| Netgear MA101 802.11b Wireless USB Adapter |
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Model: MA101
Brand: Netgear
Manufacturer: Netgear
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 58
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
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: IEEE 802.11b
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| Features: |
11 Mbps wireless desktop PC networking
Reliable, 802.11b standards-based networking
USB Powered--no need to open your computer
WEP encryption to ensure privacy
Supports Win 98, Me, 2000 |
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| Description: |
| With NETGEAR's MA101 802.11b Wireless USB Adapter you can easily network all of your employees at 11 Mbps speed without installing any new wires. Since the MA101 is USB powered, there is no need to open the case of the PC. Set up a new wireless network or extend your existing workplace to remote sites in your building in no time, and escape the hassles and expense of Ethernet cabling. Your workforce can immediately use your wireless network to access e-mail, file servers, printers, and cable/DSL Internet access. Standards-based 802.11b technology plus Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption provide your wireless network with the highest level of reliability and privacy. The MA101 is equipped with automatic speed adjustment to extend the communication range for longer distances from other 802.11b PC nodes or 802.11b access points. |
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| User Reviews (58 total): |
Page 1 2 3 of Total 3 Pages
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Works Great!, November 21, 2002
By Edwin M. Ortiz (Brandon, FL. USA)
Finally, a great product hits the market! My daughter's computer is about 60 feet from the Router and the Netgear MA101 Wireless 11 Mbps USB Adapter works fine! I saved a bundle on cable installation!
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Highly recommended, but must understand networking..., October 27, 2002
By blamaute (Scarsdale, NY USA)
I highly recommend this product, especially for outdoor connections.However, the setup guide walks you through the hardware and driver installation but you're on your own to get the device to recognize the WAP. Issues are usually based on the manual setup of the SSID of the WAP (wireless Access Point) and the WEP (Wireless Encryption Protocol) Keys. Once you get it setup, it's off to the races!
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the good & the bad, October 11, 2002
By yo momma (Palm Coast, Florida)
This wireless modem is great, I can take my computer anywhere in my house and I get great speeds. I download stuff at up to 200kbps, and my computer is about 30 ft from the DSL. The only bad I have found with it, is if you are an avid Counter-Strike player, it causes spikes about every 2 minutes (I think this only happens with Windows XP, which I have). If you can find a way to fix this please tell me.
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Some problems but made it work., October 4, 2002
By Michael Cooper (Saint Louis, Missouri USA)
First attempt at a wireless network using MA101 and MR314 router. Router worked great with no problems. Could not get MA101 to talk with router at all. Called tech support and was on hold about 30 minutes. Worked with them about 20 minutes. The three machines I tried this on all had regular NIC's as well. Finally had to setup two hardware profiles (one for wireless, one for wired) with the wired NIC disabled in the Wireless profile and vice-versa. This works although it means the MA101 is not really hot-swappable and requires a reboot. Not a big deal as the user on boot will know which way they are going.As far as distance it is OK, but not great (certainly no where near advertised). My house and the installation site has several dead spots around mechanical rooms. Large basements with inside corners are a problem as it doesn't broadcast through dirt (to be expected). I guess I was a bit naive about how well it would work. Overall I would definitely recommend the MR314 router and perhaps try a different 802.11b NIC.
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Disconnects you and gives very signal warning., September 20, 2002
By obiajulu (Sugar Land, TX USA)
I spent days with technicians who could not help me. The signal is low and nobody knows where. It disconnets you from internet.
The distance from the router is not 1/100th of what the specifications say.
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Elegant unit design. Works well., September 12, 2002
By ewoo (Louisville, KY United States)
It works as promised. A little pricey but it had the best unit design (not bulky or ugly like the others). Never really tested the range.
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Very easy to use, September 3, 2002
By mattjive (New York, NY)
The adapter has been working flawlessly in Windows XP (downloaded latest drivers from the Netgear website). I'm able to maintain an 11 Mbps link about 100 ft away (through a couple of walls and a floor), which suits my needs. My only complaint is that the signal strength isn't as good as what my wife's laptop is able to achieve from the same location. This is likely due to the fact that her laptop has an antenna built-in to the LCD screen, which is much larger than the Netgear's could be. In all, this adapter has been great so far. I wasn't able to use a normal PCI card in my low-profile PCI slot case, so a small USB device was a perfect alternative.
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Great Product - Easy to use, August 25, 2002
By unknown
I just received this product in the mail today and had my wireless home network up and running in no time. It installed easily and since I'm using Windows XP I did not have to install the LAN Utility, XP already has one. What could be better, top speeds, excellent signal strength and NO WIRES. I would recommend this to everyone. Great things do come in small packages.
