Netgear's 802.11b wireless PC Card allows you to connect to your local area network without any wires. Whether you're setting up a new office or extending your existing workplace, it lets you quickly network your work force--including employees in remote locations in your building--without the time or expense of Ethernet cabling. With an operating range of 175 to 500 feet indoors and 835 to 1,650 feet outdoors, the MA401 enables roaming throughout your office from one access point to another to send and receive e-mail and share other network resources, such as files and printers, at a high-speed 11 Mbps data rate. Standards-based 802.11b technology and 128-bit wired equivalent privacy (WEP) encryption ensure maximum reliability and privacy for your network.
The MA401 performs with a wide range of wireless Internet services available in airports and hotels, and supports PCs running Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, and 2000 and most notebook PCs. Netgear provides a five-year limited warranty on the MA401 802.11b wireless PC Card.
Netgear 11Mbps PCMCIA Wireless Network Adapter Netgear’s MA401 802.11b Wireless PC Card gives you total freedom—it allows you to stay continuously connected to your Local Area Network without any wires. Roam freely throughout your office from one access point to another and continue to send and receive e-mail and use other network resources, such as files and printers, at 11 Mbps speed. Quickly and effortlessly network your employees, including those in remotely located offices in your building, minus the time and expense of Ethernet cabling. Standards-based 802.11b technology and 128-bit Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption provide your network with the highest level of reliability and privacy. Designed for PCs running Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, and 2000, the MA401 performs with a wide range of wireless Internet services available in airports and hotels, and supports the vast majority of notebook PCs.
1 forget about the rebate amount
product works great. but i never recieved the rebate amount. Whatever product you will buy from Netgear, you will never get the rebate amount.
2 Worked better than internal 54g card
This card works great and I haven't had any problems with it in spite of abusing it. However, the price seems a little high. You can buy newer models and even 802.11g cards for less.
I have used this card on 2 laptops. I used it on a work laptop that I used for travel, and then gave it to my daughter for her laptop, which she abuses. There is even a dent in the metal case. I was worried because about a quarter of the card sticks out from the laptop (for the antenna).
It came right up on both my computers, and I don't think I even needed to use the installation disc (maybe I did, I can't remember, but if I did, it was so easy that I forgot about it). Both my laptops have Windows XP.
The signal is very good. It is much better than the factory installed card that came with a Compaq computer. It is about the same as the internal card I have on an IBM laptop.
Note that with a router and this card, I am not able to get a good connection everywhere in my house. I blame that on the router and not the card. There are only so many walls 802.11 technology can penetrate. To get wireless connection to a remote bedroom, I bought a Buffalo router and repeater kit. It works great, when it works (the router had to be sent back to be fixed.)
Note that I have researched wireless networking systems, and they don't seem to be very reliable, especially wireless routers. I had both a Netgear and Buffalo wireless routers where the radio portion went out. These cards are probably more reliable.
If all you need this for is the internet, 802.11b is sufficient, because DSL or cable modems are not any faster. If you want to send video data between computers then you should go with 802.11g.
3 Great for OTHER operating systems and older laptops
The Netgear MA401 802.11b Wireless PC Card is great for Windows 95, NT, Linux and Macintosh operating systems. The reason is that there are no other wireless cards that I know of that have DRIVERS for the wireless card to operate with the other operating systems. Newer Netgear products will not work.
The MA401 has a 16 bit PCMCIA interface is great for some older laptops that will not support a newer 32 bit cardbus interface.
This is in addition to the fact the MA401 is built well and has very good signal strenght.
4 Just stopped working
After using this with the MR814 router for over a year, my computer no longer recognizes this product as a wireless adapter. When it's plugged in, it's identified as the MA_(four box symbols), and won't recognize the drivers that are installed because of this bogus product name. The last time this happened, tech support, which was previously very helpful with set up (terrible, incomplete instructions included in the box), had me try to ping my router a few times and then said they couldn't help anymore. Since this problem has happened multiple times, I have fixed it by uninstalling the bogus name from the device manager list and then plugging the card back in, which usually worked. Once I had to do a system restore--I'd like to not resort to that again.
This may be a problem with the "hibernate" as in some previous reviews (my computer has hibernate issues anyway), but this latest problem occurred after a full shut down. When it works, I was pretty happy with it (wireless is amazing), but I've had regular enough headaches that I can't recommend it, at least not with my low-end Dell laptop.
5 Easy, never fails
I have 2 wireless cards, one being this one. It works better, never fails me, and gets better reception than my other one. It was easy to install. It, as does any wireless card, does stick out from the computer, but it's very sturdy and I've never had a problem during my daily travels with the computer.
6 Works
Works with my Windows XP laptop and Netgear MR814 802.11b router. Latest release of XP worked with the card, did not have to install anything from the Netgear CD.
7 New to wireless, but it was simple!!!
This netgear product had me scratching my head for a minute or two, but once I realized that I was connected to my network, I was happy. Setup was simple. Im on my laptop right now and can go anywhere in my house with an excellent signal. I would recommend this product to anybody. I tried using the Linksys Wireless B card, but it wasnt good at all. I returned it and got this. Definately 5 stars on this one.
8 Good Product. Non-existent Tech Support!
Sent to Netgear 11/12/03:
(The MA401 installed on my Windows 95 laptop without too much trouble a year ago. When I got a new SONY VAIO XP laptop, I tried to install the card in it.)
After contacting Netgear Tech Support twice and twice being connected to a non-primary english speaking staff person, my inability to install my MA401 Wireless PCM-CIA card on my new Sony VAIO XP laptop persists. The first person I "communicated" with directed me to a "personal" web page of a German for assistance. The second person that I "communicated" with told me to turn off my XP firewall but offered no instruction on how to do that, leaving me to investigate on my own how to complete that task. I did and while I have a wireless network connection now and an IP Address, I can still not connect to any resource through any browser.
After purchasing Netgear products for several years, my next purchases will be of another brand to see if they offer english speaking tech support staff that actually assists users.
Do (they) do any quality control of (their) tech support staff?
9 Works well
The installation was very easy on my laptop running W98SE adn took less than 5 minutes. I'm using this card with the MR814 router from NetGear. I'm getting good reception from one end of the house to the other. The signal strength drops down to the 50% range, but the connection is still at 11 Mbps.
