|
the antenna can be better. i am aware of the external factors that can cause this (lot of metal around etc)., but the environment i have it in is pretty clean. connection goes off at times, needs a kick start. i installed this on a PC i only use for quiescent data backups, BT downloads and the like(speed is not really critical), so i guess i am happy with this thing for the price. i haven't upgraded the firmware in a while but other reviewers have said that the new firmware fixes some issues.[.]. i run win xp pro sp2.but here are the issues it does in fact have. i got it becuase i didn't want to run a cable to the router. whether or not they are a problem depends on your application: sitting about 20ft away from the access point, it doesn't show "excellent" signal strength (indicates 1 bar less than the max).
Talking to customer service just resulted in additional hours of wasted time. Will not be buying any Netgear products any time in the near future. This wireless card causes my windows xp computer to crash non-stop. Worse than wasting $40 on this card was the wasted hours of my life. Apparently tech support must be so cheap, that it was worth wasting hours of everyone's time to avoid replacing an obviously defective product. Uninstalling the Netgear supplied software solves the crashing problem, but the card can not stay connected to the Netgear router. The two laptops I have stay connected with no problem.
it has a super antena. the netgear wireless adaptor is even better then what is shown on pics.
I still have not resolved this issue, but will try bypassing the NETGEAR driver and utility using the steps outlined in other reviews. I have v1 of the WG311. Thanks to all who have addressed these issues. (When connected, the WG311 works beautifully and is faster than my previous network). I had previously installed it in an older system running WinME in which it worked great. After recently installing in new system (WinXPSP2), with the supplied Netgear driver& utility (both installed together from the CD), I could not get a CONNECT using a WEP key, but can connect with security disabled (WGR614v4 router-Comcast BB).
I've just upgraded to a cheaper edimax pci card which has 5 bars of signal through 3 interior walls and a ceiling. Even when the computer was within 30 feet of the router it still registered a lousy 3 bars. I expected more from netgear. I bought this card to give wireless access to my desktop which is downstairs. It often lost connection, and at its most effective level gained 1 bar of signal.
|
