Netgear 802.11a Wireless LAN Cardbus PC Card

by Netgear

Product Details

Product Manual [380kb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B0000649CD
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 12, 2006

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

You want speed and mobility for your small office. Netgear's ultrafast HA501 802.11a wireless CardBus adapter delivers the ultimate in wireless networking performance, running at 54 Mbps, or up to 72 Mbps in turbo mode. It gives you the freedom to roam throughout the workplace and stay connected to corporate resources, e-mail, and your intranet without interference. Send and receive large files, including high-quality audio and video, anywhere in your business or classroom. Share presentations and collaborate on graphics-intensive projects without being tethered to your desk.

Since there are no wires to install, networking your home or office PCs couldn't be easier. You'll immediately experience reliable, IEEE 802.11a LAN connectivity that's protected with industry-standard 64/128/152-bit WEP encryption. And Netgear's 802.11a solution makes it easy to add new clients or move your entire network to a new site. The HA501 supports most notebook PCs equipped with a CardBus slot. It does not interfere with IEEE 802.11b and Bluetooth devices and also supports office roaming with uninterrupted network access. It also extends your Ethernet LAN by allowing secure, mobile access to network resources. Simply connect one or more Netgear HE102 access points to your existing network or broadband connection, then add a Netgear HA501 wireless CardBus adapter to each notebook PC. With high-speed wireless connectivity, mobile users can be more productive, wherever their work happens to be.

Eight nonoverlapping channels in the 5 GHz band (5.15 to 5.35 GHz) supply extensive coverage and bandwidth. Based on WiFi5 technology, Netgear's IEEE 802.11a solution supports Windows 98, Me, NT 4.0, 2000, and XP operating systems. The HA501 comes with a five-year limited warranty.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 802.11a or 802.11b/g, July 1, 2002

By 

M. Shannon (San Francisco US / Brisbane Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Netgear 802.11a Wireless LAN Cardbus PC Card (Electronics)

...

They are super fast compared to my old 802.11b 2GHZ cards and no more interference from Neighbour's Wireless LANs and Cordless Telephones.

I live in an old wooden 2 story house in San Fran and get great signal strength whilst inside. Outside the signal drops a little, but it is still an order of magnitude faster than 802.11b! The drop in signal strength is too be expected from a 5GHZ device.

The 802.11g standard that is coming will be running at a comparable speed to 802.11a, and is backward compatible with 802.11b. 802.11b and 802.11a are not compatible - they run at different frequencies. Due to the low frequency of 802.11g, the signal will travel further than 802.11a, but it is still prone to chronic interference - cordless phones, bluetooth, neighbours 802.11b gear.

I would hold off for 802.11g only if you are an existing 802.11b user who has NOT experienced interference and has invested significant funds in hardware.
The price of 802.11a is rapidly coming down, and it is a far superior technology to 802.11b. 802.11g technology is still a good 6 months off, ...

This 802.11a vs 802.11b/g war makes it difficult for the consumer to decide on which technology to use.
The analogy I would make is this:

802.11b is analagous to USB1.
802.11a is analogous to Firewire.
802.11g is analogous to the new USB2

USB2 is no better than Firewire, but it is backwards compatible with USB1. USB is widely spread, and Firewire is spreading fast. Organisations that invest in Firewire will take heart in the knowledge that Firewire2 is coming which is backwards compatible and far better than USB2!

I would say within 6 months there will be combo adapters that support all standards - 802.11 a,b,g

To conclude, if you are not doing the wireless thing yet, then go 802.11a. If you are a 802.11b user not experiencing interference, hold off to 802.11g.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great speed at a limited range., December 2, 2002

By 

Richard A Ambrose "ambrose01" (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Netgear 802.11a Wireless LAN Cardbus PC Card (Electronics)

This system was EASY to install. You plug it into your computer, insert the cd-rom, and it will pretty much install itself in a couple of minutes. This installation is almost as easy as the access point where you plug it in and it broadcasts. It's speed level is fantastic. However, I found that its range was not nearly as good as with my SMC 802.11b system.

I am still glad I bought this product, but it is shocking to me that the system doesn't always get good reception from but one room away (It works, but not always particularly well).

I should mention how the system works speedwise. It's speeds are significantly higher than the 802.11b, but there is more of a lag. So, you might go to a website, get a slight lag where nothing shows up on the page, and then boom... it all appears instantaneously. I am sure that some of this delay is because I've created another point for data to go through - I am using this system through my SMC barricade.

Besides the limited range, there is one other annoying feature of the product - it lights. They blink and flash in a way that I find rather annoying, although one does get used to it for a while.

So, should you buy and use this? Yes and no, depending upon your set-up.

NO: If you live in a big home where you don't have to worry about outside disturbances (ie multiple microwave ovens and 2.4 gig phones.) In this situation go with 802.11b for the greater range at a lower price.

YES: If you need to move massive amounts of data though your network. 802.11a is MUCH faster when it works, and you do notice the difference with larger files.

YES: If you live in a high density area such as a condominium were you have to worry about interference from your neighbors. This netgear system will bypass most interference since it operates at a higher frequency, and the lessend range actually becomes an advantage since it means you are less likely to get interference from other 802.11a systems as well.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Cant get it to work!!!, August 27, 2002

By 

"wireless-in-seattle" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Netgear 802.11a Wireless LAN Cardbus PC Card (Electronics)

I've got a wireless networks at home (sony base station and cards), and recently decided to give my mom the gift of wireless internet access from anywhere in her house. Seeing as how sony doesnt sell ther cool wireless components anymore (if they do - buy them just for the softare which worked flawlessly in under 2 minutes), i figured i would try the netgear setup. What a terrible experience so far. more than 6 hours into it and still nothing! the card in the laptop sees the access point, but thats as far as it gets. the DHCP server sees the access point getting an IP address (DHCP), but still thats as far as it gets. I call technical support, and they said I would need to remove my firewall and connect directly to the cable modem - to which i explained that clearly the firewall isnt the problem, since the netgear cannot see the lan, but the lan can see the netgear. Then he sugessted I re-install windows 2000 ion th server! dont buy this product...ALSO for configuration notice, the server is win2k SP3, the laptop is win98SE, the access point is a HE104, the card is an HA501. I know netgear has made some outstanding hardware products in the past - but clearly thier software developers and tech support folks are not the sharpest tools in the shed.