10 I won't buy it again
I usually don't write reviews, but after reading other reviews, I became kind of upset and couldn't resist writing. I just can't believe those reviews who gave it high points. I bought "two" MA401 and a Netgear router 1.5 years ago. First of all, their effective range is less than 50 feet. I put my router on second floor, and I couldn't use it downstairs. The signal goes below 30%. I moved around, turn the direction, even installed RF mirror with aluminium foil, but couldn't get above 50%. At low signal strength, the speed goes down to 5.5 Mbps or 1 Mbps, but then, no data goes in/out. Is this how 802.11 supposed to work, stopping transmission at all below 11 Mbps? I had to live with barely 30% signal strength and a lot of frustration. Secondly, the netgear router is very unstable. It works flawlessly usually, then at a critical moment, it stops working. Not only wireless, but all the wired ports too. I turn it on/off, reset, cut off the cable modem, and do a lot of things in vain. Then after a few hours, it starts working again. Also it does not work very well with non-netgear cards either. My visitors can't use it wirelessly. Thirdly, the PC card is unstable. Sometimes it becomes hot and stops working. After cooling down, it becomes ok. Sometimes it fails to work when I boot up my notebook or plug in after power up. It finally stopped working entirely last week, and I am happy to be able to throw it away. I am shopping around for a new card, and that's why I came across with these reviews.
11 Works great and easy to configure!
I purchased this for use in a doctor's office. I installed in a laptop with Windows XP in about 2 minutes and entering WEP settings was a snap! The range is fantastic! You do not have to worry about netgear products going out of range!
12 Works flawless with Netgear MR814 802.11b wireless Router
This is a great product. I recomend this product to everybody who wants to go wireless. The installation was very easy. Security setup was also easy too. This card is working great with MR814 router and my dell laptop with windows 2000. I will buy Netgear products again for my wirless needs.
13 Easy as pie
Wow, nice and easy. I purchased this adaptor to go along with a Dlink 614+ Broadband Router because I couldn't get the Dlink NIC to work...hmmm. I am running Win XP Pro on a company IBM Laptop. Loading the software from the CD was a easy. HOWEVER, NOTE WITH WINXP MACHINES: After you install the software, Windows automatically selects itself to "configure the wireless connections". This needs to be unchecked within the Network Connections. As soon as that is done, configure the card with the software installed and you are on.
14 Not bad
I purchased this for my brother in law. Setup was good and the quality of the card seem to be on par with the rest of them. I've never been a netgear fan, but the price of this after rebates was a good deal at the time. Overall I was impressed. I'd buy Netgear again.
15 GNU/Linux Plug and Play
Netgear MA401 802.11b card gets recognized, the moment you plug in
the card under Debian GNU/Linux and should be the same case for
most other GNU/Linux distributions. The chipset is compatible with
the standard "orinoco_cs" GPL driver. Let me know if you need my
configuration scripts.
- ab@fig.org
16 Perfect Match
This Pc card perfectly match with netgear MR814 router. it works great and easy to install. i spend less than 1 min to install the whole thing. simple easy and quick.
i have no comment if this card is install with other router.
17 Wireless in a flash
I just received the BEFW11S4 and the Netgear PCMIA card. The instructions were simple and easy to follow. One thing I learned was that ensure that the BEFW is transmitting before you install the Netgear receiver. Once I crossed that hurdle, it was wifi city all the way.
18 Very simple to install and use
Installation of this product couldn't be easier. WinXP has all the drivers. It's almost a plug and play. I haven't looked into the security options--I suspect those would take a little more time to setup. Literally-10 minutes out of the box I had this product up and running along with Netgear's wireless router (MR814).
19 works great!
paired with netgear mr814 wireless router. works smoothly in a crowded apartment building.
20 Great product at a reasonable price!
The Netgear folks have done it well -- a sturdy and aesthetic 802.11b product offering that most of us can finally afford. I didn't even have to use their CD-ROM, instead downloaded the latest driver from netgear.com, plugged in the MA401 (for XP, don't forget to disable your built-in Ethernet card interface), and its MAC was automatically detected by the MR814 wireless router (default configuration has no security or encryption enabled, which I strongly advise to do after successful wireless hookup test "in the open"). Total time to install, get connected and secure the wireless connection: 15 minutes. Then tried it around our two-floor townhome, backyard, etc., and getting very good to good signal strength in the farthest corners. When my DSL only gives me 1.1 Mbps downstream, this signal strength is more than enough for surfing. File copy speed between my laptop and my Linux server was also very decent. Strongly recommended!
21 Stuff that Works with Ease!!
Used the MA401 Wirless card to connect between my MR814 access point and router to my Dell Inspiron. Took less time than cutting the UPC lable off the bottom of the box to claim my [money] rebate from Netgear. Purchased through Amazon.com and shipped free with arrival 4 days. Price, source, and ease of software and card installation are important to me. This has all that and my highest recommendations!
22 Disappointed
I bought this for my husband to use so he could work at home. The signal has trouble reaching is work space from the router. If the product is touted as a "home" product I would think they would take into consideration some obsticles for a wireless card. Why go wireless if you have to be so close to the router?
23 Works great with NetGear's MR814 wireless router, But...
Works great with Netgear's MR814 wireless router but my new Compaq 2500 54g enabled laptop does not work with the router. The 54g standard SHOULD work with the MR814 as it is a 802.11b system, but it does not. The card works fine, but do not fully expect Compaq's 2500 54g enabled laptop to work with the MR814 router.
24 Excellent wireless card
After attempting and failing with a Linksys wireless PC-Card, which turned out to be defective, I slipped this baby right in, followed the on-screen instructions and was good to go. It's reception never lets me down. I successfully connect to a Linksys wireless router and a Netgear router on a daily basis without any problems. In fact, I have to do little to no configuring.
I run Windows XP Professional Edition on my laptop and it works great with this wireless card.
25 Works well, but not too laptop friendly
Installation was quick & troublefree. I get a little less than 100' range indoors (through a couple of walls & a floor). Biggest problem is lack of support for various laptop power-down modes (e.g., standby) and hot-unpluggability. With this in, my laptop won't standby unless I turn wireless off AND close a bunch of apps. If I need to remove the card (the computer doesn't fit its case well with this sticking out the side) I need to shut the OS all the way down. Odd, for a device obviously intended for laptop use! I figured I just needed to update the driver, but after failing to get it to upgrade & asking the mfg multiple times for help, the eventual response was not to bother, the new driver wouldn't help: standby etc. is not supported.
