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I bought this Netgear WG311 wireless card recently (01/2010) for my desktop which has Windows XP SP2. But I NEVER USE ANY PASSWORD TO START MY XP BEFORE. During the installation, Windows XP (SP2) shows warning of the software not compatible with XP. That was scary. Since the card I bought is actually the latest WG311v3 card, I thought the problem commented by people in 2004/5 should have been fixed by now with the Netgear CD marked 2009. I was wrong. I usually don't write a review but I feel that I have to write one today. Guess what, I can start my Windows XP.
How come Netgear still have the problem with XP/SP2 for people to install this WG311 card after so many years. After many tries and still failed, I tried the leave password blank. This is crazy. now bad thing happened. Before the installation, I checked the reviews and thought that I was prepared to some problems. After a few try, I don't know exactly how but now I can use the wireless card and the connection is good.
I decided to trust Netgear and clicked continue. After I restart my PC, all in sudden XP started to show the login window and ask me the password. However, I certainly don't recommend this card.
Drivers were the latest version, didn't matter if it was Netgear's or the drivers Windows found, it would only work once. Since I have been using a Netgear wireless router for at least five years I figured how bad could it be. Even after reading all the bad reviews, I still ordered this adapter. After that the card would need to be removed and reinstalled. Well, now I know. When it worked, it was great - the problem is it usually gave me an error message of "failed to start" on Vista. The adapter has been replaced with one from Linksys and the problem is gone.I had even purchased this same adapter a few weeks ago from another vendor for use on a machine running XP - it works fine on that computer. Maybe I got a bad adapter the second time, or maybe it doesn't play well with my new computer and Vista, but I don't know if I would recommend this piece to anyone else.
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. i got it becuase i didn't want to run a cable to the router. 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. connection goes off at times, needs a kick start. i run win xp pro sp2.but here are the issues it does in fact have. 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). the antenna can be better. i haven't upgraded the firmware in a while but other reviewers have said that the new firmware fixes some issues.[.].
Talking to customer service just resulted in additional hours of wasted time. 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. 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. Will not be buying any Netgear products any time in the near future. Apparently tech support must be so cheap, that it was worth wasting hours of everyone's time to avoid replacing an obviously defective product.
the netgear wireless adaptor is even better then what is shown on pics. it has a super antena.
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