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Austria
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748 Review
38 Karma

Review on πŸ“Ά Enhance Your Network with the Netgear ME102 802.11b Wireless Access Point by Matthew Davenport

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Works great, inexpensive but not for network newbies

Received my ME102 today and it was up and running in 5 minutes (not counting the time it took to screw in the screws [included] is needed on the wall - mount the unit next to one of my ethernet switches). I didn't find a USB based configuration ideal. It definitely worked well. But I don't like installing drivers and software on my computer that are used only once or infrequently and the rest of the time just add more junk to the windows registry and are just another thing added to program groups. (I have issues with clutter.) However, as mentioned here, there is really little documentation. And frankly, if you don't know your TCP/IP network well enough and/or don't understand the basic concepts of Wireless Ethernet, you may find yourself in a dilemma. The default configuration is far from universal and the average home computer user will struggle to change it, especially with the somewhat unintuitive configuration software interface. it works, it's great. I get amazing range and great performance even with an AP installed in my basement. My only warning: beware of your 2.4GHz cordless phones. This would apply to any 802.11b setup, but some of these cordless phones chew on your data stream and spit it on the carpet. Here I have the choice between a wireless Ethernet network and a 2.4 GHz Panasonic phone. Any attempt to use both and the phone wins. (Panasonic will be in the trash very soon; Uniden's 2.4GHz model works fine.)

Pros
  • There's something to it
Cons
  • Minor issues