26 Great Wireless PC Card
Slipped the card in the PCMCIA slot in my laptop. Followed the directions. It pretty much self installed and works as advertised. I recommend it!
27 Range Claims exagerated
I got everything to work right out of the box pretty quickly and easily. Have three computers running through it, one using a standard rj45 cable, which works quite well. The other is using the MA311 PCI wireless card, and a Dell laptop using MA401. At a distance of 80 to 90 feet through the house the MA311 gets a 30% signal at best, and the MA401 gets 0% and will not connect to router. Tech support stepped me though a few things. But ended up telling me it's too far away from the base station, and that it was not really designed to function in a 2-Story Environment. I have limited experience with this type of networking but it seems that with a claim of 500 feet max range, an 80 foot distance should be working much better.
28 Works Well with XP Home, Range Sufficient
It has been a couple of weeks since I installed this on my Dell laptop with XP home. It installed in minutes. I am using the MR814v2 router which I also purchased through Amazon. It works fine with XP hibernate which I use frequently.
29 So Far, So Good
Bought this PC card along with the Netgear 814 router. Easy, easy install, and has worked flawlessly so far. Can use all over my 3000+ sq ft house with a strong signal. Tried to go across the street to the neighbor's, but that must have been too far (the router is in the basement, so it's not the best place for long-distance surfing). I've been at a couple of friends houses with wireless networks and have connected without a hitch as well. I'm vcery pleased - especially for the price.
30 Netgear MA401 802.11b Wireless PC Card
Card works great, does the job, and doesn't get dropped signals. I would highly reccomend this product.
31 Gets the job done, all the time
I am using this Card for over 4 months now. I paired it with a Netgear MR814 wireless Router. Never failed to work. Covers a honest distance. (Doesn't loose reception through 6-7 walls, still gets reception in an apartment that is 3 apartments next to my apartment). I used it with a Windows 2000 and a Windows XP machine and both combinations worked out well. I sometimes lost connection momentarily in the Windows 2000 machine but I can't blame the card for that since the machines were different as well.
32 Easy, Fast and Reliable
I'm using this card with the Netgear MR814 router and I'm very happy with the results. Link quality is excellent, and I have not been disconnected once. I don't know how easy it is to configure with other brand routers, but with a Netgear router setup is a breeze.
33 No effort required
I recently purchased a ThinkPad 600E on eBay with the intention of running Redhat Linux 9 on it. I spent a fair amount of time researching Wi-Fi cards that should work in Linux. I ended up buying this one at Staples(for much more than it costs here) and it works with Redhat 9 out of the box. Seems to have good range as well, although I only use it at home and don't get that far from my AP.
34 Setup needs some work.
Over all I like this card. I did run into a minor problem (for advanced users, would be a bigger problem for average users). During the installation of the drivers the configuration software was not installed like the instructions said it would be. I had to manually install it and set it up to start when the systems starts. After that was installed configuring the settings was really easy.
Performance wise I can use it in every room of my house, without any real delay. (Compared to cable networking) I have used it to print on a networked printer. I'm really happy with this card. Transporting and storing it is easy because it is small and lightweight.
35 Download speed [stinks]
I bought this card along with NetGear MR814 rounter. The download speed on a cable modem using this card is around 30-40kbps while using the direct connection to PC is more than 100kpbs. I don't know whats wrong with this card, but I'm not satisfied.
36 Does what it's suppose to do.
I use this with the Netgear MR814 router and they both work fine. I have a laptop with Windows XP. Installing the PC Card into the laptop was just plug n play. All I had to do was stick it in the slot, and that was it. I was connected in a minute. No problems what so ever. It does what it's suppose to do.
37 good so far
I used orinoco silver card for about 3 years before it died on me. I thought about buying the orinoco gold card but tried to give a try on Netgear products.So far so good, can't see the difference in range within my house. The AP (Lucent RG1000) located upstairs room, and two laptops running downstairs in living room and family room, no degradation in signal quality comapred to my old orinoco.
One discrepancy to note: the warranty is for 3 years, not 5 years as advertised here or in Netgear.com hoempage. The warranty card clearly shows that. Kind of odd...
38 New to wireless networking
I'm using this wireless PC card with the NetgearMR814 802.11b
wireless 4-Port Cable/DSL router base unit. Now I have a great wireless network in my home and with the adapter for my second desktop computer downstairs, now all my computers run flawlessly off of the one hardline cable modem connection. Installation was very straightforward for all the components and with all the rebates being offered, this looks like a great option. ...Wireless cable modem RULES!
39 one-step installation. superb signal strength.
it works very well with Windows XP and a microsoft basestation. its basically plug n play. as long as the installation cd is in the tray, windows xp installs the card automatically.
signal strength and speed are both excellent.
40 Perfect
It just works. It is still a little pricey though for a little wireless adapter.
41 Works great with Windows XP
I downloaded the latest drivers from the website and it works great with XP. The range is fine with my Netgear MR814. If you're having problems try changing channels on your router, often one channel has interference while others do not. I haven't had any problems that others mentioned, my hibernate works just fine. Just download the latest drivers.
42 net where? :)
I bought this card because it was not very expensive. It sets up as well as can be expected but its best suited for a laptop thats not going to move much. My concern with this card is that it has a non-moving antenna (blueish part in picture - it sticks out about 2 inches (and is as wide as the PCMCIA card ( sliver part with sticker)and you cant get too much stuff by it or the link suffers or drops off.
This card is best if:
1. you are in the same room as the wireless router.
2. dont even think of using the microwave if your doing something important! (in general this is a 802.11b issue, to be fair)
3. you CAN afford to get a better card if cant move your laptop (or pda I guess) or get sick of moving it to find a signal.
4. you have (or get someone with) some networking experience.
5. dont care that your buying a "16 bit" PCMCIA card.
remember, 802.11b has a max through put of ~10mbit. Thats not what you always get depending where you have your equipment setup. Infact you might have to do some serious experimenting to get a connection you can really live with.
as with any card make sure you use WEP and a firewall or you will be "hacked"....(sigh). the manual tells you what WEP is and if you own your wireless router that manual does also.
to sum up: I have one - its ok. I might by another one if is on sale but not for more than any other card.
