Customer Reviews

NETGEAR WG511NA Wireless G Pc Card

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

I just bought the Netgear WG602 access point and the Netgear WG511 54G Wireless PC Card. I am very impressed and both items work great. All I did was connect the ethernet cord (that comes with the access point) from my existing D-Link wired router and into the Netgear access point. Then I installed the PC Card software on my laptop and rebooted and then put the card in. It was up and running in 10 minutes. At about 1 foot I was connected at 100% out in the living room about 30 feet away through one wall it was between 78-86%. Then about 60 feet away through 4-5 walls it was 60%. Even at 60% the connection flew. It was just like I was connected through a wire. I then walked outside my house about 200 feet and was still connected. I hear that the PC Card is the main factor in signal strength, if so this one takes the cake at 200+ feet. My dad has a Linksys 802.11b access point and can only go about 40 feet with his 11B PC Card. It seems the 802.11g makes a big difference on signal strength. In the PC card configuration I turned on WEP and entered the passcode from my access point. I turned on MAC security in my access point and added the Netgear WG511 MAC address (which I found in the About tab) to the allowed addresses. Then I rebooted the access point. And then told the Netgear Wireless PC card to re-scan. It found the access point and the entire setup including tight security was done.

When I replaced my Netgear ME102 access point, I was mainly concerned with the lack of security features compared to current wireless 801.11x products on shelves today.

I ended up selecting another Netgear product, the WGR614 wireless G router/access point and chose the WG511 mostly to ensure the highest level of compatibility.

Overall, I'm very pleased. The card was simple to install, even given my previous experience with the ME102. Pop in the CD, use the HTTP-based menu to install the driver and software package, configure the security settings and you're done!

I decided to take a chance and downloaded the latest firmware which implements draft 802.11g compliance, SSID broadcast blocking, and minor fixes before hand. Once implemented on both router and PC card, I noticed no problems or difficulties. Those with mismatching brands of wireless devices may want to check with the respective manufacturer(s) before upgrading, however.

Performance and range were much improved in my two-story, 1600 sq. ft. home with steel frame construction. Where the signal of my old ME102 and D-link 650 would drop significantly from about 15-20ft away, I'm able to keep a full signal with the WG511 and WGR614 in the same location. Throughput was also improved, of course, although device specifications, antenna placement, environment, and infrastructure all play a part in signal strength and performance. As with any wireless network product, your mileage may vary.

Overall, the WG511 is solid wireless G PCMCIA card. It's broad antenna and easy-to-install software/driver package ensure good performance when paired with a Netgear wireless G router. At a price comparable to some 802.11b solutions, the Netgear is a very good choice for the home user looking for a new wireless G or add-on to their existing wireless G network.

Recommended

I've used this product for about 3 months; I live in an apartment above the garage of my landlord, who lives in the house below and has a wireless router, etc. Another tenant in the basement also shares access. This card works great -- I am pretty far from the router but am basically always in "very good" connection range, no matter where I am in my apartment. I can even go to the backyard. It really is impressive performance, particularly since the landlord's configuration is all Linksys hardware, not Netgear -- my landlord says I have the fastest connection of anyone. (Besides having this card I also have a super fast laptop, which probably helps too.)

There are a couple of things to keep in mind when using this card. 1) If you're running XP, Windows will try to "take over" and run your network for you -- it will install its own driver, run the card, etc. I HIGHLY recommend that you install the card using the configuration CD (or by getting the latest firmware from the website) rather than letting Windows install the drivers itself. Your XP software likely won't have the latest drivers. Also, I even more highly recommend NOT allowing Windows to manage the connection -- if you click on "my connections" and then "wireless connection status" you should have a box saying something like, "Allow Windows to manage connection" -- UNCHECK THIS BOX. Let the card manage its own connection -- it performs much better.

2) If you or anyone living within a few hundred feet of you uses a 2.4 Ghz cordless phone, particularly an older one, you could get interference. It turned out my phone was interfering with everyone's connection and causing frequent drops. If you get frequent drops when you first use the card, don't blame the card until you've asked everyone living close to you to try to a different channel for their 2.4 Ghz phone. Once I did this, everything cleared up and I've had outstanding service since then.

I prepared myself for trouble after reading some of the horror stories in regards to setting up wireless networks, but was pleasant surprised. I first hooked up the NetGear WGR614 router to our DSL modem (no configuration needed. The WGR614 wireless router is a DHCP server to your network and client to the ISP so it manages hooking your network together and then al of it to the web automatically). After the router was up and running with my PC, I installed this card with the simple and brief descriptions included on my wifes laptop and it automatically linked to the wireless access point of the router. The whole affair took about 15 minutes without any configuration need. This set up is TRULY plug-and-play.....a day later I had our computers hooked into a nice little home-LAN with print and file sharing on Windows XP. Connection speed varies and is only at 100% in the same room and close to the router. However we still have fully sufficient connection speed on the deck and in the basement office of my wife. Even at 50% connection, the g-standard network transfers at 15 to 20 Mbps....fast enough and way faster than the b-standard at only 10Mbps. Besides, the Netgear equipment is small and has an excellent design and not as flashy as the competition. RECOMMENDED !!

