
16 Not a good solution, try D-Link
OK, I had high hopes for this product. I thought, "Well, it IS Micro$oft, so it should work." Setup of the router was fairly easy and the istructions were very easy to follow. The problems started almost right away, when I tried going out to some common web sites and noticed LONG delays (163 ms or more, with 25-50% dropped packets). I dropped my old router back in and the delays were much smaller (60 ms with no dropped packets). I confirmed this to several other web sites and could duplicate it, so I called the Micro$oft help desk. This was a very bad experence with a helpdesk person reading from a script. She told me just to reset the router anytime the connection got slow (no kidding!). I packed up the whole kit and replaced it with the D-Link. Had no problems at all.
17 hoodedknight
Fast delivery from Amazon, even the free way! Out of the package, run set up on base, hooked up base, run set up on remote, plug in adapter...on the net. Could not have been easier! Of course using Windows XP operating system didn't hurt.
18 Great Product....but call Customer Support 1st!
While I hate to admit it, Microsoft's wireless notebook kit works extremely well! (Sorry, I'm a former Mac user) I have a cable modem with Adelphi.net and noticed NO discernable reduction in web page viewing when I switched to wireless. (I think downloading large files may be ever so slightly slower, but not so you can notice)
If you're like me and plan to use the wireless connection solely with a notebook, call technical support as soon as you take it out of the box. They are extremely helpful and will guide you through the installation process.
As you can read on the product box, the wireless network works 'best' if you have a WIRE Ethernet connection to a desktop computer AND set up the wireless port for use with a laptop. If you don't have a desktop, it just takes a few extra steps to set it up. The techs at customer support are very helpful and can take you through the set-up in 10 minutes....but go ahead and call them 1st. You'll save yourself a headache.
Microsoft also gives you the ability to add WAP secuity, which is a must.
I have no complaints and am very happy with my purchase! (The [money amount]rebate is a great thing as well)
19 Easy to setup!!! Excellent & Reliable product!!!!
After doing much research, I've decided to go with Microsoft Wireless notebook kit mainly because I am running XP both on my laptop and my PC and I didn't want to experience too much compatibility issues. I had experienced problem when setting up my base station with the PC (couldn't detect internet connection), a quick phone call to Miscrosoft's 24 HOURS support at 12 midnight fixed the problem. Turns out that all I had to do was to unplug power cord of my modem and the base station for 5 mins and VIOLA!! everything runs perfectly!!
Setting up the adapter on my laptop only took me 5 mins. No configuration needed, hardware detects base station right away!!
I would recommend this product to everyone who's thinking about setting up wireless and wired lan!! Great product with reasonable price and best of all you get 2 years worth of 24 HOURS customer support from good old Gates! Can't complain with all this.
P.S. Yes!! You do need to download the patch from the support website.
20 Easy to setup! Excellent & Reliable product!
After doing much research, I've decided to go with Microsoft Wireless notebook kit mainly because I am running XP both on my laptop and my PC and I didn't want to experience too much compatibility issues. I had experienced problem when setting up my base station with the PC (couldn't detect internet connection), a quick phone call to Miscrosoft's 24 HOURS support at 12 midnight fixed the problem. Turns out that all I had to do was to unplug power cord of my modem and the base station for 5 mins and VIOLA!! everything runs perfectly!!
Setting up the adapter on my laptop only took me 5 mins. No configuration needed, hardware detects base station right away!!
I would recommend this product to everyone who's thinking about setting up wireless and wired lan!! Great product with reasonable price and best of all you get 2 years worth of 24 HOURS customer support from good old Gates! Can't complain with all this.
P.S. Yes! You do need to download the patch from the support website.
21 Ready to go in 30 mins!!
I dont know why others seem to be having problems? This system worked EXCELLENT for me and setup was so easy and user friendly. The connection is great too! If you can FOLLOW SIMPLE Illustrated directions and know the basics of your computer you too will be connected in less than a half an hour.
22 Great wireless kit once you get it working.
This product has allowed me to use a new notebook with Windows 2000 professional on a network with a desktop running Windows 98, sharing a cable internet connection with great speed and range. I can also use the printer through the wireless connection, which is a great convenience. The range is greater than I expected, with little signal loss in other parts of my modest home and even outside on the deck.
The setup was not simple. After consulting two tech reps with Microsoft, the second suggested unplugging the power cord to the cable company modem for 5 minutes, plugging it back in, allowing it to reset for a little while, then unplugging the power to the base station for a few seconds and plugging it back in. This got the internet connection working. (I see another Amazon reviewer had to do this.) Then, the printer would not work, even though I had enabled sharing of the printer. Finally, another call to Microsoft (good thing there is good support for this product) and I logged in as a guest on the base station computer. Now the printer can be used on the network.