43 Excellent card - simple,inexpensive,looks great .
Its cheap & easy to install.True plug n play. The only installation issue that I had was that during initial installation it couldn't connect to the router.The reason being that I had multiple LAN connections active at the same time.Just a matter of disabling the Ethernet LAN connection and viola it started working. Sometimes the connection drops but then its more of a router issue.The card itself works fine.
What more could you want ? :-)
44 cheap and reliable
This pc card has given me almost three months of strong wireless signal from a downstairs 'Network Everywhere' wireless router (made by Linksys) hardwired to a pc and cable broadband at the back of the house to a laptop pc upstairs, in a flat at the front of the house. When internet speeds have been slow, it seems to have been because of slow internet speeds on all the computers in the house rather than because of a slow wireless connection, so I'm convinced that this is a good product that works at the fastest internet speeds available from cable broadband. For file swapping within a network, a faster card may be more desirable, although 11Mps is still faster than broadband internet speeds currently available, so for internet access this card is superb. But make sure you pasword protect your wireless setup to prevent uninvited guests slowing you down and logging downloads in your name from nasty sites.
45 Great card... works great, looks great
Installation was easy. Works great. Had no problems connecting to Linksys router. Had problems connecting to Netgear router, but I think it was due to a problem with the WEP on the router itself, not the card. I have absolutely no complaints about this PC card. I highly recommend it to anyone who needs to connect a laptop wirelessly to their network.
46 Disappointing so far
Since I am fairly computer savvy, my inability to keep a WiFi connection on my laptop has been making me feel like an idiot. But since I started looking at the Linksys and Netgear reviews I'm comforted knowing that I am not the only one having problems with these products. But I wonder what is the solution?
I have a Dell Inspiron running Win2k. I was using a Linksys card to talk to a desktop containing another Linksys card, which worked fine for awhile. But the Linksys in the laptop recently stopped connecting so I purchased the Netgear card. From the start the Netgear loses the network conection frequently, and even when it has a connection it won't allow me to copy a large file. Weird. The Linksys used to be able to handle this; in fact, I loved the Linksys while it was working. Great range, decent performance.
Perhaps WiFi is still a little too bleeding edge?
47 Works just great
Used with Netgear MR814 router. Provided a stable conection on the same level in the house as the computer. Also stable on the lower level and on the deck. Maintained 11 Mbps throughout the house. Picked up a neighbors router with no difficulty. Don't forget to implement all the security suggestions On the router. Change network name from Wireless, Password from the word "password" and enable WEP at 128. If they warranty for 5 years it will probably work as long as I will need it.
48 Fast & Easty Installation - Works Great!
I don't have cable or DSL service at home, but I wanted the wireless card so that I could use wireless networks at cafes in Boston. Installation took about 1 minute on my Windows 98 SE laptop, and I couldn't believe my eyes when I noticed I was connected to a wireless network. The wireless network I receive is approximately 250 feet away (almost the length of a football field) and I receive excellent reception and fast connection (about 6MBPS... I'm not sure, but I think that's pretty good for the distance I'm located from the wireless network I'm tapping into). The NetGear MA401 was economical, easy to install and gets excellent reception even from great distances. Wow! I wish I had done this a long time ago!
49 Decent range for the price
I purchased this card after first trying out the Linksys WPC11. This is the card I should have bought in the first place. Not only does it trump the Linksys in range (the Linksys card couldn't even keep a signal at 5 feet away), the setup on XP was a breeze too. Another thing that had bearing on my decision to buy this card was the 5 year warranty. Netgear is obviously a company that stands behind its products, unlike most of its competitors who only offer a 6 or 12 month warranty.
50 Install easy, but problems with XP (hibernate & resume)
I bought this along with the MR814 access pt/4-port router. Both installed very easily -- one of the most plug-and-play experiences I've ever had. The MA401 also works well with the Linksys access pt at work.
All isn't rosie though. I agree with another reviewer that this card doesn't seem to be 100% compatible with XP. When I hibernate XP with a wireless session active and then resume XP, the card can't seem to find the gateway to negotiate a new IP address even though it has a strong connection to the access pt.
Tech Support was essentially useless after 4 tries. The first wanted me to update MA401's driver, which didn't work according to the instructions. The second wanted me to upgrade MR814's firmware. The third says that MA401 isn't supposed to work with XP hibernate. The forth (in level II) simply suggested that I exchange the card. Gee, thanks.
51 Expect a stress free and easy setup with this card
My wife wanted to be able to use her laptop from work, with our broadband connection at home. We chose to use a Linksys BEFW11S4 router because it was being recommended by ever computer expert we knew. The Linksys Wireless PC Card had been getting mixed reviews though, it generally seemed like an okay card, but setup seemed to be an issue with several people. So, following the advice from one of the reviews, I chose to go with the Netgear MA401 802.11b Wireless Card.
The setup on a laptop running Windows 2000 was so easy I thought I must have missed a step. But everything is working perfectly and we're yet to encounter any problems. There are detailed instructions provided on how to install the card, with each screenshot you can expect to see during the process. When we installed the driver from the CD it also automatically downloaded the other software that was needed. Once that was done the laptop had a broadband connection.
The range and quality of the signal that the card receives seems to be good. But seeing as this is our first wireless card setup, I have nothing else to compare it to. I would definitely recommend this card to any family and friends, just because it was so easy to install, and it does its job.
52 Works good, but other products are better.
This product does work well. When I got mine, the install software did not work on my computer. But, a newer version is out now that works fine. I have used other brands of this kind of card and they got much better reception than this card. I'm a big fan of Netgear products, but this is something I wish I had bought from another company.
53 Not XP fully compatible
I first bought the product few weeks ago and has exchanged the card twice already.
This product is not really compliant with Windows XP even though it said so.After installing, it'll run a week or so, and then start having problems and finally doesn't work at all.
Calling the customer service won't help at all.
They only follow procedures as what's written in the installation guide...no more than that. When I told one of the tech. service that this is the second time I have the problem (with the same type of card), he blamed the computer and operating system.
