NetGear RangeMax™ WPN311 (WPN311NA) 802.11g/b Wireless Adapter

This MIMO Netgear WPN311 RangeMax Wireless PCI Adapter offer better range when used with a matching router. In my opinion, the major flaw with this lies with the software offer by Netgear. The driver for this adapter works extremely well without the Netgear trashy configuring Smart Wizard software. Using this wireless card in conjunction with my new Netgear WPN 825 RangeMax Router, the WiFi range much much more consistent throughout the house and into the backyard. Whereas before with the old router and wireless card only part of my house was a WiFi hotspot. The router is installed in the living room in front of the house and my computer is located in the middle of the house in the basement. My signal level is excellent at that location. Using a laptop computer with a similar type of compatible WiFi card to test out the signal level throughout the house and the backyard. Even in the backyard the signal level varies from low to good.This system make use of reflected waves off the walls of the house with the use of multiple antennas at the router to get around obstacles that would ordinarily block signal. I've tried the same thing with the old router and wasn't able to connect in the back of the basement much less the backyard. That time, I tried that by moving my computer to the rear of the basement and having the connection drop constantly.

Because of interference from other WiFi networks in the vicinity of my house, I weren't able to use the 108 Turbo mode instead have to use the exclusively on Channel 8. I did try Turbo mode in the beginning and found the throughput to be less most of the time than with the.54 Mbps mode. During that time with less interference but did notice the throughput nearly double that of non-turbo mode. During the time of maximum interference I've detected more than 12 WiFi networks in the vicinity of my house.

I purchased the RangeMax router first before the new wireless cards and found even with the old card the range was better than before. I've tested for signal strength with the computer at the same location a second time in the back of the basement and found the signal level much improved with the new router in the same location in living room. During this test the computer was tested with the old WiFi card. With the new RangeMax was even better except for the flaw with Netgear's Smart Wizard software. I've had a few Windows BSOD caused by this software. Even if it didn't shut down my computer by causing BSOD it also cause the connection to constantly drop and freezes up on me. When it freezes up on me I cannot open or close Smart Wizard interface although the connection may remain connected. This problem occur under windows XP but runs fine under Windows Vista. From my experience, it is wise to use Windows Wireless Zero Configuration utility only instead of Smart Wizard. The connection is stable and solid using Wireless Zero Configuration .

I've discovered for maximum stability with fewer crashes and drop out it is best not to use Netgear's Smart Wizard. I would initially install the full program as directed by Netgear for windows XP and shut down the computer and insert the PCI card then followed the directions for full installation. Go online and download this, copy and paste this to your browser to download (http://www.netgate.com/support/Drivers/Atheros/5004/WLAN4.1.2.38_APPS4.1.1.211bin.zip ) Next, I would uninstall the Netgear Smart Wizard from your computer. The uninstallation also uninstall at the driver as well. Reboot, do not turn off the computer and wait for the prompt "found new hardware". And followed the directions to install the generic Atheros driver to get online again that was previouslydownloaded.You can just use these drivers or simply go to Windows Updates for the correct drivers. The best way to speed up this process is to right-click Computer for window Vista or My Computer for Windows XP. This will open Systems Properties then left click Hardware/left clicks Device Manager/left click the plus on network adapter to open. Left double click on the wireless card to open a window/left click on driver/left click update driver this will open welcome to Hardware Update Wizard window. Left click on yes then left click next/next this will allow Windows to go online to search for the best drivers. When Windows find a better driver driver and will then install it for you. When it finishes, you can just close the windows. The driver updates without affecting the encryption and you just earlier entered after installing the temporary driver. Another way would be to connect the computer using an ethernet cable to the router for Internet access to install the driver. First shutdown the computer and insert the wireless PCI card. Turn on the computer and wait for the "prompt" found new hardware. And followed the direction to download, install the driver downloaded directly from the Web. Once the driver is installed,disconnect the ethernet cable and configure the wireless LAN or WiFi using the Windows Wireless Zero Configuration or WLAN Autoconfig Utility under Windows Vista. I would use this method to install the driver under Vista exclusively. Another trait I found under Windows Vista WLAN autoconfig utility is that in order to connect to your network it has to have the SSID broadcast turned on. This is not the case using the Smart Wizard utility under XP. The Netgear Smart Wizard utility is all right under Vista although not great. In my opinion, I would rather turn on SSID broadcasts and use Windows WLAN Autoconfig utility.

This wireless card is different from from most Netgear wireless cards that it does not save a copy of the driver files in the driver folder in the root folder of Netgear. Because of this, an ethernet cable connection is the best way to obtain the driver files. There are three files involved. The alternative is to look for and manually download the file. Without using Netgear's crappy "Smart Wizard", the connection is much more solid and stable. This wireless card containing Athero chipsets and uses AR 5001 drivers. And the latest file version for this driver is 4.1.2.150. This wireless card use a single chip solution and only contain a single 13 mm square Athero AR2414A under the tin radio radiation shield.

I've purchased this factory refurbished PCI WiFi card off of eBay at justdeals.com for $13 plus shipping and tax for a grand total $20.09. Right now, you can buy this WiFi PCI card at justdeals.com for $16.95 plus $6.95 shipping without going through eBay. Being a factory refurbished product, the user manual and installation software is not included but can be downloaded at netgear.com. The warranty for this product is only 30 days.

Update November 21,2008: This wireless PCI card stop working. It happened gradually to a point where no matter what I do by disabling and enabling it to get it to connect. It sometime connects and then shortly disconnect afterward.  I even went as far as reinstalling the driver with no avail. Since my computer is configure as dual boot with another operating system, I was able to try it on another operating system and the result was the same. Under Vista, it even cause several BSOD.  And under windows XP Pro, it failed to connect especially after booting up the computer. Sometimes, I was able to get it to connect briefly by rebooting again. Eventually, it totally failed by freezing the computer on many occasions. Because of this problem I'm having with this product, I no longer recommend this product to anybody. I have much better experience with the older Netgear product and that is the WG311T. I happened to have two of these. This is what I'm using right now on this computer with my Netgear WPN 824 router.




Features






Features WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) and WPA-PSK (Wi-Fi Protected Access-Pre-Shared Key) SecurityUp to 10 times more wireless coverage and speed than standard 802.11g routers when used with a RangeMax RouterMIMO internal smart antennas adapt on the fly to interference100% compatible with 802.11b, 802.11g, and SuperG devicesWireless connection speeds up to 108 Mbps






System Requirements






Windows 98SE, Me, 2000 , XP & Vista
Available PCI slot
Physical Specifications

Network Speeds

* 1, 2, 5.5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54, & 108 Mbps (auto rate capable)** maximum of 54 under Vista

Interface

* 32-bit PCI bus

Encryption

* Hardware-based 40/64-bit & 128-bit WEP encryption
* WPA-PSK and WPA 2-PSK either TKIP - AES with both settings using the latest driver software

Frequency

* 2.412 ~ 2.462 GHz (US)
* 2.412 ~ 2.472 GHz (Japan)
* 2.412 ~ 2.472 GHz (Europe ETSI)
* 2.457 ~ 2.462 GHz (Spain)
* 2.457 ~ 2.472 GHz (France)

Electromagnetic Compliance