The setup was much more complicated than I expected, but the wireless network was worth the trouble for me. It works beautifully. (I did download the patches right away.)
23 Microsoft Has Done It Again
Yes, MS does it again, they have taken a product and made it better by making it easier to use. They did it with DOS, they did it with a Windows OS, they did it with productivity tools, AND now they did it with WiFi products.
All of the MS Wifi products are made by Intersil PRISM-based 802.11b product line. What MS has done with this product is made the setup wizard simple to use for those who are technically challenged and a full feature manual configuration application for those who know what to do with it. Ofcourse it comes with MS's quality customer support if needed.
I have setup many wireless networks using many different brands such as Compaq, Linksys, SMC and Netgear, and found the MN500 easy to configure a secure wireless network within minutes. It was even simple to add to an existing LAN. I found the documentation to be better than most others. Signal strength was very good between floors right from the start with no tweaking. Other brands took much longer to configure and tweak. Firmware upgrade was a snap and recommended. A great product for the price, I highly recommend it.
24 works great, but....
works great but I highly recommend visiting microsoft.com and downloading the fixware patch for the wireless router before instalation. I have a sony pentium 4 desktop and when i installed the wireless system (with help from the tech support at microsoft) the computer began restarting its self every two minutes and would not stop. After I downloaded the fixware patch it works perfectly.
25 Easy to setup / use
It was pretty easy to get this installed and start using right away. I'm one of those people who wants to get things working right away instead of spending even a minute with tech support and I wasn't disappointed.
I have one Win98 desktop connected to the base station and a Win2K laptop connected using the wireless adaptor. If you have only Win2K note that there may be some limitations. For example you cannot manage the base station from a Win2K station.
Instead of the kit I bought the base station and the notebook adaptor separately (couldn't find the kit in the store). The base station has 4 ethernet ports and according to the user guide you can connect upto 200 wireless devices using this base station. More ethernet devices can be connected using a hub.
The only hitch that I hit was that the Broadband Network Utility did not start up (GPFed). This was because my display driver did not support DirectX. Upgrading the driver set this right. BTW, you do need to get this utility up and running because you'll need to do a firmware upgrade right away (SP1 came out Dec 11, 2002). This is a critical update and as another reviewer mentioned should fix any communication issues you may have.
All in all it's been a good experience with this product.
26 Works Great!!
I run 2 computers with this setup, one desktop running Windows 98se and a laptop running XP Home. Needless to say I had both running and on the network in less than an hour, including a call to Microsoft support. I have the desktop linked with an ethernet connection and the laptop wireless.
First of all I ran through the setup of the Wireless Basestation and encountered a problem which led to a call to support. Got thru quickly (2 years 24/7 support included) and had my issue solved in minutes. Turned out that I had to just unplug power from the modem and basestation and re-apply the power to finish configuring the basestation. Voila! Everything worked great. I couldn't be happier with this setup and the wireless range works throughout a 1200 sq.ft. apartment with excellent signal strength throughout.
One thing to keep in mind is that their is a firmware upgrade to the basestation software that solves all the issues stated in earlier reviews regarding the wireless connection.
I am very happy with this product!!
27 Absolutely Disappointed
I tried to configure this product 4 times and it just didnt work. The icons on my computer said connected to the internet but none of my online applications could connect. Spent tons of paper downloading help from Microsoft's website, yet no luck.
The notebook adapter would just not recognise my home wireless network. So, after hours of endless hope i gave the kit back to Best Buy and got a linksys kit instead. It was cheaper and i had my entire network setup in less than 20 minutes. I might be the ony one out there who loves Microsoft products, but this was a major disapointment.
28 Great Product. Easy Set-up
I bought this kit to replace my Linksys hardware. What took me 3+ hours in set-up time with Linksys took me less than 30minutes with Microsoft. Great product. No unexpected drops, no problems to speak of.
29 Base Station is flawed
The notebook card in this kit works well, easily as nice as competitors products. The wireless router itself is another story. This unit while attractive and easy to install compared to competing Linksys products has some major flaws at the current time. Namely dozens of people in just the first week this has been onsale (look at their newsgroup) including myself have experienced a strange problem where every 6 hours or so the 802.11b signal stops cold and can only be restored by removing and restoring power to the base station. While the flaw isn't fatal, maybe annoying it is totally unacceptable to release units in this shape. Until a fix is in, and right now it appears Microsoft is trying to see if it is a hardware flaw or firmware fix that is needed I would hold off.
UPDATE: About 2 months after I wrote this review, MS introduced a firmware update that fixed all my problems. At this point this is a good solid buy, but you might still want to go with a competitor because you have to wonder about buying from a company that would introduce such a product with so many flaws initially.