I didn't think that the computer and OS is the problem...and after reading several reviews, I really believe that this card is just not completely compatible with XP.
One more thing, after suggesting the same procedure several times the tech. support asked me to exchange the card...but exchanging several times in a short period of time, I don't think a good idea for me and for the store.
54 Best hardware purchase I ever made!
Not only is this a fantastically capable card, but when I had to contact Netgear to resolve some issues (my existing equipment was at fault), the service operators were incredibly knowledgeable and very professional and friendly. I would recommend this card to every friend I have! In conjuction with the Netgear router, I am able to get acceptable reception using this card to take my laptop upstairs and leave the router downstairs! No smoke or mirrors required. Buy this card!
55 Great Card, Easy to Use
First, I am not a computer guru, but can follow instructions fairly well, but was hesitant in trying to set up a wireless network. I purchased D-Link wireless system and could never to get it to work with my cable modem, even after many calls to D-Link. I returned it and got the Linksys wireless port and card. The wireless card worked fair in my laptop, but was poor or did not work in my daughters sub-laptop. I purchased the Netgear card for her computer. The card almost installed itself, worked great with the Linksys access wireless port. When we are sitting side-by-side, the Linksys signal is low to good and the Netgear signal is very good to excellent. I highly recommend this card over the D-Link(I never got to work) and the Linksys(which I am using), both for ease of use and signal. I like the Netgear so much I am now shopping for one for my other desktop.
56 Good for Linux
The orinoco_cs driver supports this card. One advice that worked for me: When you see error messages like "writing Tx descriptor to BAP" on the log, go to the orinoco driver home page http://ozlabs.org/people/dgibson and download the latest version.
For Windows, I had no trouble at all connecting this card to a DLink 614 router - it worked much better than DLink's own dwl650.
57 works great with linksys wireless router (802.11b)
Installed on IBM T21 running win2k pro.
The installation took less than 5 minutes.
Installed the software from the cd. Plugged the card, the installation continues and that's it.
After seeing that it works, i configured WEP and changed the SSID on the card + router.
I've also baught the WUSB11 from linksys for another computer at home. I've connected it to the laptop to compare to the netgear card. the range and singal quality of the usb adapter is much much better than the pcmcia card ! and now that linksys has the WUSB12 compact USB adapter, you might consider that one instead of the pcmcia card.
All in All a good card that works just right of of the box.
58 Pretty Good
A well designed card. It seems to have better signal strength than linksys' wireless card when used two rooms away from the WPC11 linksys base station. But, still not as good as orinco's wireless cards, since it doesn't have a plug for an extrenal antenna and since the drivers on the CD package didn't work (had to download from netgear's website)
59 Good Wireless Card
I installed this on my kids Toshiba Satellite laptop, and even though it (the laptop) runs XP, I had no trouble connecting to my router (Netgear MR-814). The signal strength is not as good as the MA-101 (also easy to install), which is in the next bedroom, on an I-Paq running 98SE, but it has not disconnected or caused any problems that other reviewers have had. I think the signal strength to the router might be better if I re-located it (the router) away from the entertainment center downstairs, but other than that, it installed the first time, and has performed without any problems.
60 Recommended for windows 95.
Used it on a laptop and with an MA301 adaptor on a desktop, both running windows 95. Connected to network with less effort than expected. Ease of connection warrants a 5 star rating for windows 95. Strength of network connection is good to fair. I have a netgear pci adaptor for a windows 98 desktop located a few feet away that maintains an excellent connection, after I adjusted the antennae. I rated the MA401 a 4 because of the less than excellent connection quality. I recommend it if you are running windows 95 for lack of workable alternative.
61 Very, very easy to use
I had read the reviews of how well this worked with the Linksys router and chose it. I had it installed in less than 2 minutes, while I ate lunch! The paperwork said I might need the Windows CD, which is at the main office, but I didn't. I haven't tried it outside yet, but it works great in the house. All applications should be this easy to use.
62 Doesn't work with NT4 as advertized. Poor customer support.
I decided on this card ss it was one of the few cards which claimed to work with NT4 and it had so many positive reviews.
The driver installed easily but the card was unable to make a connection with my access point. I know it can xmit and recv since changing the AP's channel instantly changed the MA401's channel automatically. After 3 hours on tech support they finally figured out that there was a more recent driver available. My driver version should have been the first fact they asked for.
I attempted to install the upgrade, but the installer crashed repeatedly. Tech support was easy to reach, but the personnel spoke English very poorly and simply followed steps on an expert system without any thought.
I do not recommend this product if you are using NT4.
63 Toshiba & Windows XP - ideal choice !
I use Windows XP on a toshiba laptop and Linksys adaptor was an absolute disaster. My laptop locked up and all i could do was
keep reinstalling drivers(found on the web) with very little change. The linksys adaptor was not certified to be windows XP compliant like that of netgear.
1 thing negative about this adaptor was insufficient information on trouble shooting in the manual. But the free tech support was fantastic, good enough to overlook that.
64 No Xray Vision
I purchased the Netgear card last month and had trouble initially getting it to work with my Linksys Wireless Access Point. But it turned out that I was having more difficulty with getting the access point to work. I tried using the install CD, but finally resorted to just plugging it in and letting it rip. That worked.
I have found some "dead spots" in my house - it is a colonial but I have not had trouble connecting when one floor away. The connection degrades when 2 floors away. Additionally, when on the same floor but three walls away, I lose the connection.
65 it does all it's advertised to do
This card plugged in and played. Perfectly. The first time. What else can I can I say? I've used in daily for over a month, about two hours per day. It's as great as the first day I plugged it in. Great value.
66 Great value
I just got this card the the MR814 router. This was my first time using wireless products and I have to say that is was a very easy and fairly painless experience. When I first installed the card, I instantly picked up 3 networks from my other neighbors' routers in my building. I not quite sure about the actual range, however it works fine in my entire apartment, 1100 square feet. Like I said, I can get on three other networks so that range must be fairly good. The only concern that I have is regarding the firewall/security for my network, but that because of the router software and not the card. The MR814 router is great too, however you can't uplink it to another router like with a Linksys... so beware of that if you plan to connect the router to an already exsisting home network. I definitely recommend this product, especially if you can get it below list price. I got mine with a $15 rebate direct from NetGear.
