Netgear MA401 802.11b Wireless PC Card

by Netgear

Product Details

Product Manual [334kb PDF]

• Item Weight: 1.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005B8HO
• Item model number: MA 401
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (161 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 15, 2001

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Netgear's 802.11b wireless PC Card allows you to connect to your local area network without any wires. Whether you're setting up a new office or extending your existing workplace, it lets you quickly network your work force--including employees in remote locations in your building--without the time or expense of Ethernet cabling. With an operating range of 175 to 500 feet indoors and 835 to 1,650 feet outdoors, the MA401 enables roaming throughout your office from one access point to another to send and receive e-mail and share other network resources, such as files and printers, at a high-speed 11 Mbps data rate. Standards-based 802.11b technology and 128-bit wired equivalent privacy (WEP) encryption ensure maximum reliability and privacy for your network.

The MA401 performs with a wide range of wireless Internet services available in airports and hotels, and supports PCs running Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, and 2000 and most notebook PCs. Netgear provides a five-year limited warranty on the MA401 802.11b wireless PC Card.

From the Manufacturer

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.

Adept
Provides continuous access to corporate resources and e-mail, and lets you share your cable/DSL connection: all at a high-speed 11 Mbps.

Secure
Includes 40-bit and 128-bit WEP encryption to afford your wireless network the maximum level of privacy.

Easygoing
Has Plug and Play support for Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000 operating systems and is compatible with the vast majority of notebook PCs.

Dependable
Developed with reliable 802.11b standards-based technology and comes with a 5-year limited warranty.

ADEPT
Provides continuous access to corporate resources and e-mail, and lets you share your cable/DSL connection: all at a high-speed 11 Mbps.

SECURE
Includes 40-bit and 128-bit WEP encryption to afford your wireless network the maximum level of privacy.

EASYGOING
Has Plug and Play support for Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000 operating systems and is compatible with the vast majority of notebook PCs.

DEPENDABLE
Developed with reliable 802.11b standards-based technology and comes with a 5-year limited warranty.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

123 of 127 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to install, consistent connectivity, November 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Netgear MA401 802.11b Wireless PC Card (Personal Computers)

I received this wireless card as a gift with the Linksys wireless access point. This card was VERY easy to install in my IBM T21 laptop running Windows 2000. The Linksys wireless access point works great, but there have been a number of reviews on the difficulty configuring the Linksys card--we ran into similar problems after purchasing a Linksys Card for a second laptop in the house). After doing my own product comparison, I would highly recommend the NetGear wireless card over the Linksys card. For range of signal and ease of setup, the NetGear card is far superior. With the NetGear Card connectivity rarely drops, and I had no need to download additional drivers to install the card. When placed equidistant from the Linksys wireless access point, we'd see an Excellent Link Quality on the Netgear card Configuration utility, but on the similar utility on the Linksys card, we would see either poor or NO signal. This Netgear card is a fine product, I'm definitely enjoying the freedom of no wires while surfing the web.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for OTHER operating systems and older laptops, July 26, 2004

By 

OP - See all my reviews

This review is from: Netgear MA401 802.11b Wireless PC Card (Personal Computers)

The Netgear MA401 802.11b Wireless PC Card is great for Windows 95, NT, Linux and Macintosh operating systems. The reason is that there are no other wireless cards that I know of that have DRIVERS for the wireless card to operate with the other operating systems. Newer Netgear products will not work.

The MA401 has a 16 bit PCMCIA interface is great for some older laptops that will not support a newer 32 bit cardbus interface.

This is in addition to the fact the MA401 is built well and has very good signal strenght.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply amazing, April 28, 2002

By 

Matt Ortman (Noblesville, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Netgear MA401 802.11b Wireless PC Card (Personal Computers)

Wow. That was all I could say when I got this card and the MR314 router home and connected. I have to admit that I haven't used any other wireless networking products, so I cannot compare NetGear's products with any others. But I did do a good deal of research when deciding which company to use. At first I was only considering the Linksys and D-Link products, and had a tough time deciding which to try. Last week, Best Buy was offering a rebate on the NetGear products, so I thought that I would research them, too. I am SO glad that I did! I found very few (if any) disparaging remarks in regards to these products, and now, after using them myself, I know why.

Once I had the products home, I plugged the card into my wife's notebook (running Windows 98), inserted the installation disk into her CD-ROM, and 3 minutes later it was completed. Then, I plugged the router (MR314) into the outlet in my office and ran the ethernet line from the router to a NIC card in my PC in there. The LED lights for power and the local PC instantly lit up, but the wireless one did not. So, I walked back into the room with the laptop to check the status light on the card to see if it was lit. By the time I got back to the laptop, the light on the wireless card was lit up. So I walked back into the office, and the wireless light was not lit. It synched up that fast. I was amazed.

I then used the Windows XP built-in functionality on my PC to setup the network. This was also very simple, thanks to XP. I finished this, shared the folders/files/whatever I wanted to on my PC, did the same on my wife's laptop, and I was finished.

The entire process took approximately 15 minutes. And there was no issue whatsoever using Windows XP. I had read some reviews for both the Linksys and D-Link products, and some people had issues with XP, which was another reason I tried the NetGear products.

A few days later my cable company (Insight) came out to install my internet service, and I plugged my Motorola SB4100 modem into the router, and again had no issues (besides my own inexperience). I had everything running through the router in about 20 minutes. Again, very simple.

I would definitely suggest this product if you are considering a wireless network. This card will also work with any 802.11b network, so you don't HAVE to purchase the NetGear router with this card; but I would suggest you did.