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Even Tech Support Couldn't Help, August 21, 2002
By unknown
I purchased this item simply to share an internet connection with a Linksys wireless cable router. Setup was simple, and the software configuration tool that came with the usb adapter indicated that it was, in fact, communicating with the router. The only problem was that the adapter was only sending, not receiving, from the router. After about forty minutes of trying to figure it out myself, I called tech support.To Netgear's credit, I was only on hold a few minutes before someone came on to help. Unfortunately, after nearly an hour on the phone, we could not get this to work. The technician's final thought was that it might be a problem with interference from wireless phones in the house. I thought this unlikely, as I had already gotten a wireless card to work in my laptop (an Airport card on a Mac, no less!). He told me to try again after I hung up with him, and said he'd keep his fingers crossed that it would work. It didn't. I exchanged the netgear for a Linksys usb adapter, which worked immediately out of the box. Since the Airport card and the Linksys usb adapter were up and working in less than a minute or two, I can only assume there was a problem with my netgear unit, or the product just isn't as good or compatible as the others. I hate to leave negative reviews, but this product just didn't work for me. If you have a Linksys router, get Linksys adapters for your network -- they work like a charm! By the way, I rate this two stars because tech support promptly picked up the phone, and patiently walked me through many tests and configurations.
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Great 802.11b adapter!, June 22, 2002
By sshamp (Coldwater, MI United States)
I am running a Mac network through an Apple Airport. I have only one Wintel machine, which was wired. I decided to make it wireless like my Macs. So, I read much information about many different USB adapters, and I chose this one. It took no more than 5 minutes to get it running, and it works perfectly with the Airport. My Wintel machine is running XP, so all it needed was the driver.Great product! I recommend to all!
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Works perfectly, installs instantly, May 30, 2002
By Ralph (Birmingham, AL United States)
It took me all of 20 minutes to set up a network using this terrific USB wireless adapter and the MR314 wireless router/switch/access point. Of the total time, maybe five minutes was spent installing the MA101 adapter. As a network novice, I was amazed that everything worked exactly as it was supposed to, without my having to reinstall anything, call tech support or tear my hair out.The PC with the adapter is located two floors up from the router, about 50 feet point to point. Signal strength registers as "low" (2 pips out of 5 on the utility display), but I am getting an unbroken connection at a speed indistinguishable from that of the PC that's wired to the router. I'm running Windows XP. The Netgear Web site has an updated driver, but I decided to live dangerously and use the driver on the CD-ROM that's supplied with the adapter. No problem -- I clicked through the warning about an "unsigned" driver, and it installed and worked fine. At this point I'm going to leave well enough alone and not install the new driver. Highly recommended.
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better range, more stable, April 17, 2002
By T. Florin (Miami Beach, FL United States)
I previously had d-link USB wireless cards on 2 computers. One with ME, the other with Win 98. The ME computer could not hold a signal and would routinely crash. The netgear device gives a better and more stable signal. I found tech support quite helpful. (d-link was a disaster) I don't know about XP compatablity, but I have a new laptop arriving this week.
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No SMP support and horrible tech support, March 31, 2002
By Casey Patterson (Auburn, AL USA)
This device caused two different dual cpu Xp systems to bluescreen every hour or so. Booting the same systems with only one cpu enabled fixes the problem. Netgear tech support was no help at all because they had no known issues about xp compatibility. They offered no solutions to my problem. I grow tired of companies that slap NT compatibilty on the box but don't even bother with SMP compatibility. Due to the horrible tech support and poor drivers I recommend you avoid this product no matter what type of system you have. The one time I don't buy linksys... :( Thank goodness it isn't too late to exchange it.
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Great, March 10, 2002
By unknown
This is a great price for a wireless card! It is a way better deal than going with the MA401 deal.
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No Luck With This Adapter, January 24, 2002
By cjw333 (San Jose, CA United States)
For a month now I have been trying to get my MA101 to work with my Cisco 340 base station with no luck. I can associate with my base station but I have not luck when I try to connect to the Internet. Successful pings are intermittent at best. I spent some time with Netgear tech support and they have not been very helpful. Truthfully, I was surprised at their lack of trouble shooting effort. I'm going back for one more shot to see if I can get it to work.I have been able to use this very same base station successfully with 3 other 802.11 adapters from other vendors so I am confident that the problem is with the Netgear. I have also tried 2 different Netgear adapters. If you buy this adapter keep your receipt.
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MA101 Great USB - IEEE 802.11b adapter for Win98+, November 18, 2001
By Konrad and Sharon Roeder (Colorado Springs, CO United States)
If you have a PC with Win98 or better and a spare USB port, the MA101 is really great. The installation is easy - you don't have to open up the PC, just plug it in and run the installation CD. The big advantage of the MA101 over the alternative, an MA301/MA401 combination is that you can position the unit on your table or desk to get the best link quality and signal strength.If you are running XP, this unit may require a driver update to run properly. That should be available on the netgear website. Konrad Roeder (...)
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