67 Excellent wireless card!
I was looking for a wireless card to hook up my Sony PCG-C1VG to my home and office network when I came across the Netgear MA401 wireless PC card bundled with the Netgear ME102 access point.
Since I have been using a Netgear FS105 switch in my home network for the past 1 1/2 years without any problems, I decided to give this bundle a try. (Was initially swaying towards a Orinoco Silver card 2nd hand for USD55 and an Enzer AP). The price of USD152 was also very attractive.
The MA401 came in an attractive package and the contents were well organized. Installation was real easy following the clear written instructions in 8 simple steps. Only problem was that I had to copy the driver cum card utility files from my external CDROM to the notebook first because the CDROM interface card plugged into the PCMCIA slot and that slot was to be occupied by the MA401. Hope that didn't look too confusing :)
Within 10 mins of installation, I had access to the Internet but it took another extra 10 mins to custom configure the card to my network. With the MA401, access to my office network was also no issue.
All in all, this is an excellent card for those who are looking to hook up their notebooks to a wireless network with minimal fuss.
68 Buy, if on sale!
I have not notice a performance difference in wirelessPC cards.
Buy a name brand that is on sale.
69 Excellent Wireless System
I recently purchased this Netgear MA401 and the Netgear MR814 Router for my desktop and laptop computers. I was able to set this wireless network up in about 15-20 minutes by just following the great step by step directions that accompany the router. The setup for the laptop was just as simple. I was amazed that I had it up and running so quick. My last networking attempt with Linksys was a nightmare. It took me hours and several calls to tech support, who kept me on hold forever. I finally gave up. After reading the reviews for Netgear, I figured I would give it another shot. The installation was a breeze! I had only one question about setting up the Netgear compact flash adapter MA701 for my PDA and contacted Netgear tech support. My call was answered immediately and I had the solution in minutes. I am very satified with Netgear's products and their customer service department. I highly recommend any of the Netgear wireless products.
70 Netgear MA401 Wireless PC Card
I received this card for Christmas to go along with a Netgear wireless router. It is an excellent system! Installation was a breeze and it works brilliantly. I've got the router at one end of our home and the notebook usually resides at the other and I do sometimes have a weak signal. That's when I just plug it in to the wired network connection. It does allow me to roam about our home with the notebook and connect to the network with ease. In the wireless system's defense, the router is located at desk level - not up high as it probably should be.
71 Great for notebooks!
I have a dual boot Dell Latitude (CPxJ - P3-650) running Win98SE and Win2K and it installed within 2 minutes on each OS. I get no lower than 83% strength/quality anywhere in my apartment. I had disconnect issues with WinXP Pro, but that was solved in about 30 seconds (don't let Windows manage the NIC, let the Netgear software do it). I also tinkered with SuSE Linux 8.1 and the card works flawlessly using their built in generic/Orinoco wireless PC Card driver (you don't need to install Netgear's drivers).
I don't really recommend transferring large files across your network with this, but it's perfect for all internet applications. If you have the free PC card slot, don't bother with USB-- it isn't worth the intense CPU utilization.
72 A great product but rather prefer MA101 Wireless USB adapter
I have Windows XP and have both MA101 and MA401. The program that came with the card was horrible with Windows XP. It kept disconnecting me but after removing the software, I haven't had a problem. I prefer the MA101 over this because it has a better range. From the same distance to my wireless routher, I was unable to get any connection from this device while I was able to recieved "good" connection using my MA401. The only bad thing I have to say for the MA401 is that it uses my USB port.
73 Good card, especially for the price
I already have one of the Linksys cards for another laptop, but I bought this one for my second laptop, largely on the advice of the other reviewers here. It's good, but not as miraculous as some make it out to be.
The signal strength is marginally better than the Linksys. The installation was a bit more straightforward as well. As one of the other reviewers pointed out, the flat antenna is a nice feature if you have another PCMCIA device that is at all thick.
74 not easy to install but works great
The instructions that came with the card were totally baffling. BUT tech support was great. I was on hold for less than 10 minutes and then the tech spent about an hour helping me to get it going on my toshiba satellite running Windows XP. I could never have installed it without tech support. The reception is fabulous and I couldn't be happier.
75 Truely plug n play...
I used Netgear MA401 wireless PC Card with Dell Inspiron 8200 on MR814 wireless access point and it was my best experience working with wireless networks. If installing this on XP, be sure to run Network Setup Wizard so it doesnt drop connection every few minutes to scan the available networks. Very easy setup and works great...
76 Flat antenna - an advantage over the other wireless cards
I have a small network of laptops connected wirelessly with a Lucent Orinoco RG-1000 access point, and I buy workstation cards by price. I've used (or currently using) Lucent, 3Com, Microsoft, Linksys, and Netgear cards, and they all work find with similar range and speed (in my environment).
I decided to keep this card because it has an advantage over the other cards - its flat antenna. With the other cards, the bulging antennas are taller than the thickness of the cards, forcing you to use it at the TOP PC Card slot. This means you'll *NOT* be able to use a (necessarily) tall PCMCIA card such as an USB 2.0 adapter. With the Netgear, I can put the wireless card at the bottom slot, and the USB card can occupy the top slot. Perfecto!
The card works with XP Pro and my Lucent RG-1000 without any problem and was up and running in 5 minutes. I guess the only complain I have is that the system tray icon is kinda ugly and amaturish! :)
Update: After using it for a few weeks, I'm still very satisified with it. It keeps up at 11mbps at locations where my other Lucent cards drops to 6mbps (per XP system tray icon). I did notice that it does not have an Activity light (only a Link light), so you can't see externally that your card is transmitting data, which can be useful at times.
77 Do not buy if you have Windows 98
After 4 hours with tech support I still can't install the driver for this card. Bottom line (and recommended by tech support): I have to return it. What a waste of time and energy. I've also had problems accessing email using the Netgear MR814 router...I'll never buy a netgear product again!
78 [Inexpensive]... and Easy
I bought this card to use with my laptop in school. The school has a Cisco wireless system and recommended the ...Cisco card, but this card works great! ...I'm running Win XP and had the card working 5 minutes after I started to configure it. The range is solid and I haven't had any problems.
