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* Vitals [1]
* Official Details [2]
* Pictures [3]
* Operating Systems [4]
* Windows [5]
* Linux [6]
* BSD\'s [7]
* Firmware [8]
* Adding an external antenna [9]
* Misc Notes [10]
The Netgear MA101 is a compact USB 1.1 wireless adapter with support
for Windows and Linux.
VITALS
* MANUFACTURER : Netgear
* MODEL : MA101
* TYPE : USB Wireless Adapter
* EXTERNAL ANTENNA JACK: None (comes with a small dipole antenna)
* CHIPSET: Atmel
* POWER : 13dB
* RECEIVE SENSITIVITY :
* -84dBm@1Mbps
* -87dBm@2Mbps
* -89dBm@5.5Mbps
* -91dBm@11Mbps
* DRIVERS URL : See below
* AVAILABLE NEW :
* AVERAGE PRICE : ~ $150
* VITALS LAST UPDATED : 5 June 2003
OFFICIAL DETAILS
Product Details [11] states the following...
11Mbps wireless desktop PC networking Reliable, 802.11b
standards-based networking USB Powered, No need to open the PC WEP
encryption to ensure privacy. Supports Win98/Me/2000 5 year limited
warranty
(for Linux support - see below)
PICTURES
OPERATING SYSTEMS
WINDOWS
Information here (TBA)
Comes with drivers for Microsoft Windows 98/2000 and Millennium on
CD-ROM.
* If you experience problems under win2k, the Belkin F5D6050 driver
can be tweeked to work.
* Does not seem to work under win2k3 server
* Netgear claim win2k3 driver is in the pipeline (23/06/03)
LINUX
There is a GPL driver [12] for the various Atmel-based USB drivers:
I strongly recommend reading the HOWTO [13] as it is invaluable for
getting the MA101 up and running with Linux.
Note that there are two revisions of the MA101 (you can tell by
looking at the sticker under the unit).
* Rev A doesn't seem to be supported by the 'official' driver anymore
as the developer dropped Intersil support: use the 20021209 release if
you have a Rev A unit.
* Rev B is definitely supported.
I have noted packet loss of ~ 40% when running the 029921209 driver
with a Red Hat 2.4.18 kernel. Upgrading to 2.4.20 and the 2.1.1 driver
is meant to fix that, but I found that setting "RTS threshold" to 200
with the lvnet tool (that comes with the driver) solved the problem.
BSD\'S
To the best of my knowledge, there is no driver for Free/Net/OpenBSD
yet.
FIRMWARE
TBA
ADDING AN EXTERNAL ANTENNA
There is no external antenna socket, and the MA101 comes with a five
year warranty; if you're happy to void the warranty, adding an
external antenna is quite easy.
Nodomainname [14] has more information.
There is also information on creating a USB cantenna [15], which you
could do with a MA101
MISC NOTES
* Quite small: 107 x 87 x 24mm
* USB 1.1 and happily runs over long (for USB) distances. I have it
working reliably over > 6 metres and am going to test it over 10
metres next.
* See NodeGHA [16] for more information about this adapter
Links:
------
[1] http://melbournewireless.org.au/#vitals
[2] http://melbournewireless.org.au/#official_details
[3] http://melbournewireless.org.au/#pictures
[4] http://melbournewireless.org.au/#operating_systems
[5] http://melbournewireless.org.au/#windows
[6] http://melbournewireless.org.au/#linux
[7] http://melbournewireless.org.au/#bsd_s
[8] http://melbournewireless.org.au/#firmware
[9] http://melbournewireless.org.au/#adding_an_external_antenna
[10] http://melbournewireless.org.au/#misc_notes
[11]
http://www.netgear.com/products/prod_details.asp?prodID=105&view=hm
[12] http://atmelwlandriver.sourceforge.net/news.html
[13] http://atmelwlandriver.sourceforge.net/howto/howto.html
[14] http://www.nodomainname.co.uk/MA101/MA101.htm
[15] http://www.nodomainname.co.uk/cantenna3/cantenna3.htm
[16] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?NodeGHA
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