WG511T 108 Mbps Wireless PC Card, 802.11g
1 Poor product, even worse tech support
I purchased two of these cards for 2 Dell laptops. First, it took me 3 days to set up my network because it could not capture the proper IP address. When I contacted Netgear, they told me to disable my firewall and security settings. That worked, but wasn't safe for my private information. The card worked fine for about a week. One card is no longer recognized by Windows. The other card mysteriously changed its own settings and no longer recognizes the network, nor can it connect to the router 5 ft away. I've tried everything tech support advised. Uninstalled, rebooted, reconfigured, and even reinstalled the O/S. Tech support has not been helpful. If you look at the Netgear User Forum, it is infested with customers with the same problems. Netgear is not addressing these issues. Buy something else.
2 drastically changed my wireless experience at home!
I have a laptop at home and had been using a Dell wireless card to access the internet. In recent weeks, the card had begun to fail. So I got the WG511T... One word: amazing! I can surf from anywhere in the house with a strong signal.. it's great. Totally love the wireless again!
3 Netgear excels again
The WG511T is a great networking card. Pros are that it has Super G (108 Mbs) capability and that it installs easily with exisiting networks. Cons - none so far.
I bought the card to replace the Netgear MA401 802 11b card (11 Mbs) that was good, but doesn't have the speed or range that this card has. If you are thinking of having a wireless network 802 11g is the minimum speed you should consider (54 Mbs) - this is up to 5 times faster than the original 802 11b networks and allows you to stream music and photo files quickly. If you are considering playing wireless music stored on a hard drive this is the minimum speed to consider.
Buying the Super G WG511T card allows you the benefits of faster networking where it is available by paying a $10 to $15 dollar premium for the card over 802 11G cards. This card works well and has better range than other cards.
4 Backup your files before installing!
I actually got this card to use in wifi hot spots or at friends' places that have a wireless connections setup since I myself only have dial-up at home. My laptop is a 2001 Compaq Presario 12XL325 purchased in 2001 running Windows ME, 650mhz Pentium III, 192MB RAM. The 1st card I got from Amazon during installation caused a fatal registry error to my laptop requiring me to reformat my PC...yes! REFORMAT, which means I had to use my factory recovery CDs, reload all software programs again, and all files. Luckily, I religiously backup my files periodically so I didn't lose anything, but what a hassle! Well after reformatting, I tried loading the driver and Netgear card again. Everytime, the driver would install fine, then when I stuck the card in, ME would recognize new hardware and then try to install the card....that's when it froze my PC everytime just like the 1st time...I tried this about 3 times. And on the 3rd time, it made ME have a fatal registry error again...yes, another REFORMAT-UGH!
I called Tech Support and the dude from India (?) told me to download the latest driver from their website. The installed driver from Netgear's website did seem to install better; however, this didn't work...everytime, my laptop would freeze after I inserted the card in the PCMCIA slot for the 1st time after downloading the software. The tech guy then said to put the card into another laptop to which I told him heck no...no way I would risk my friends' laptop having a fatal registry error. So basically, the tech guy told me to exchange it which Amazon did no problem.
I got my second card, used the website driver instead of the one from the CD and then crossed my finger and inserted the card into the PCI slot. Yikes...another freeze. But this time, after rebooting, magically my laptop now read the card. I was able to then use it at a wifi spot effortlessly. Plus I can read 3-4 connections where I live, although I can't use those connections since I don't have my neighbor's security codes.
Overall, the card seems to be a good value for it's price and Super G, G, and b compatibility. However, watch out before you install it...it may cause a fatal registry error so backup everything prior to installation. Now that the card is up and running, I love it. I don't have any comparison for reception strength, but the card seems to have a fairly strong reception.
5 Great Product and Range
I'm a newbe to the wireless arena. I purchased a netgear accesspoint wg602 and the wg511T on a laptop. It was simple and 30 minute set up, I was up and running. Great range from all areas and never any drops or problems. I highly recommend these 2 products.
6 Works excellent in Debian Linux box
My use of the card has been limited to wireless connections at places like Starbucks and airports, which is regular 802.1b at 54 Mbps, I believe. Within the limited use, my experience with the card has been only pleasing. Although I use the card with Debian Linux, the installation was as easy as it gets thanks to MADWiFi (see http://madwifi.sourceforge.net/). A bit of kernel configuration (enabling standard kernel options for wireless, pcmcia, etc.), apt-getting deb packages pcmcia-cs and wireless-tools, and updating /etc/network/interfaces as usual got it working for me.