79 Works Great With Linksys Routers too!!!
I bought this card to work with a Linksys Wireless 4 Port Router mainly because of positive reviews here, especially when compared to Linksys wireless cards. It is very easy to install with Windows ME. Basically plug in, start up the laptop, and when asked for the driver put the CD-ROM in and select that drive. There is a little program that will load in the area by your clock and it immediately scans for your access point's sigall. Make sure you have not implemented WEP (encription) on your router so the card can find the signal. Once you get a signal and you know it works, you can set up WEP. I get an excellent signal throughout my 2000 sq ft spilt level and a "fair" signal in the back yard. My refrigerator is in a direct line from where this location is and may be the culprit. HOWEVER, even with a "fair" signal I noticed no degradation in surf speed. Grab one now, while there's a rebate!
80 Real Plug and Play
I am a dummy when it comes to networking. I was really sceptical about getting all these products to work seamlessly. To avoid confusion, I wanted to buy all the products from one manufacturer so there won't be any issue. I settled for netgear (mainly because of the promotions and rebates) and I am really happy. I bought MR314 router and MA401 pc card. Both are working perfectly. When I first tried MR314, I was not able to get it to work. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of 'hold time' when I called their customer support. All I had to do was put off the modem and start it again. Bingo, it worked.
I would certainly recommend Netgear. For the price I paid I thought I got very good value.
81 Zero problems.
I had been playing with my LinkSys wireless card for quite some time with very variable results. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to its moods. For considerably less money, I thought I'd try another brand and got a Netgear router with which my Linksys card seemed to work much better. When it was time to add another PC card, I got the Netgear and found it worked right out of the box, with an "excellent" signal at 68 feet from the router. It has yet to go down, and I am therefore very pleased.
82 Here's my setup for my boss's office
Goes through a file cabinet, a bookcase, and 3 walls at approximately 40 feet and still has about 25 percent link quality. Decide for yourself. This is with the MR314 netgear router btw.
83 Netgear worked where Linksys didn't
After first trying Linksys PC card and USB adaptors to make a peer-to-peer network between a notebook and a desktop, I was never able to get the two devises to connect. I ended up returning the Linksys equipment and buying Netgear. The Netgear hardware worked almost instantly and it has been great since. Even though I am only using dial up for my Internet, having the flexibility and connectivity anywhere in the house has made a big difference. It really is the way to go.
84 It worked at 1st, then died! No instructions for new drivers
I'm running Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 on a IBM Thinkpad T21 laptop. I bought the Netgear access point (ME102) and connected that to my Linksys 4 Port DSL/Cable Modem firewall router. I installed and configured the access point and MA401 card on my IBM laptop. At first the wireless card worked. Although I started getting a few blue screens of death, it worked okay. Despite my system become slightly more unstable I was happy.
Then all of a sudden it stopped working. The LED on the PC Card would only go on for a second and then turn off. After a few calls to Netgear's support desk and doing some troubleshooting with them, they realized my MA401 PC Card was dead. Netgear sent me a new one after I sent them my bad card (pretty decent support) at no cost.
It now works but my system is slightly unstable when I use it (blue screen of death once a week or so).
To make my system more stable I have been attempting to install new MA401 drivers from Netgear. I downloaded a file called MA401v200.zip, which I believe are new drivers but I cannot figure out for the life of me how to install the new drivers. There are no instructions. I am a seasoned IT person but I still can't figure out how to install the new MA401 drivers.
Given all of this I can't recommend the MA401 wireless access card. The ME102 access point is fine. I get good coverage in the house. I even get a signal from the basement, two floors below the access on the 2nd floor of the house (wooden house with sheet rock).
FYI - I bought all of the networking gear on Amazon.
85 Works well with XP for me
After returning the more expensive Dlink router and card I bought because of poor range (I have an old house with wetplaster walls on steel mesh) I bought this card with the 814 router. I was up and running in 15 minutes and I am an accountant not an IT person. The card worked flawlessly with windows XP. I puchased it a few weeks ago so it is posible they update the drivers for XP. If you are on the fence about buying this because you have XP don't let that stop you it works fine. As far as range it is much better than the dlink card I had.
86 Quickly recognized on network and consistant conneciton.
I am using this on a p233 running Windows 98 second edition. Windows 98 recognized the card immediately and after a bit of searching on the resource disk that came with it, the drivers installed correctly the first time I tried.
It seems to work well with the MR314 wireless router, and current rebates from Netgear take [money] off the price now through February of 03! Quality and reliabiltity at a great price...
87 Easy to install and reliable performance
I purchased this card with teh Linksys 4port wireless router. I'm running latest version of Win XP and I have broadband internet. This card installed easily, connects easily and performs like a charm in every room of the house. This card perfoms better than I expected. I also purchased the D-Link 650+ 22Mpbs - this card paoles next to the Netgear card. I recommend this to anmyone looking for simple set up and reliable performance.
88 Worked fine...for a while
I agree - don't buy this if you are running XP!!! I bought this card in August and after hacking through the installation on my HP running XP I got it up and running. It claims to work on XP, but it isn't easy to get it to do so. I had to reinstall it again after my computer crashed (unrelated) and that install went pretty well too. ...
89 Worked fine...for a while
I agree - don't buy this if you are running XP!!! I bought this card in August and after hacking through the installation on my HP running XP I got it up and running. It claims to work on XP, but it isn't easy to get it to do so. I had to reinstall it again after my computer crashed (unrelated) and that install went pretty well too.
However, I tried to access my university's on-campus network with an ethernet cable which I believe may have downloaded some new driver and I can't get it to work again. After 2 hours on the phone with NetGear I was promised a call within 4 hours from an "expert". Well, as you can probably guess it never came.
Four weeks later I am breaking down and buying Microsoft's new venture into wireless adapters.
I can see why people tell me I should buy a Mac.
p.s. if you know anyone who wants this thing...
90 Don't try it with Linksys router
Be careful if you want to use it with Linksys router. Someone seemed to make it work. But I had no luck making it work on all my 3 PCs (Win 98, 2000 and XP) even after I spent more than 3 hours on the phones with customer support technicians. So I had to return it. The only plus side of my whole experience is that the customer support response is very quick. All of my calls were answered in 1-2 minutes while it took me more than 1 hour to reach Linksys support people.
