Customer Reviews
Works OK 
2008-04-20
This wireless PC card does work intermittently, but is very inconsistent and slow. Do not recommend!!
forget about the rebate amount 2004-12-14
product works great. but i never recieved the rebate amount. Whatever product you will buy from Netgear, you will never get the rebate amount.
Worked better than internal 54g card 
2004-10-12
This card works great and I haven't had any problems with it in spite of abusing it. However, the price seems a little high. You can buy newer models and even 802.11g cards for less.
I have used this card on 2 laptops. I used it on a work laptop that I used for travel, and then gave it to my daughter for her laptop, which she abuses. There is even a dent in the metal case. I was worried because about a quarter of the card sticks out from the laptop (for the antenna).
It came right up on both my computers, and I don't think I even needed to use the installation disc (maybe I did, I can't remember, but if I did, it was so easy that I forgot about it). Both my laptops have Windows XP.
The signal is very good. It is much better than the factory installed card that came with a Compaq computer. It is about the same as the internal card I have on an IBM laptop.
Note that with a router and this card, I am not able to get a good connection everywhere in my house. I blame that on the router and not the card. There are only so many walls 802.11 technology can penetrate. To get wireless connection to a remote bedroom, I bought a Buffalo router and repeater kit. It works great, when it works (the router had to be sent back to be fixed.)
Note that I have researched wireless networking systems, and they don't seem to be very reliable, especially wireless routers. I had both a Netgear and Buffalo wireless routers where the radio portion went out. These cards are probably more reliable.
If all you need this for is the internet, 802.11b is sufficient, because DSL or cable modems are not any faster. If you want to send video data between computers then you should go with 802.11g.
Great for OTHER operating systems and older laptops 2004-07-27
The Netgear MA401 802.11b Wireless PC Card is great for Windows 95, NT, Linux and Macintosh operating systems. The reason is that there are no other wireless cards that I know of that have DRIVERS for the wireless card to operate with the other operating systems. Newer Netgear products will not work.
The MA401 has a 16 bit PCMCIA interface is great for some older laptops that will not support a newer 32 bit cardbus interface.
This is in addition to the fact the MA401 is built well and has very good signal strenght.
Just stopped working 
2004-06-07
After using this with the MR814 router for over a year, my computer no longer recognizes this product as a wireless adapter. When it's plugged in, it's identified as the MA_(four box symbols), and won't recognize the drivers that are installed because of this bogus product name. The last time this happened, tech support, which was previously very helpful with set up (terrible, incomplete instructions included in the box), had me try to ping my router a few times and then said they couldn't help anymore. Since this problem has happened multiple times, I have fixed it by uninstalling the bogus name from the device manager list and then plugging the card back in, which usually worked. Once I had to do a system restore--I'd like to not resort to that again.
This may be a problem with the "hibernate" as in some previous reviews (my computer has hibernate issues anyway), but this latest problem occurred after a full shut down. When it works, I was pretty happy with it (wireless is amazing), but I've had regular enough headaches that I can't recommend it, at least not with my low-end Dell laptop.
Easy, never fails 2004-01-27
NETGEAR's MA401 802.11b Wireless PC Card gives you total freedom - it allows you to stay continuously connected to your Local Area Network without any wires. Roam freely throughout your office from one access point to another and continue to send and receive e-mail and use other network resources, such as files and printers, at 11 Mbps speed. Quickly and effortlessly network your employees, including those in remotely located offices in your building, minus the time and expense of Ethernet cabling. Standards-based 802.11b technology and 128-bit Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption provide your network with the highest level of reliability and privacy. Designed for PCs running Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, and 2000, the MA401 performs with a wide range of wireless Internet services available in airports and hotels, and supports the vast majority of notebook PCs.
Works 2004-01-04
Works with my Windows XP laptop and Netgear MR814 802.11b router. Latest release of XP worked with the card, did not have to install anything from the Netgear CD.
New to wireless, but it was simple!!! 2003-11-30
This netgear product had me scratching my head for a minute or two, but once I realized that I was connected to my network, I was happy. Setup was simple. Im on my laptop right now and can go anywhere in my house with an excellent signal. I would recommend this product to anybody. I tried using the Linksys Wireless B card, but it wasnt good at all. I returned it and got this. Definately 5 stars on this one.
Good Product. Non-existent Tech Support! 
2003-11-13
Sent to Netgear 11/12/03:
(The MA401 installed on my Windows 95 laptop without too much trouble a year ago. When I got a new SONY VAIO XP laptop, I tried to install the card in it.)
After contacting Netgear Tech Support twice and twice being connected to a non-primary english speaking staff person, my inability to install my MA401 Wireless PCM-CIA card on my new Sony VAIO XP laptop persists. The first person I "communicated" with directed me to a "personal" web page of a German for assistance. The second person that I "communicated" with told me to turn off my XP firewall but offered no instruction on how to do that, leaving me to investigate on my own how to complete that task. I did and while I have a wireless network connection now and an IP Address, I can still not connect to any resource through any browser.
After purchasing Netgear products for several years, my next purchases will be of another brand to see if they offer english speaking tech support staff that actually assists users.
Do (they) do any quality control of (their) tech support staff?
Works well 2003-11-11
The installation was very easy on my laptop running W98SE adn took less than 5 minutes. I'm using this card with the MR814 router from NetGear. I'm getting good reception from one end of the house to the other. The signal strength drops down to the 50% range, but the connection is still at 11 Mbps.
