NETGEAR RangeMax WNDA3100 Dual Band Wireless-N Adapter

by Netgear

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1.1 x 0.5 x 3.4 inches ; 0.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001498LIO
• Item model number: WNDA3100
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (119 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #28 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Networking Products > Network Adapters > USB Network Adapters
  • #85 in Electronics > Televisions & Video > Television Accessories
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

When you're ready to connect your desktop or laptop to a wireless hot spot or new Wireless-N network, the NETGEAR RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N USB Adapter (WNDA3100) will get the job done with outstanding speed, minimal interference and robust connections. Featuring the latest dual band Wireless-N technology, the RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N USB Adapter delivers exceptional range and speed of new Wireless-N devices while still offering backwards compatibility to older Wireless-G networks. This adapter will connect you to a Wireless-N network and let you surf, email, stream HD video, play on-line games, and even make Internet phone calls--simultaneously!

The NETGEAR RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N USB Adapter: Lets your PC notebook connect to Wireless N networks and hotspots. Is backwards compatibile with Wireless-G networks and devices. Operates on both 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz bands to minimize interference. Is extremely portable--weighs less than one ounce.

This highly portable adapter lets you connect to Wireless-N networks for long range and high speeds. View larger.

Less Interference, Increased Range and Superior Performance
When you use the RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N USB Adapter to connect to a Wireless-N network, you can take advantage of the new technology's outstanding range and performance. Utilizing the latest dual band Wireless-N technology, when used with Wireless-N networks, can deliver more than 10 times the range and offer a throughput speed of up to 15 times greater than existing Wireless-G networks.

Another notable advantage of dual band Wireless-N is that it works with up to 23 channels that operate on the 5GHz band. Wireless-G networks, on the other hand, operate on the 2.4-GHz band with only 3 channels, which is also home to some cordless phones, microwaves, and other devices that can cause interference. 5GHz Wireless-N avoids the interference that can interrupt Wireless-G networks, giving you greater reliability and performance. The RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N USB Adapter turns your computer into a new dual band Wireless-N device, letting you connect securely to all new Wireless-N gateways, routers and access points. While the adapter is backwards compatible with any Wireless-G network or hot spot, its performance is optimized for use with the RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Router (WNDR3300), HD/Gaming 5 GHz Wireless-N Networking Kit (WNHDE111/WNHDEB111), RangeMax Next Wireless-N Routers (WNR834B, WNR854T Gigabit version).

USB Connectivity for Immediate Performance
Offering better speed and range than other USB Wireless-N adapters, the RangeMax Wireless-N Dual Band Adapter--when used to connect to a Wireless-N network--lets you wirelessly surf, email, stream HD video, on-line game, make Internet phone calls--at the same time!

Depending on your Internet connection, the adapter can provide you with enough bandwidth to support quick music downloads, file sharing and HD multimedia applications.

This convenient and highly portable adapter, which weighs less than an ounce and is about the size of a lighter, is designed for your Windows XP or Vista notebook or desktop PC and simply plugs into any USB port.

What's in the Box
RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N USB Adapter (WNDA3100), installation guide, resource CD, and warranty/support information card.

The adapter is portable and easy to install, making it easy to use with all your computers.

Product Description

Netgear Dualband Usb Adapter

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Failed to work with WNDR3700, fixed with WNDA3100v2, September 22, 2009

By 

Paul - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: NETGEAR RangeMax WNDA3100 Dual Band Wireless-N Adapter (Personal Computers)

The WNDA3100 would timeout for 4 seconds approximately every 25 seconds plus other random 5-6 second timeouts. Was using latest drivers. Tried with 2 WNDR3700s in two different locations (one location had no other 2.4ghz channels in use.) Worked with Netgear on issue.

The problem was instantly fixed when I obtained and installed a WNDA3100v2, which has the same model number, although it uses a different chipset and has a light and button which are shown on the packaging. Because it has the same model number, you will need to buy it locally so you can tell the difference.