I had another wifi card (PCI) on my desktop, and that one (Linksys) was a [...], though. The key for finding hardware for a Linux box is really relying on other people's experience (tons of them on the web) and to get the one that's supported well by an open source project. This one is.
7 Expect a little less range than promised- excellent overall
CNET recommends using the WG511T card with the accompanying router WGT624. Nonetheless, the card works fine with others too. The router seemed a little bit of a challenge to set up. But a call to Netgear and 20 mintues later, it worked beautifully. The card has good range, and covers my entire 2 bedroom, 1700 sq ft apartment and the backyard to boot. No blind spots yet. I live in a crowded part of town, lots of other wireless router signals around -my card has performed well nonetheless. In fact, it picks up ALL the signals around (with and without security), but you can choose which one your card should link to (assuming none of your neighbours have the security feature activated on their router). The only word of caution I give is that if your wg511T card freezes your computer or locks it up, then send it back for a replacement. Do not listen to the million and one recommendations Netgear customer service gives for correcting the problem with updates of your firmware, and computer BIOS, and changing the "IRQ" and the such. That is all nonsense. Amazon swapped out my first card, no questions asked and the new one arrived today and works absolutely perfectly.
8 BEST WIRELESS ROUTER ANY SPEED
Replaced a Linksys BEFW11S4 802.11b with NETGEAR WGT264 108Mbs
in a concrete and steel building that I literally had very little coverage in. Easy setup of NETGEAR 108, less than 15 minutes with 4 computers and 2 network printers in series with NETGEAR FS605 5 port router. I am set to 108 only with WG511T cards in laptops and have 5 times the coverage I had with Linksys. I am on a state highway with a Dunkin Donuts on the other side of the highway and I can sit there and listen to streaming music from Itunes website, I estimate 60 yards, wow.
Works like it should, drops to 96, than 54, than 32 I haven't dropped below 16Mbps. Has been on line now 3 days and hasn't
dropped out.If it makes a difference I set it not to broadcast the SSID. This is at work, I am going to replace the Linksys at my house this weekend with a WGT264 my son has been complaining for a year that he loses connection with the Linksys I put at the wrong end of the house and didn't want to wire the
whole house again.
Definitely SUPER G !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9 Taxes the Computer
This card really taxes the computer in 802.11G and 802.11G - 108Mbps mode. The mouse intermittently freezes as the network access happens. Is the card using a software driver? I don't know. The only thing that helps this problem is using it only for 802.11B. The range is OK, depending upon position relative to router.
10 It works great
I dont want to repeat all the good things said about this product. I have always been a netgear fan, because they make solid network equipment. This is my first netgear wireless equipment, and it works great just like other netgear products.
One thing to remember though...you need to download and install the new driver in order to take advantage of the new WPA firewall security feature.
11 Awesome speed, range, and features.
This card is amazing. It works with 802.11b and 802.11g networks up to 108 mb/sec which is speeeedy fasst. The range is like three times as good as my old 802.11b network, and it is at least ten times as fast. It is easy to install and configure, and it looks nice. I have found no flaws. So buy it now.
12 Great 108 Mbps Wireless PC Card
My entire wireless network is now made up of Netgear components and this card works great just like the rest of them.
The main feature I like about the card is its ability to operate at 108 Mbps with my WGT634U router (in 108 Auto mode) while still allowing my other notebooks to operate at their 54 Mbps maximum.
The supplied software is just as great as the version that came with my Netgear WAG511 card. So setup and security was a snap.
I am using the card primarily on a KDS laptop running Windows Me (I know) which is a small wonder in its own right. It runs great without any problems or blue screens (knock wood).
From time to time, I use the card in my Dell Inspiron 8100 running Windows XP Professional. I have to interchange it with a Xircom NIC/Modem card I'm using though but still no major issues in doing so.
I originally got the WAG511 card because of its dual band a/b/g capibilities but it only achieved 108 with my router in 108 only mode which would not allow my other 54 cards to function. Hopefully, Netgear will release a new driver for 108 auto support like that of this WG511T card.
