NETGEAR WG511T Super-G Wireless PC Card Reviews

• Works as Advertised!

  
  By on 2003-10-20
  At least when paired with the Netgear WGT624 WAP/Router this card does indeed have a significant farther range than for instance the DLINK 614+ was was currently using. I can go from one corner of the house downstairs to a bedroom at the opposite corner of the house upstairs, on a waterbed at almost full speed (this gave the DLINK some trouble).

  It also comes with a nifty utility that does a better job than Windows with settings and statistics (like actual network throughput).

  One minor issue may be with how hot this card gets which is always a concern with a laptop. To the cards credit there are settings for Power Save and Transmit Power which may help.
  
  

• Crash and Burn

  
  By A212MDP6K4VJS5 on 2006-01-09
  I put this card in my wife's Dell Inspiron 4000 Laptop. It replaced a NetGear 802.11b card. Worked great! Then the Blue Screens of Death started. I have tried different combos of using Window's XP to control the card (against recommendations but is more stable) and using different versions of the software for both the card and NetGear's controlling software to no avail. I am now down to the last attempt, using Window's updated software for the card with Windows controlling the card. We'll see.
  
  
  Pros- Incredible range. Shows 2 more networks in my neighborhood then my Centrino notebook. Super fast page loading.
  
  Cons- Crashes the computer. It causes memory dumps that corrupts running programs. The NetGear newsgroups show that it is a known problem with their cards and customer service doesn't have a fix. Do the research yourself. One thing that MAY be the reason for the crashes is that some were using an XP upgrade from ME, which this laptop also has.
  
  But try it for yourself. It is a great card when its not crashing the system. There are so many different configuations it may work. If not, return it. Good Luck!
  
  

• Success With Older Dell and Win98 SE

  
  By A1MFV0CNCJPP74 on 2005-12-03
  I bought this card for an older Dell Inspiron 7000 running Win98 SE.
  
  If you buy this card, I recommend that you first go to the [...] website, click on the support tab, choose Downloads, highlight the WG511T Adapter and download the latest firmware driver revision, ver 3.9. When you unzip it, it has the driver file, the user guide and the install guide. Read the Install Guide before you do anything.
  
  Don't bother with the bundled CD-ROM. Install the downloaded driver from the setup file and reboot, as it requests. When I ran the driver setup, I got a general protection fault message. I cancelled it and the setup seemed to continue just fine. After reboot the driver database was set up in Windows. At that point, I turned the laptop completely off and then inserted the card.
  
  Upon bootup again, Windows found the card and loaded the proper drivers. It again directed a reboot. After that, the card was powered up and began searching for my network.
  
  Be sure that you know the proper settings for your router. If it's set not to broadcast your SSID, then you must tell the Netgear card the name of your network in the Netgear Smart Wizard that controls the card. Also, if you're using WPA-PSK security on your router, you have to select the Advanced Security portion of the card setup and manually type in your Shared Key.
  
  After I did that, The card immediately locked onto my network. I tried to open an internet connection, but it failed to do so after the "Detecting Proxy Settings" message had been displayed for awhile. I went into Internet Tools on the browser and reset all of the security settings to the defaults, closed the browser and reloaded it. It then found the internet connection and worked flawlessly.
  
  I recommend a lot of patience during this whole process. Many of these laptops are older machines with slow processors and operating systems and you have to be sure and wait during the install process. Watch your hard drive indicator light and be sure that everything has finished loading before clicking on the next step.
  
  Many reviews on this card have mentioned the confusing blinking lights. They're explained in the User's Manual. Some folks have also mentioned that the card runs hot. Mine seems warm, but not unusually hot.
  
  Durability has been questioned by some, but since I just installed mine a few minutes ago, I cannot address that. Hopefully, Netgear has addressed the issue. Thus far I'm extremely pleased with the card.
  
  
  

• Great 108 Mbps Wireless PC Card

  
  By ASQ94DFXVVPHR on 2004-05-01
  My entire wireless network is now made up of Netgear components and this card works great just like the rest of them.
  The main feature I like about the card is its ability to operate at 108 Mbps with my WGT634U router (in 108 Auto mode) while still allowing my other notebooks to operate at their 54 Mbps maximum.
  The supplied software is just as great as the version that came with my Netgear WAG511 card. So setup and security was a snap.
  I am using the card primarily on a KDS laptop running Windows Me (I know) which is a small wonder in its own right. It runs great without any problems or blue screens (knock wood).
  From time to time, I use the card in my Dell Inspiron 8100 running Windows XP Professional. I have to interchange it with a Xircom NIC/Modem card I'm using though but still no major issues in doing so.
  I originally got the WAG511 card because of its dual band a/b/g capibilities but it only achieved 108 with my router in 108 only mode which would not allow my other 54 cards to function. Hopefully, Netgear will release a new driver for 108 auto support like that of this WG511T card.
  