91 Works like a charm
Plugged it into my Win XP Pro laptop, inserted the CD, and two minutes later, I'm connected. Nothing to it, no problems.
92 Awesome if you DO NOT USE XP
This item is plug and play, strong signal, no problem IF YOU DO NOT USE WINDOWS XP. Could not connect to internet with this item until I dumped XP and went back to ME. From then on it was plug and play.
93 This is a Windows card
I ordered a Toshiba Satellite with a wireless card (not from Amazon). This is the card that came with it. The notebook had Linux preloaded. I ... assumed that the wireless card from the same vendor would work with Linux. No, it cannot be made to work. With Windows it works just fine (a little slow, I think). But there is no way to make it work with Linux. ...
94 Still dubious about both the product and XP.
You'll notice a pattern to these reviews: they tend to be either 5 stars ("I have no IT background, and even I got it to work in 2 minutes!") or 1 star ("I have years of experience, and not even sacrificing a goat helped!"). I fall into the latter. Which is true? Both, probably. Yes, I fully believe that there are those out there who got this working with XP in under 2 minutes. But trust me when I say that, using the very latest drivers (downloaded from the Netgear site, Nov. 2002), and spending several hours on the phone with Netgear support, on more than one occasion, I have not gotten this thing to work properly. (I have tried exchanging the card in case it was hardware related.) Windows 98 had the problem of being very unhappy about having more than 4 TCP/IP devices (this card, internal ethernet card, internal modem X 3 [1 for the modem, 1 each for the modem with the MSN and AOL #'s pre-loaded, the latter two I had forgotten about], and yes, that is a known "issue" with Windows 98). So, that prompted me to get Windows 98 replaced with XP. Windows XP refused to read the driver off the CD, refused to read the driver from file, and basically had to be force fed the driver, which then didn't work. Deleting the driver to try over from scratch, XP now refuses to believe the card even exists, let alone needs a driver.
After talking to many people with various wireless cards and various machines, I keep hearing the same story over and over again. Depending upon *what specific machine* you have running XP, and what card you use, things either tend to work immediately, or not at all, with it being a crap shoot as to which it is going to be. So, yes, with XP this card *might* work immediately. But it also might not, and Netgear technical support won't be very helpful in making it work for you. So, you'll either end up in the 5 star or 1 star category, and unless you have a friend with an *identical* set-up, good luck guessing which it will be.
Best advice seems to be: go ahead and try it. If it works immediately, enjoy it. If not, return it and try again with another brand, and hope for better luck.
Feb. 2003 Update: True to the above, I downloaded Driver Version 2.6 (Dec. 2003), and it *still* doesn't work, although another person I know (who's card hasn't worked for the past year) did just update the firmware and driver on his MA401, and it worked for him on XP. I gave my MA401 card to a friend with XP, and it worked immediately on his machine. Lest you think somehow it is me or my machine, I just tried a Linksys WMP11 (version 3, I hear
95 Works great
I bought this card with the MR314 AP and a Linksys WCF11 Compactflash for my IPAQ PDA. The 401 was a breeze to install, I connected to the router with no problems, for about 5 minutes. It seemed that intermittently, every 10 minutes or so, the connection would just die and I would have to reset the Access point to reconnect. I went to bed and took the laptop and the card to work to connect to the Access point there and spent the whole day connected. It turns out if you buy a Netgear MR314, it's best to upgrade to the 2.59 firmware if you want to use it with Verizon DSL. Problem solved. Compared to the linksys WCF11 and now the MA701 Netgear CF card that I swapped that for this card seems to hold a conneciton better and consistently picks up a better signal. I did have a range issue for a while in my small apartment, until I mounted the access point on a table about a foot off the ground and it all seems good now. I'd recommend this card over they Linksys that I borrowed from a friend which seemed to have less range at my office. Overall for the [$$] I payed I think it was a good deal.
96 Works perfectly ...!
I am using both the netgear MA401 card and the cisco aironet 350 series card as i'm running a few laptops at the same time. while the cisco card gives better utilities and looks a lot better, it is more than twice the price of the netgear.
If you are gonna get a netgear or any other router for home or small office use, i would strongly recommend this card. Installation was fuss free and took just around 5mins to link with my netgear router.
97 About this card, it's from the same manufactory as Linksys
Well, this card and Linksys's 802.11b wireless PC card are the same. They all got poor reception and the card is even worst than Linksys. For University's wireless zone, it couldn't establish the connection and it even connects, it keeps disconnecting and reconnecting all the time... Same as Linksys, but Linksys got a little bit stablility and not quite stable... I would recommend to buy Oninoco's Silver/Gold card(Agree, a Division from Lucent) or Siemen SpeedStream Wireless Card. Because of Linksys and Netgear Wireless, they waste my time to return. I tried many times and brought them to University Computing Center to let technician help me out for setup. They said both cards are not good and they are all from the same manufactory.
98 Pretty good wireless card.
I use my card mainly in the office and it works pretty well there. It was very easy to setup. I use it with 128-bit encryption. I haven't setup a network @ home so I dont know how it would work there. If how it works in the office is any indication, then I am sure that it would do a great job. I dont have any problems with link quality/strength. Only time I have had a problem is when I was moving between floors. It lost connection for a while. Apart from that one incident, its worked like a charm.
99 Great card, great deal
What an easy wireless network card to install! It was as easy as placing the card in the slot, popping in the software cd, and letting the computer do the rest of the work. In addition, the card holds very good reception, and came at an outstanding price here on Amazon.com. I am very please with this card, and recommend it to everyone who asks. Netgear service, from what I've heard, is pretty decent too.
100 Much easier than expected to install...works very well
I just installed the MA401 card on my laptop running XP Home addition (and using the MR314 wireless router as my access point to my roadrunner cable modem service). I was a bit worried about the other posts I had read about problems with XP, but I had no trouble at all. I slapped the card in (which XP instantly recognized as a netgear card, which was a good sign), ran the CD and rebooted. At first the connection was unavailable, but then I went to the control panel and manually chose the wireless network connection and I have been live ever since (I am writing this wirelessly now...). I do have to say that some of the posts about signal range are right...it works fine a few rooms away, but the numbers netgear states are the range are a little optimistic...then again for about [money]for the card and router (after rebates) what can you expect.