Returned the WNDA3100 (version1, 1 star) and kept the WNDA3100v2 (works, much better range, 5 stars)

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceeded my wildest expectations, December 27, 2010

By 

Xin Li (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

having been in the computer business professionally for nearly a decade, and a hobbyist for twice that long, I've become very jaded about product performance claims. My rule of thumb is to take whatever is claimed on the box, and divide by two. But once in a while, even I am pleasantly surprised when a product does exactly what is promised. This dual band wireless N wifi adapter is one such product. I made this purchase so that I could stream 1080p movies, with DTS or Dolby Digital 5.1 audio from a NAS 12ft away from my WDTV Live, which is directly wired into my Netgear WNDR3700. What this means is that I needed a card capable of ~25Mbps sustained throughput, with burst throughput of somewhere around 60Mbps to eliminate stutter

I started this endeavor with the purchase of the D-Link DWA556, thinking mistakenly that it was a dual band card capable of 5Ghz. It was not. Nevertheless, I gave it a chance, as it's theoretically possible to reach ~60Mbps with wireless N, even on the 2.4Ghz. But alas, no matter how I tweaked my channels, I couldn't get anything more then 30Mbps, max out of that card and my router. Then I gave up on the DLink, and instead bought this card. If I could've gotten anything close to 60Mbps out of this thing, I would've been very happy. Man was I surprised. I have gotten a sustained throughput of about 112Mbps, with a max of 150Mbps, and a minimum never dropping below 90Mbps. I tested by copying a 16GB file from my NAS to a laptop hooked directly into the router via gigabit ethernet. The entire copy took 17 minutes and 14 seconds, for an average of 126Mbps. The second test was to copy the same file from the NAS to my Macbook pro, which is also on the 5Ghz network. That process averaged about 48Mbps. Not great, but not bad at all.

Needless to say, all my streaming problems disappeared. No more stuttering on the busy action sequences in Avatar. No more stuttering on the initial car chase sequence in Quantum of Solace either. All in all, I am very satisfied with this purchase. The installation was completely painless. Plugged the stick into my NAS, running windows 7, and the the system found drivers for it online, and installed everything without any intervention. You do not need the software CD or drivers from Netgear's website at all, if you have a modern OS like Windows 7. However be warned that Windows 7, out of the box, does not come with drivers for this card. In other words, you cannot rely on Windows 7 to recognize this wireles card during it's initial install on a clean system. For that, you will need the CD. But after the card is functional, you can simply grab the latest drivers from windows update.

My only complaint, if there is to be one, is that the range for the 5Ghz radio is not that great. As I mentioned earlier, my NAS is 12 ft away, and without direct line of sight of the router. And yet, the signal on the 5Hz radio, according to the Netgear software was already at 84%. The negotiated link speed was consistently around 270 to 300 Mbps. So performance wasn't a problem. But, when I moved the card to another machine in the master bedroom, which is about 100ft away, separated by 3 walls, the signal strength on the 5Ghz network has dropped to 23%. I didn't bother to test the throughput in this case. Most likely, streaming HD is out of the question, though general web browsing is most likely unaffected.

To be fair though, this could just be the inherent limitation of the 5Ghz network, as higher frequency transmissions do not refract well, and the signal strength is known to drop off rather dramatically as distance increases, particularly when obstacles are present (like walls). This card may in fact perform on par with the rest of the dual band wireless cards out there, or maybe does even a little better then average. I can't say, as I haven't tried any other cards. But from a practical stand point, if you want to stream HD content with this card, then keep it close to your router. To be fair, reception for the 2.4Ghz network from the master bedroom was no problem at all. Windows 7 shows full signal strength.

All in all, I have been very happy with this purchase, and would recommend this card to anyone without reservation.

UPDATE:

There are actually two versions of this card: The WNDA3100v1, and WNDA3100v2. If you found this page, then you are looking at the v2, which is a great card. The V1, however, is complete crap, and should be avoided at all costs. Lost of dropped connections, and instability with certain routers.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It worked perfectly until Windows 7, November 25, 2009

By 

sherkaran (CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NETGEAR RangeMax WNDA3100 Dual Band Wireless-N Adapter (Personal Computers)

I used this adapter for about 6 months with Vista 32 bit OS and it worked flawlessly giving me 300 Mbps speed. When I decided to upgrade to Windows 7, it did not work out so well. The netgear drivers do not support windows 7 (even now when its released), which sucks. I was able to find drivers for it but they kept dropping the connection every few days. So, if you are not on Windows 7, this thing works fine.