  

• customer service in hell

  
  By A2F90XSSU4RSGD on 2005-12-14
  I bought this card and the matching netgear router at the same time. I had throughput problem which was resolved after searching internet. However, the connection keeps dropping randomly, no matter what I did.
  
  I exchanged a few emails with their support. No help there, then they asked me to call so that we could try a few things together.
  
  I called this evening. After long wait and answering questions like serial number/model number/etc., I was really amazed in the end that the clueless netgear representative told me the solution was to go back to store and return the product.
  
  It seems that they don't give a damn to their customer or their buggy product.
  
  To make things worse, the barely English speaking representative didn't want to find me a technition who knows a bit more than registering the product, he didn't want to tell me his name, and he didn't connect me to his supervisor either. I have to say that I've never ever had this kind of bad customer service call with any company.
  
  Netgear set the new low record, congratulations!
  
  
  
• works with suse linux
  By A4RQLOK6VUOOL on 2006-02-22
  i am running suse 9.3 on an older sony desktop that has a pcmcia slot. i was using an older 802.11b card but wanted to upgrade to WPA-PSK so started looking for a G card that would work with suse. searching the internet i found that cards with the atheros chipset are supported without use of third party "wrappers" and windows drivers. i inserted the card and went to YaST configuration and the card was recognized! i turned MAC address filtering and encryption off in my router. this eliminates 2 variables and makes getting set up easier. after i made sure i was connecting to the internet i turned MAC filtering and encryption on. so far no problems. the card gets great reception. my router is an smc barricade G. i have a motorola usb wireless access point hooked to an old hp desktop and my mac mini using airport extreme wireless. all work great together.
  
  
• Easy install, steady operation at home and on the road...
  By A3CW0ZLUO5X2B1 on 2006-05-27
  I purchased this in a bundle with a Netgear WGT 624 router (the router to replace an router that had stopped working). The router/card package were deeply discounted at brick and mortar store (hint: "that was easy"), so I figured it would be a nice way to upgrade my laptop's wireless data transfer rate (at least while working at home with Netgear's proprietary higher data rate format).
  
  Set up and install were trouble-free, and the card immediately recognized my network (and many of my neighbors') and was connected right away. I've since used it in multiple hot spots (802.11g and 802.11b), and it has detected and connected with no problems.
  
  I seem to go through Netgear routers like some people go through light bulbs, but I've enjoyed great success with their wireless adapters (both PCMCIA, PCI and USB interfaces). I'm enjoying the faster data rates at home and the ease of connection on the road.
  
  In the world of wireless products (routers and adapters): just like with cars, anybody can sell you a lemon. There are complicated hardware and software environments and you never know what's going to work or not until you plug it in...this one was a winner for my needs.
  
  
• Works excellent in Debian Linux box
  By A19S3JSCAIWS26 on 2004-12-16
  My use of the card has been limited to wireless connections at places like Starbucks and airports, which is regular 802.1b at 54 Mbps, I believe. Within the limited use, my experience with the card has been only pleasing. Although I use the card with Debian Linux, the installation was as easy as it gets thanks to MADWiFi (see http://madwifi.sourceforge.net/). A bit of kernel configuration (enabling standard kernel options for wireless, pcmcia, etc.), apt-getting deb packages pcmcia-cs and wireless-tools, and updating /etc/network/interfaces as usual got it working for me.
  
  I had another wifi card (PCI) on my desktop, and that one (Linksys) was a [...], though. The key for finding hardware for a Linux box is really relying on other people's experience (tons of them on the web) and to get the one that's supported well by an open source project. This one is.
  
  
• Great so far, but...
  By A1PY6SJT8UHL92 on 2005-07-05
  I purchased this product for a Dell Inspiron 8000 (Windows 2000, Pentium III 900) in March 2005, and so far (July) I had no problems, except the fact that the card heats up quite rapidly, so that the fan keeps working almost all the time while I am online. Installation was quick and easy, and the laptop immediately recognizes the card once I plug it in. Overall I am quite satisfied with the product, and the price looks all right too. (...)
  
