So I dug out an old Winbook XL2 the other week hoping to try and breathe new life into the machine through a fresh Linux installation. However, despite a 2x DVD drive and an LS 120 drive, the lack of an Ethernet port would really limit its usefulness to me. Given that I have a wireless router, a wireless PCMCIA card might be a better choice than a wired Ethernet card. So it's now up to the weekly sales, Ebay, or another source to make that decision for me. As luck might have it, CompUSA was advertising in their weekly flier the week before Easter a $50 manufacturer's rebate for the Netgear WG511U 108Mbps Wireless PC card. In addition CompUSA was offering another $10 rebate on top of that, bringing the total cost after rebate to a staggeringly low $10. Sold!


Features

The Netgear WG511U card can act as your standard wireless interface card. It workes on the standard 802.11b/a/g wireless technologies. However, the advantage of this card over others is that it claims to reach speeds of 108Mbps, double that of most other home wireless networks, by accessing two 54Mbps signals and taking the faster connection. Since Netgear also had a router (WGU624) which sold for $20 after rebate, I decided to see for myself. This router puts out two signals (they claim they're both 108Mbps, but I don't think that's entirely correct) and the network card, in this case the WG511U, picks the route with the least interference. It sounds like a good way to make data flow more efficient throughout your house, but I interference exists everywhere, which I would think could get in the way from time to time.

The WG511U network card says that the signal operates on 16 channels so that it helps deter microwaves, phones, neighboring networks, and other devices that operate on the same frequency.

Finally it also says that on this double 108Mbps network, it can increase your range by up to three times.


Performance

The Netgear WG511U advertised three features that I took to task with regards to performance. The first being that it could pick up two wireless connections at 108 Mbps. For this it did seem to speed up the connection for large files, but it wasn't as dramatic as I thought it would have been. The speed standing right next to the router was picking up a speed of 150K/s. In the far reaches of the house it slowed down to about 45K/s before I started losing signal integrity.

The second being that it uses 16 channels to minimize interference. So I put my microwave in between my computer and router and turned everything on. My computer is sitting in an area of the house that's prone to unstable connections. The connection stayed stable for the most part but the speed drastically decreased. When I started using a 2.4 GHz cordless phone, at the same time, it couldn't maintain a stable connection at all. Finally, I also turned on my other wireless router in the vicinity, but the performance remained the same. So overall it didn't exactly do what it claimed, but who puts their microwave in between their computer and router anyway?

The other claim it made was that it could increase your range by up to 3X. While I did see my signal integrity increase slightly in the outer reaches of the house. However, the range might have increased by maybe 1.5x, nowhere near the 3x they advertised.

The overall performance was pretty solid though. The connection integrity was pretty good overall and I was able to maintain some very good connection rates.


Compatibility

The Operating System compatibility was tremendous. I tested the compatibility on Windows 98, Windows XP Home, Windows XP Professional, SuSe 10 Linux, Knoppix 4.0.2, Kanotix, and Ubuntu Breezy Badger. Each of the Windows versions required using the install CD to install the interface software, but both versions of XP recognized the hardware as soon as it was plugged into the PCMCIA slot. On the Linux side, every operating system recognized the card on installation or boot up except Ubuntu. During installation it could detect the card, but had trouble auto detecting the configuration parameters. However, after the first boot up, running ndiswrapper on the windows inf file and fixing the resolv.conf file was all it took to get it up and running perfectly. I didn't have to worry about the card since.

As far as the hardware compatibility, it worked great as well. I tried it on my old Linksys router at home and the new WGU624 Netgear router I got. The first test was with no password or secure authentication. The card had no problems finding the router or connecting to it. After I turned on the various forms of authentication, it could connect with a little bit of adjustment on my part. It also was able to connect to the wireless network I have at work as well. However, I'm not sure what hardware that is or if it belongs to one of the adjacent businesses. So overall from a compatibility standpoint this card can work with most hardware and operating systems.


Software

The software is a mixed bag of good and bad. The bad is that Netgear products have their own drivers and software that interfaces with your wireless access point. This software sits in your system tray, which can be annoying if you're trying to minimize the amount of programs the reside there. What I don't understand is why this utility cannot simply use the mechanism into the operating system for simple setups like mine. The good news is that this program doesn't take up as much memory and doesn't slow down your boot up time or overall performance of your computer hardly at all.

Another good aspect about the software is it's pretty easy to install. The installation CD provides clear and easy steps to getting the software on your machine. Setting up your connection can be a little taxing depending on how much you know. If you're using obscure forms of authentication on your wireless router or access point, then it can be a little tricky to get the information if you don't already have it. Netgear can attempt to narrow down some of this information for you and simplify it, but it doesn't always work. If you're on Linux, it can be even trickier because Linux has their own connection mechanism that isn't as user friendly and can use different terminology for your network name, and authentication options. If you're using a Netgear brand wireless router or access point, it can be much easier, but overall I think that Linksys does a much better job of simplifying the installation and connection between their own products.


Durability

With wireless PCMCIA cards, you have 3 different concerns with regards to its durability. First, how far does the card jut out from the slot in the computer? The WG511U juts out almost a full inch (likely ~3/4"), which can present a problem with kids or pets but it could be much worse. Second, is there an antenna that connects to the card that could potentially get broken off? Luckily the answer here is no. The receiver antenna is built into the 3/4" piece that sticks out, so there's nothing to get broken off. Finally, how does it fit into the slot in your computer? On my Winbook XL2, it fits pretty snuggly, perhaps too much so. The top tends to scrape along the top of the slot, but there's no movement and the connectors allow for little if not no movement whatsoever. Given all this information, if you're careful about the 3/4" part of the card that juts out from your PCMCIA slot, and you're not removing the card very often, you should see this card last for a long time. Netgear tends to build reliable products internally and I have many products from them which have lasted for years without issue.


Conclusion

Overall, this is a great card. While I'm not completely thrilled with the software Netgear products install on your computer, I have to admit that the footprint doesn't affect your computer's performance as much as other programs out there. The compatibility is very good and interacts very well with other established wireless manufacturers like Linksys. The performance doesn't exactly lives up to the claims on the box, but it does perform better than most wireless PCMCIA cards out there. Overall I was very impressed and wish that all my other wireless cards worked with such precision.

Recommended: Yes