Well, I started out buying a Linksys wireless B router and notebook card. I bought Linksys because of brand recognition and I figured having both the router and card from the same manufacturer would yield the best results. After setting them up, the reception was horrible. My download speeds over my cable modem from my laptop were worse than dialup speeds. I promptly packed them up and sent it back. I read similar reviews for both the Netgear products and Linksys that had good and bad results. Many of the reviewers with bad results recommended the competing products. Anyways, with the rebates offered for the Netgear setup, it was gonna cost me a few more dollars, but it was a wireless G setup instead. So, I took the chance and ordered this card with the WGR614 router. Setup was a breeze and the signal and speed are phenomenal. I was starting to think that I might have to move the router around the house for a better signal, but it works superbly in the same location the Linksys router couldn't. Yeeha!

This card was a breeze to install and configure for use with the Netgear 802.11g router. That being said, Netgear's Configuration Utility Software makes it impossible to use the card with some wireless networks that use Authentication Clients (such as my college campus). As the author of the university's wireless configuration instructions, I feel fairly confident in saying that one should be leery of using this card outside of the Netgear product family. If you know you'll be sticking to a basic personal network, though, it's perfectly fine.

Out of the Box and on the web in 15 minutes. This is compatible with an 802.11b wireless router, better speed when using this card compared to older Netgear card. Software was installed without a hitch in my Dell Inspiron. I found I had to reboot both my wireless router and the laptop before I could get a good signal. Install software; install card; reboot computer and router-that's it.

Netgear products have been very reliable for me. The price of this card on Amazon was about $15-20 cheaper than anywhere else.

My network at home is primarily made up of Macs connected to an Apple Airport Extreme Base Station. But when it came time to get my Dell laptop connected wirelessly I read a few reviews here and then picked up the Netgear WG511. Within minutes, I had the software installed and the WG511 PC card reading my Airport network. Just remember that the AirPort's built-in security system, called WEP, works in a different way under the Mac OS and other systems. On a Mac you just enter the password that you set up the for the network, but on a PC in order to set up a Network security you need to use the hexadecimal password for the Airport. To find out what your hex password is run the AirPort Admin Utility and click the Password icon at the top of the configuration window.

The range on this card is suitable for most home applications provided the access point is located near the center of the house or you don't have an extremely large home. I run my network in a 2300 sq ft. home. The included utilities can monitor connection speeds and signal strength. I consistently run at high speeds and stay above 65% signal strength anywhere in my home.

Transfer speeds are very good. I am able to move large files including Power Point presentations, database backups and images around with no trouble at all. The encryption is easy to configure and the scan utilities will allow you to detect other wireless access points in your area.

Nice product.

Background:
I currently have the Netgear MR814v2 router (802.11b), and got mixed results with my various notebooks. My HP workstation notebook (wireless a/b/g) and my Dell Latitude X1 (wireless b/g)...yes, the smallest one (rock-on!!!), both connect fine with it. However, my HP Pavilion (wireless b) can connect wirelessly if in the same room or the next, and still the connection is sketchy. I decided that the built-in wireless is not too good, so I bought the WG511 as well as the NETGEAR WGR614 router (802.11g) to upgrade. I decide to just try the WG511 card on the MR814 first.

Setup:
The results were not great at first, but that was because I had the router set to block the SSID broadcast. I was manually forcing the card to look for the router, but had problems with it the recognition (I'm not sure if the problem was on the router or card side). When I configured the router to broadcast the SSID, then everything worked fine and dandy. Overall time for setup was 3 seconds for ripping the plastic and opening the box, 3 minutes for install of the software and driver, 5 minutes for troubleshooting the router/card recognition issue, and 5 seconds afterwards to connect.

Range:
I have the router sitting in the basement, and I still get signal on the second floor bedroom at the opposite side of the house. That is approximately 200 feet away from the router, through 2 floors and about 4 walls away. Also, I am quite impressed with the range this card was able to extend for me. I had coverage in every room of my house, plus the basement, garage, and the sidewalk across the street! Mind you, I also enabled WEP, so only specific wireless devices (MINE) were able to access the router.

Speed:
I was able to maintain file transfers (from PC to PC in my network) at speeds near the 11Mbps rate everywhere in the house, so I was quite impressed. My cable broadband downloads only up to 6Mbps (average 2Mbps mostly), so this card is more than capable of web-surfing wireless-ly.

Conclusion:
This card is compatible with the NETGEAR MR814 802.11b router.
If the setup with the MR814 router was this easy, and the connection (and speed) is fast, then I can't wait to setup and try the NETGEAR WGR614 router with this baby!

Note:
For the average user, this card is a great buy and works flawlesly with the NETGEAR MR814 router. Rembember that broadband ISPs transfer rate is only at about 1.5 to 3.0 Mbps for DSL, and about 3.0 to 6.0 Mbps for cable broadband (these are maximum speeds, not average speeds), so going for 802.11 b versus g is not going to make a big difference. The two big advantages of the g over b are 1) faster rates WITHIN YOUR NETWORK (transfering files from one computer to the next, or broadcasting music or video from computer to tv/receiver), and 2) increased security (added SPI firewall in addition to the NAT firewall available in most routers). Hope this review helps you.