  
• Crashed and burned
  By on 2004-01-13
  This card caused many problems on my 1yr old laptop. My laptop would freeze completely several times a day. The card also caused windows XP to generate the blue screen of death during normal network activity. the problems were intermittent. sometimes it would run OK for a few hours, but I never got 10X faster than my old '11b stuff. So, I returned it along with the 108mbps router. good riddance.
  
  
• Never buying from Netgear again
  By A3OCJ55527ARJ on 2006-12-20
  Bought this card and it worked fine for a couple months. Then it started dropping the connection an average of every couple of minutes. I tried every fix I could find on the internet and nothing. So I tried their email support -- they gave me a bunch of standard cut-and-paste responses until they finally said they were upgrading it to a tier 2 technician, whereupon they quit talking to me (I've yet to hear back from them, despite repeated emails). So I tried calling -- they said it's a software issue and I can either go back to email support (remember: no word for over a month despite repeated emails) or I can get premium support for $32.99 for 15 minutes -- which is asinine since if I use tech support for half an hour, it'd cost me more than what I spent on the card.
  
  If you buy this card, pray that nothing ever goes wrong with it -- if it does, you're screwed. For my part, based on this card and pretty much every experience I've had with Netgear, I'm never buying from them again.
  
  
• As advertised
  By APYJYIG6AVMTT on 2004-03-11
  I purchased the card with the Netgear WGT624 Super G 108 Mbps Wireless Router. My laptop is a Dell Inspirion PII (3yrs old). No problems whatsoever, speed as advertised. The card also stays relatively cool to the touch. The range is also fantastic.
  I don't know if it is attributable to the router, card or both. Who cares? I now have a great wireless combo to last me until the next better and faster (relatively inexpensive) protocall is available.
  
  
• BEST WIRELESS ROUTER ANY SPEED
  By A2HRTJDGP1D8L9 on 2004-08-23
  Replaced a Linksys BEFW11S4 802.11b with NETGEAR WGT264 108Mbs
  in a concrete and steel building that I literally had very little coverage in. Easy setup of NETGEAR 108, less than 15 minutes with 4 computers and 2 network printers in series with NETGEAR FS605 5 port router. I am set to 108 only with WG511T cards in laptops and have 5 times the coverage I had with Linksys. I am on a state highway with a Dunkin Donuts on the other side of the highway and I can sit there and listen to streaming music from Itunes website, I estimate 60 yards, wow.
  Works like it should, drops to 96, than 54, than 32 I haven't dropped below 16Mbps. Has been on line now 3 days and hasn't
  dropped out.If it makes a difference I set it not to broadcast the SSID. This is at work, I am going to replace the Linksys at my house this weekend with a WGT264 my son has been complaining for a year that he loses connection with the Linksys I put at the wrong end of the house and didn't want to wire the
  whole house again.
  Definitely SUPER G !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  
  
• Like a champ
  By AGSRYAASOLFHT on 2003-12-10
  I've seen some negative reviews of this card on other sites, but I can't seem to find a thing wrong with it. I purchased this card with the WGT624 and have had nothing but a great experience with it. Distance is great, stability, speed and features work as advertised. I'm thinking about getting another one for my wife as well. Great product!!
  
  
• turns my new laptop to sludge
  By A3HDMPSOUYEXIC on 2004-03-07
  from the moment this was plugged in it slowed my new laptop to an all but grinding halt....
  I dearly wanted it to work, have tried everything....
  But it is going back
  
  
• You get: Blue Screen of Death and Useless Tech Support
  By on 2004-04-10
  Causes my Dell C600 laptop running XP to Blue Screen -- often. Sometimes it reboots and works; sometimes it hoses up something in the registry that prevents it from working without reinstalling Windows. Contacted Tech Support [sic] on 28 December 03 and they (silently) gave upon 1 March 04. They make no effort to debug, they just say try an older driver. And these useless suggestions take them days to make. You don't need this headache; buy from a different manufacturer.
  
  
• It works great
  By A68RC8D9NF65R on 2004-06-19
  I dont want to repeat all the good things said about this product. I have always been a netgear fan, because they make solid network equipment. This is my first netgear wireless equipment, and it works great just like other netgear products.

  One thing to remember though...you need to download and install the new driver in order to take advantage of the new WPA firewall security feature.
  