13 Couldn't Be Happier
After reading some bad reviews, I was a little concerned, but bought the card anyway. I was glad I did!!! I have a two year old Sony Vaio PCG-R505EL with XP Home. Setup was cake. I plugged in the card, loaded the software, it found my wireless router, and total installation to online time took about 2 minutes. It has great range, even detecting what must be my neighbor's wireless network and when on the road, it has no problems tapping into hotel networks. And with it being Super G, I know the technology will last awhile. I don't know what went wrong with those other computers, but I can tell you my experience has been nothing but great. No heat problems, no range problems, no installation/software problems...I can't name a thing that has gone wrong with this card, it even looks great!
14 You get: Blue Screen of Death and Useless Tech Support
Causes my Dell C600 laptop running XP to Blue Screen -- often. Sometimes it reboots and works; sometimes it hoses up something in the registry that prevents it from working without reinstalling Windows. Contacted Tech Support [sic] on 28 December 03 and they (silently) gave upon 1 March 04. They make no effort to debug, they just say try an older driver. And these useless suggestions take them days to make. You don't need this headache; buy from a different manufacturer.
15 Good luck with tech support...
Used the product for about a week and it worked fine...until the day that it crashed my laptop. After that it was never to work again. When i called tech support, i was told that until i register online, i cannot get support. I inquired how could I possibly register online if I cannot get online. After registering the next day from my office computer, I called 3 times and got 3 different support people. None spoke english well, none had any idea what was wrong, 1 hung up in frustration, the other told me to reboot hang up and call back, and the other simply said im sorry, im sorry, im sorry. I was forced to return the product.
16 Fantastic card!!
I picked this baby up and have had no problems with it. Before I had this card I thought that there were only 2 wireless hubs in my apartment building, now that I have this card I know that there are 8 wireless hubs in my apt building. The reception on this card is incredible. If you are needing range and speed this is the way to go!! You don't need to have a super G router, it hooks up to my regular G router with no problems. It's great for Wifi spots too. I hit Panera and am on their wireless network in about 1 minute. It is expensive, but now that I have it, I think it's so worth it.
17 As advertised
I purchased the card with the Netgear WGT624 Super G 108 Mbps Wireless Router. My laptop is a Dell Inspirion PII (3yrs old). No problems whatsoever, speed as advertised. The card also stays relatively cool to the touch. The range is also fantastic.
I don't know if it is attributable to the router, card or both. Who cares? I now have a great wireless combo to last me until the next better and faster (relatively inexpensive) protocall is available.
18 turns my new laptop to sludge
from the moment this was plugged in it slowed my new laptop to an all but grinding halt....
I dearly wanted it to work, have tried everything....
But it is going back
19 Crashed and burned
This card caused many problems on my 1yr old laptop. My laptop would freeze completely several times a day. The card also caused windows XP to generate the blue screen of death during normal network activity. the problems were intermittent. sometimes it would run OK for a few hours, but I never got 10X faster than my old '11b stuff. So, I returned it along with the 108mbps router. good riddance.
20 Excellent card for the novice or intermediate user.
I purchased my Netgear card at Fry's electronics for $49.00 (a real steal)in mid December 2003 and have been happy with its performance. I was unable to connect to a wirless router in my house. After calling tech support, I realized the fault was my own. I did not have the profile or proper WEP key enabled. Since then it has worked perfectly. It has never lost or dropped my connection even with a weaker signal of about 45%. Anything below that puts you in the 5.5 Mbps to 1Mbps and can be unrealiable. The user interface config utility is very easy to use. You can scan for availble access points and display type, signal strength, security, and address. I love this thing. I've had poor experience with D-link. Fed my old one to the dog. Netgear rocks! Enough said
21 Like a champ
I've seen some negative reviews of this card on other sites, but I can't seem to find a thing wrong with it. I purchased this card with the WGT624 and have had nothing but a great experience with it. Distance is great, stability, speed and features work as advertised. I'm thinking about getting another one for my wife as well. Great product!!
22 Works as Advertised!
At least when paired with the Netgear WGT624 WAP/Router this card does indeed have a significant farther range than for instance the DLINK 614+ was was currently using. I can go from one corner of the house downstairs to a bedroom at the opposite corner of the house upstairs, on a waterbed at almost full speed (this gave the DLINK some trouble).
It also comes with a nifty utility that does a better job than Windows with settings and statistics (like actual network throughput).
One minor issue may be with how hot this card gets which is always a concern with a laptop. To the cards credit there are settings for Power Save and Transmit Power which may help.
23 Free your PC
Stop tripping over cables - this card is easy to install and works perfectly.
