Whatever: Netgear 802.11b MA401 WiFi card $75 at buy.com (price mistake of the day)

[crypticlogin]

Netgear MA401 $75 Price Mistake of the Day.


if you want it, you know where to find it.

 

[Mockmaw]

Any chance on a link?

 

[nealh]

free shipping is not included for price mistake of the day..according to the free shipping coupon pop up

 

[pawnbroker]

I haven't seen one of these cards but after buying a Netgear print server I vowed to never buy another of their products. It works, but setup is arcane and cumbersome.

 

[llc00ljoel]

anyone know if it has linux support?

 

[crypticlogin]

According to the driver CD, it supports:

* linux-2.2.9 + pcmcia-cs-3.1.8 + RedHat6.0
* linux-2.2.12 + pcmcia-cs-3.0.14 + RedHat6.1
* linux-2.2.14 + pcmcia-cs-3.1.24 + RedHat6.2

I guess other distributions/packages are up to you to try.

 

[saphyrestar]

Brand new Lucent's 802.11 cards(silver) go for about $70 on ubid, and you can use the $20 rebate for first time customers if you open up a new account, bringing the price down to about $58 after shipping and everything.

 

[crypticlogin]

The silver only supports 64-bit WEP encryption. The Netgear does 128. If the price difference is worth the difference in security, the Lucent/Ubid deal looks good, too.

 

[Athena]

saphyrestar is right, the Orinoco Siilver on ubid is a much better option. The Orinoco card with Lucent chip has much better range. Using the Netgear card with WEP enabled is so painfully slow, that hardly anyone uses it all so that distinction doesn't isn't as persuasive as it seems on paper. If you need WEP (which offers only superficial security) you shouldn't be using any of the cheap cards -- pay the extra money and get the Orinoco Gold ($109 at TechDept)

In addition, the Netgear MA401 can be obtained as a special order item for $75 any day of the week using price matching and a coupon at Staples. If you match at its regular price, you also get the free shipping allowance. Even then though, it is not worth it. This card uses the same chip as the SMC but has shorter range.

 

[crypticlogin]

<< In addition, the Netgear MA401 can be obtained for $75 any day of the week using price matching and a coupon at Staples. If you match at it's regular price, you also get the free shipping allowance. >>



I did think of this but I didn't find a Staples that carried the MA401. What zip code are you looking at?



<< This card uses the same chip as the SMC but has shorter range and only one WEP option >>



It uses both 64- (or 40-, however you want to look at it) and 128-bit WEP, not just one.

 

[RagManX]

<< The silver only supports 64-bit WEP encryption. The Netgear does 128. If the price difference is worth the difference in security >>



There are automated tools that break WEP in a few minutes now. The implementation of the cryptographic protocol in WEP is flawed, and should be considered non-existant when dealing with security issues over wireless. If you need security, every machine needs VPN software, and you must only allow VPN connections. I wouldn't spend the extra money to get the Netgear, if the "security" levels are the only difference.

RagManX

 

[fr]

Price Mistake of the Day, WTF?

 

[Slacker]

LOL Price Mistake of the Day Buy.com has a sense of humor?

 

[JoshFink]

Also, most of the time when you enable WEP it drops throughput to about 50%.. That and the fact it can be broken, it is almost usually useless to enable it.

The Orinoco card is top notch and I've never had a problem with it.

Josh