  

• The best 802.11G card I have used
  By AGSTDU6WFYR2T on 2005-11-12
  I have two other name brand 802.11G wireless cards which are pretty good but in terms of sensativity and signal stability, the Netgear WG511T is the clear winner. I bought this card as a refurb so I was disturbed by the rather dismal reviews written by some dissatified reviewers. I felt that I was likely getting one of the problematic returned cards but upon delivery, the setup was quick, the software indepth and within under ten minutes I was surfing my cloaked WEP enabled AP at almost 100% signal strength from most points inside my residence and 50% on my back patio. Plus, I was seeing two other neighboring APs that I did not even know existed! I am baffled by the poor experience reported in reviews of this card and other similiar products. I suspect that environmental inference is usually the cause of many of the sporatic stability issues mentioned. One of my friends had attempted to install a Netgear wireless router but could not make it work despite spending an hour or more with Netgear support. I reset the router to it's defaults and set it up at my house. It worked flawlessly for the few days I had it. The last time we spoke he was still having trouble installing the router in his preferred location so perhaps his experience is similar to at least some of the other complaints. Whatever the situation, my experience with the Netgear WG511T has been exceptional across the board.
  
  
• best wifi card 4 linux
  By A3RN8AYK3UYEE2 on 2006-06-01
  I have tried many brands of wifi cards on linux and this card seems to work best (at least for me). No special configuration, no third party utilities. Just plug in, configure card using linux built in utilities and done. This card is awsome.
  
  
• Works with Linux out of the box
  By A5CYUZCCXKNS0 on 2007-03-21
  I needed a wireless card for Dell Latitude notebook. The complication was that it should work with both XP and Linux (Kubuntu). This one does that beautifully.
  
  
• Excellent card for the novice or intermediate user.
  By on 2004-01-08
  I purchased my Netgear card at Fry's electronics for $49.00 (a real steal)in mid December 2003 and have been happy with its performance. I was unable to connect to a wirless router in my house. After calling tech support, I realized the fault was my own. I did not have the profile or proper WEP key enabled. Since then it has worked perfectly. It has never lost or dropped my connection even with a weaker signal of about 45%. Anything below that puts you in the 5.5 Mbps to 1Mbps and can be unrealiable. The user interface config utility is very easy to use. You can scan for availble access points and display type, signal strength, security, and address. I love this thing. I've had poor experience with D-link. Fed my old one to the dog. Netgear rocks! Enough said
  
  
• Good luck with tech support...
  By on 2004-04-01
  Used the product for about a week and it worked fine...until the day that it crashed my laptop. After that it was never to work again. When i called tech support, i was told that until i register online, i cannot get support. I inquired how could I possibly register online if I cannot get online. After registering the next day from my office computer, I called 3 times and got 3 different support people. None spoke english well, none had any idea what was wrong, 1 hung up in frustration, the other told me to reboot hang up and call back, and the other simply said im sorry, im sorry, im sorry. I was forced to return the product.
  
  
• Backup your files before installing!
  By AV9XQQFUC1WOY on 2005-01-26
  I actually got this card to use in wifi hot spots or at friends' places that have a wireless connections setup since I myself only have dial-up at home. My laptop is a 2001 Compaq Presario 12XL325 purchased in 2001 running Windows ME, 650mhz Pentium III, 192MB RAM. The 1st card I got from Amazon during installation caused a fatal registry error to my laptop requiring me to reformat my PC...yes! REFORMAT, which means I had to use my factory recovery CDs, reload all software programs again, and all files. Luckily, I religiously backup my files periodically so I didn't lose anything, but what a hassle! Well after reformatting, I tried loading the driver and Netgear card again. Everytime, the driver would install fine, then when I stuck the card in, ME would recognize new hardware and then try to install the card....that's when it froze my PC everytime just like the 1st time...I tried this about 3 times. And on the 3rd time, it made ME have a fatal registry error again...yes, another REFORMAT-UGH!
  
  I called Tech Support and the dude from India (?) told me to download the latest driver from their website. The installed driver from Netgear's website did seem to install better; however, this didn't work...everytime, my laptop would freeze after I inserted the card in the PCMCIA slot for the 1st time after downloading the software. The tech guy then said to put the card into another laptop to which I told him heck no...no way I would risk my friends' laptop having a fatal registry error. So basically, the tech guy told me to exchange it which Amazon did no problem.
  
  I got my second card, used the website driver instead of the one from the CD and then crossed my finger and inserted the card into the PCI slot. Yikes...another freeze. But this time, after rebooting, magically my laptop now read the card. I was able to then use it at a wifi spot effortlessly. Plus I can read 3-4 connections where I live, although I can't use those connections since I don't have my neighbor's security codes.
  
