Netgear ME102 802.11b Wireless Access Point

I just received my ME102 today, and it was up and running in 5 minutes (not counting the time required to drive the screws [included] to wall-mount the unit near one of my Ethernet switches).I didn't find the USB-based configuration to be ideal. To be sure, it worked well. But I don't like installing drivers and software on my PC that will be used only once or occasionally, and the rest of the time just adds more junk to the Windows registry and is yet another thing added to program groups. (I have issues with clutter.)In any case, as others here have mentioned, documentation is sparse indeed. And frankly, if you don't know your TCP/IP network pretty well, and/or don't know the basics of wireless Ethernet concepts, you might well find yourself in over your head. The default configuration is far from one-size-fits-all, and the average home computer user will have trouble changing it -- especially with the somewhat non-intuitive interface to the config software.All that said, once this baby is set-up and running, it's great. I get terrific range and excellent performance, even with a basement mounted access point.My only caution: Beware of your 2.4 GHz cordless phones. This would be true of any 802.11b set-up, but some of these cordless phones will chew-up your data stream and spit it out in chunks on the carpet. Here, I have my choice between using the wireless Ethernet, or using a Panasonic 2.4 GHz phone... Any attempts to use both, and the phone wins. (The Panasonic is going in the trash very soon; a Uniden 2.4 GHz model cooperates fine.)

I think it must be the fault of 802.11 that these things have such poor range. My stupid 900mhz cordless phone goes all the way to the neighbors house yet this thing won't go from the office to the living room (I could probably do infrared from the office to the living room) without losing 74% of its signal strength.That said it was easy to setup, though it didn't have DHCP capability, so required me to set an IP address and it would have been better if they had allowed me to configure it via the net rather than a USB cable since it's on top of a tall bookshelf on the end of a 50' net cable (to get range).But that said it's a pretty solid piece of hardware and works flawlessly within the confines of the standard.

Personaly, I use a linux box with 2 nic cards as my firewall/router/server. I didn't really need the wireless routers that are available so I opted for this simple access point that would add wireless capability to my home network.I was a bit worried about getting it installed on XP, but it went without a hitch. You have to say Yes to the unsigned drivers, but everything installed fine with no driver errors. However, you do need to configure this device from a Windows computer via USB. Once you configure the access point, you no longer have to have it connected via the USB.They should have put some documentation in the software, but it's pretty self explanatory. Don't forget to set the encryption to at least 64bit. Also don't forget to set the 4 keys! Just enter a bunch of numbers and write it down so you can then do the same thing on the pc connecting into the network.

Worked fine for about 2 months, then broken. Customer service is crappy. I had to throw it away and buy a new one now.

This pice of gear is 10 year old technology and requires a Windows 98 PC to configure - what a joke

Make sure after you install the software you reboot your system or the installation will not work properly. After the installation, you do not get a prompt to reboot.

it was great, no longer use.

I installed the ME102 and had it up and running in less than 20 minutes (without enabling WEP and changing the SSID). The installation requires either a USB connection between the configuring computer and the access point, or an ethernet connection to use the SNMP connection. The quick start printed documentation and the full documentation on the CD are very good to get the unit configured quickly. However, the default configuration works but is not secure. The included guides don't show you how to properly implement security.As the number of people using wireless LAN is expected to rapidly increase, the security aspects of wireless networking become increasingly important. The Netgear ME102 is behind other competing products such as the Linksys WAP11 in this respect.It is important to change the SSID (same as ESSID) from the factory default to something different to prevent access by neighboring snoops for all access points (no matter what brand you run). This value has to be the same on your network access card for it to work. Second, it's probably wise to use the WEP encryption to safeguard your data from potential snoops.There are three deficiencies in this product that the WEP11 from Linksys does a bit better. 1) Linksys implemented 128-bit WEP. This is not available as of yet in Netgear's ME102. 2) The SNMP access is not password protected. This means that if a hacker or inquiring teenager gets into your system, he/she could potentially re-configure the system or allow wireless access to people you don't want on your system. 3) The ME102 does not limit access to known MAC addresses. The MAC address is a unique number like 00-30-AB-xx-xx-xx that is assigned to each network access card (MA401) or USB access (MA101) and other devices.If you already own a Netgear ME102 and you are a bit of an experimenter, there is a solution for you. It turns out that the Linksys WEP11 and the Netgear ME102 are built using the same chipset. So it is possible to download the upgraded software from the Linksys site and get these advanced features. It's working for me. I'm running 128bit WEP, Authorized MAC, and a password protected access point. However, I'm not giving you any guarantee nor would the resulting configuration be covered by Netgear's 24x7 service.I use an MA401 card in my laptop which runs XP.I use an MA401 card with an MA301 adapter in an older PC which runs Win95 and has no USB port.I use an MA101 USB network access device on a newer PC which runs WinME.My coverage area with my access point is sufficient to cover my 1/4 acre lot with better than 60% Link Quality and 60% Signal Strength in most places, including in the basement, backyard and dining room on my laptop. My house is a three-story split wood frame house. The access point is mounted high in the middle of my home.When combined with a good broadband service (I use Sprint Broadband), I am able to listen to continuous streams of music from launch.com while working and/or surfing and sharing the access with a four computers.Except for a few of the things to perfect my installation, the ME102 is a great accesspoint and should work well for anyone wanting to install a network in their house. It certainly beats installing CAT5 wire into pre-existing walls.NETGEAR: Get your act together and upgrade your security on this product. Also, site planning software can be useful to troubleshoot interference problems.Konrad Roeder (...)