Netgear Wireless USB adapter MA111, Any thoughts?

[REDRAIN]

I'm considering one of these for my laptop and second computer in the other part of the house
( 1600 Sq./FT ).
Does anyone have any opinions on this Co.? Any links to any reviews?
They have them on sale with rebates for about $29.99 AR / CompUSA / Staples.
The other question would be . Can you have two on the same network? My understanding ( & it's not much ) is that the USB adapter type may put out a better/stronger signal than the typical PCI cards?

thanks for any insight.

 

[egale]

Well, I just set up a Netgear WGR614 router and WG311 pc card. I had read good reviews of the Netgear router. Originally, the pc with the cable modem was in one room and the pc with the WG311 card was in the adjoining room. The distance between the two was about 22 feet with the separating wall in between. The signal was too low to keep a connection more than a second or two at a time.

Calling Netgear's tech support (offshore!) was a pain as it was difficult to get through. Finally after talking to them, they changed a bunch of setting which did nothing to increase the signal strength.

Finally on my own, I moved the router over to the connecting wall and mounted it on the wall about 6 feet up. This closed the distance to about 12 feet. It increased the signal to the point that I got a standard weak signal warning all the time but the connection stayed pretty constant. Then playing around with the settings on my own, I changed the channel the router was using and that for whatever reason boosted my signal up high enough that I now have a very good connection.

So, if you try to do wireless, it may or may not work. I think it is more luck than anything else getting these things running. If you can run a wire, you will be a lot better off.

 

[REDRAIN]

Thanks for your input. I have an existing router and about 50 ft of cable. I was just trying to get around the sub-flooring route. Crawl space etc. drilling holes in the floor / walls.
:frown:

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

I have several PCMCIA wireless cards, as well as a couple of assorted USB stand-alone wireless client modules with real antennas. There is no comparison between the two as far as range, the PCMCIA cards generally suck for range. If you're in a fixed location, go with the box with a real antenna on it, much easier to get a good signal.

 

[JackMDS]

When it comes to Entry Level Wireless Clients almost all of them are based on PCMCIA cards.

The so called USB is PCMCIA card connected under the plastic to a USB interface.

The so called PCI is PCMCIA plugged or soldered to PCI interface board.

Since the PCI and the USB are PCMCIA with additional interface circuitry and different buses the performance resultant is some what less (about 5%-10%) than pure PCMCIA.

What shell I use?

For Laptop the regular PCMCIA is the best solution,

For Desktop (or tower case) USB Wireless Client Card should be considered as the preferred solution.

Why?

Wireless is depending on signal propagation.

PCI Wireless Client Card ends up been stuck behind the computer's case, resultant in obstructed transmission and poor performance. USB is connected to the Port with 2-3' cable allowing the Antenna to be placed above the System for better Transmission.

However a PCI card is a good choice when a powerful external Antenna is needed for long distance. Many Wireless PCI cards come with a removable Antenna.

 

[InlineFive]

You should get the Netgear MR814v2. Mine has a 2db antenna which has excellent coverage, through brick walls 30ft away from the house and with a 2.4GHz cordless phone to bat at 11mbps, occasionally switching to 5mbps.

 

[Yo2]

I like netgear products. They are usually well made and solidly built. Their original MR814 Gateway Router to me still is the best residential gateway router ever sold. The MA 111 on the other hand is a neat idea, but it's range sucks. It works ok within 10 -20 feet from an access point, if its plugged directly into the pc or notebook, Even with a usb cable and trying to adjust position for signal strength, this little POS does not get more than 25-30 feet at best. Nice idea but failed implementation, I'll stick with usb adapters with antannas.

Yo

 

[duuuma]

This may be an old thread, but I'm bored...

basically, I DITTO what Yo and JackMDS says. I have a Netgear 814v2, with a desktop on the MA111 and a laptop on the original Netgear PCMCIA wireless B card. The MA111 loses connection randomly at certain times and the laptop's PC card remains stably connected at all times. I definitely believe the PCMCIA cards provide a much better wireless signal. I use to have the 814v1 but but am now using the smaller v2. Both routers have worked flawlessly for me.

I also used the Linksys wireless USB adapter with an antenna and it never lost connection, but it did eat up my CPU a whole lot when I played games, causing the processor to cut power to the usb device.

Originally posted by: Yo2
I like netgear products. They are usually well made and solidly built. Their original MR814 Gateway Router to me still is the best residential gateway router ever sold. The MA 111 on the other hand is a neat idea, but it's range sucks. It works ok within 10 -20 feet from an access point, if its plugged directly into the pc or notebook, Even with a usb cable and trying to adjust position for signal strength, this little POS does not get more than 25-30 feet at best. Nice idea but failed implementation, I'll stick with usb adapters with antannas.

Yo