  Overall, the card seems to be a good value for it's price and Super G, G, and b compatibility. However, watch out before you install it...it may cause a fatal registry error so backup everything prior to installation. Now that the card is up and running, I love it. I don't have any comparison for reception strength, but the card seems to have a fairly strong reception.
  
  
  
• Netgear excels again
  By A10T8J53N3JPK1 on 2005-03-01
  The WG511T is a great networking card. Pros are that it has Super G (108 Mbs) capability and that it installs easily with exisiting networks. Cons - none so far.
  
  I bought the card to replace the Netgear MA401 802 11b card (11 Mbs) that was good, but doesn't have the speed or range that this card has. If you are thinking of having a wireless network 802 11g is the minimum speed you should consider (54 Mbs) - this is up to 5 times faster than the original 802 11b networks and allows you to stream music and photo files quickly. If you are considering playing wireless music stored on a hard drive this is the minimum speed to consider.
  
  Buying the Super G WG511T card allows you the benefits of faster networking where it is available by paying a $10 to $15 dollar premium for the card over 802 11G cards. This card works well and has better range than other cards.
  
  
• drastically changed my wireless experience at home!
  By A1LDBSN0U8D5F6 on 2005-03-05
  I have a laptop at home and had been using a Dell wireless card to access the internet. In recent weeks, the card had begun to fail. So I got the WG511T... One word: amazing! I can surf from anywhere in the house with a strong signal.. it's great. Totally love the wireless again!
  
  
• Breaks after awhile...Great when it runs...
  By ACPM6XKVR7HT3 on 2005-06-23
  This is my second Netgear wireless PC Card. When they run, it's great. I really like the software that comes with the cards. BUT...
  
  This is the second card that has broken on me for the same reason. Basically, something breaks down inside the casing so that the only way that I can get the card to register with the laptop is by applying upwards pressure on the card. Sounds weird, but if you have this problem, (1) Insert the card while applying some upwards pressure under the LED part (2) When it is inserted, continue to apply upwards pressure against the card. If you stop applying pressure, the card will slip back into "broken" state and cause your laptop to freeze.
  
  I know this sounds unusual, but this has happened with two different Netgear cards that I have owned. I thought the first time was a fluke, and I bought the second one to assure compatibility with my home access points. I wonder if I should just continue to expect to buy a new card every 12 months.
  
  I hope this helps...
  
  
• Hard to connect & worked for 11 months
  By A2FRT5DOB0ASN1 on 2005-09-27
  I bought the WG511T in a kit with the router. It was extremely hard to get connected together & my distance was only about 15 feet. After talking with a Techie in India which I could hardly understand I finally got it loaded but haven't been able to use the WAP & WEP security. It has performed well for 11 months then started crashing my computer. I talked to Support and they said it was an interrupt problem so talk to my computer dealer. I talked with Dell and ran the diagnostics which said all was fine and was a Windows problem. I then restored the system to a checkpoint 2 weeks ago and it seems to work alright for now. It still seems touchy because if I press or bump on the top of it at all my computer crashes. It may be a good piece of equipment, I don't know. Another thing, after I filled out my rebate and sent it in as they directed, they didn't pay it and claimed I didn't send it in right but I did it just as they said. That was very disappointing as that was the main reason I bought it over Linksys in the first place. Knowing what I know now, I would have bought the Linksys.
  
  
• Bought it for range, but it was great for everything!
  By A321P24VRT1VT6 on 2006-02-01
  While my notebook came with an integrated network card, the range was terrible. Installing this card resulted in access in places that were otherwise off-limits. In addition, throughput is excellent, and lag when gaming is also excellent. Installation was very simple. Works great with my Linksys WRT54GS router at home and at corporate hotspots and VPN networks.
  
  The only possibly drawback is that I've only recently started using it, so I have no comments regarding its reliability. I also haven't used the 108Mbps speeds.
  
  
• Netgear WG511T Super G 108 Mbps Wireless PC Card
  By A2FWSI02TEDJ94 on 2006-02-23
  Plug it in and go. Real simple, works great!
  
  
• Free your PC
  By on 2003-10-16
  Stop tripping over cables - this card is easy to install and works perfectly.
  
  

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• NETGEAR WG111T Super-G Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter
• NETGEAR WG511 Wireless-G PC Card
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