Netgear MA401 802.11b Wireless PC Card

Product Description

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.

Purchased this as my first wireless card in 2003 along with a Netgear wireless router. Was so pleased, that when 802.11g came along, I bought the similar router and card for that standard. I used this as my secondary card and it has outlasted all of my computers that needed an external wireless card. Although all of my home computers have integrated wireless now, I still keep this on hand just in case someone comes to my home that needs one to get on my network.


I bought this card specifically for its Linux compatibility. I haven't been disappointed. It has a well documented and easily fixed error with Open SuSE (10.2 and 10.3) and works out of the box with Ubuntu (7.04,7.10,8.04,8.10) and Debian (Etch). It is as fast as my wireless g cards in my other computers (so there's no slowdown on my network from it being a b card). I've gotten speeds as high as 120 kb/s, which is as fast as my DSL will go. My Dell laptop connects to my network 24/7 to run a file server using this card and I've experienced no problems. The windows 98/2k/ME/XP drivers are available from the Netgear website and the card is OK with windows, too. I noticed a little slowdown and some connection dropping, but it's not the card's fault (and it wasn't a big deal). Remember that this card is PCMCIA and may not work with many new laptops because they don't have this slot, but it is great for old laptops.


This wireless PC card does work intermittently, but is very inconsistent and slow. Do not recommend!!


product works great. but i never recieved the rebate amount. Whatever product you will buy from Netgear, you will never get the rebate amount.


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.


Sent to Netgear 11/12/03:<br> (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.)<br> 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.<br> 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.<br> Do (they) do any quality control of (their) tech support staff?


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.


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.


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.


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.

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About Netgear MA401 802.11b Wireless PC Card detail

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17365 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Netgear
• Model: MA 401
• Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows NT 3.5, Windows NT 4, Windows NT 5, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 2000 Server, Windows
• Dimensions: .9 pounds
• Networking: PC Card

Features

• Wireless connectivity for notebook PCs
• High-speed 11 Mbps data rate
• Operating range up to 500 feet indoors and 1,650 feet outdoors
• Supports Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, and 2000
• 5-year limited warranty

Read more Netgear MA401 802.11b Wireless PC Card

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