NetGear MA701

ShaunLeeClarke · 01-11-04, 11:16 AM

OK, I recently purchased the NetGear MA701 wireless CF card for my PDA (What a mistake).

Well firstly, I did not know that the drivers on the CD were only for Pocket PC 2002, not 2003. So finally I find some drivers on www.netgear.com (not on www.netgear.com.au for some stupid reason). So OK, I expect it to work... Nope.

It has been nothing but trouble, if I perform a hard reset, it will work briefly then afterwards it refuses to work, most of the time by coming up with 'Unrecognised Card' errors. I had it working once really good, since then it's hopeless.

I am using an ad-hoc connection to a USB adapeter on my PC.

I am running Windows Mobile 2003 with NetGear's drivers (form their site) 'MA701_PPC2003_V20RC1'.

I have also seen many other users with problems with this card.

Does anyone else have this card working in Windows Mobile 2003? If so, with what drivers?

NetGear have had an excellend reputation with me in the past, especially with their wired ethernet switched but after this incident, I think I will stay away from them. Especially since they do not reply to e-mails.

I would greatly appreciate any feedback on this issue.

Thanks.

ikehiker · 01-11-04, 11:59 AM

I'm pretty sure the Netgear card is based on the Prism chipset (note: if other members see this and know this is not true, please correct me). You can try the Intersil reference drivers, the latest free version was for PPC02 but work fine for many of us with a variety of Prism-based cards (I've personally used it with D-Link, SMC and Ambicom cards successfully).

Do a search for Prism and/or Intersil on the site and you should find a link to a download site.

ShaunLeeClarke · 01-11-04, 11:07 PM

I tried the BETA D-Link DCF-12 WM2003 (I think) drivers. I'm pretty sure that these drivers are very similar to the Prism reference drivers. But they didn't work either.

Still, I think that the drivers that NetGear provide should work. They did after all make the card.

And yes, the NetGear card does use the Prism chipset.

david_mald · 01-16-04, 12:22 PM

did you ever get it working on PPC2003??

paulinhobrasil · 01-16-04, 11:27 PM

I really don't understand, I've been using the MA701 with no problems with installation since I had a Maestro PDA. Now I have the X5 PPC2003 and the set up it's straight forward with the CD that comes with it. Active sync-> install drivers -> and , boom! voi la! 1, 2 3, done. no need to download anything from netgear.
Maybe a soft reset after the installation, but no problems at all here, it's the best card in the market.

paulinhobrasil · 01-16-04, 11:38 PM

Sorry, after I read your first post, I need to add something else: the symptoms that you describe from the MA, it happened on my card. Actually the card that I have now it's a replacement. After numerous complaint with Netgear(over 2 months of complaint on the phone!), about the same problem that you have work briefly and thne losing signal, or flashing, and the unrecognised card message, THEY decide to send me a new one, free of a charge. And I had the card for almost a year! It seems that your card it's not working properly, or defective. I hope you find a way to do the same.

MBT · 01-17-04, 10:05 PM

I had the MA701 and it did the same thing after I started using WM2003. Called Netgear they sent me out a replacement without any 'arguing.' Giving me the impression they know there is a problem.

The new card works fine, however I did a hard reset and then installed the drivers from www.netgear.com

david_mald · 01-18-04, 08:01 PM

Instal the new driver from the website again. I had the same "unrecognizable error" and got frustrated. With the new driver, I actually got the Netgear card working FLAWLESSLY on my ppc2002 axim and my friend's ppc 2003 axim.

Good luck,
Dave

ShaunLeeClarke · 05-14-04, 10:10 PM

It's been a long time but I just wanted to get an update on the status of the MA701.

What leads me away from it being a hardware issue is that the card will almost always work after a hard reset, just not for that long.

And to sum up NetGear, before this incident, they had a good reputation with me, now I'll say this, don;t bother with e-mail support, and don't purchase the MA701 card. Just do a search on this forum for 'MA701 problem' and look at the results.

And for those thinking it is the Axim at fault, remember that I have a hp iPAQ h2210.

Windows Mobile 2003 was released almost a year ago and NetGear still have not got their act together and released a final set of drivers, they are still in the RC1 stage. I mean come on, Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition is already out, so they are an OS behind. I don't even want to think of how long it will take NetGear to update drivers for that OS, but I doubt that a drive update would be needed since it is only a minor OS update.

I have neglected this issue and given up but I plan on 'attempting' to contact NetGear and get a replacement. But what are the chances the same thing will happen again?

It is one thing for the card to not work, stuff like that happans occasionally, but I think this is a majority thing. Then, if it isn't bad enough that their cards are dodgy, their e-mail support is non-existant and by the looks of it, the replacement cards produce the same problem.

And I do not think I have heard anything but complements on the Socket and Symbol cards, maybe I should just purchase one of those.

Even still, NetGear sells this product, and has clearly neglected it. This is clear from two reasons, the cards don't work and the fact that they never released a final release driver. For this reason I will defifnately think twice before ever using NetGear again and I would advise all users to stay away from the MA701, it just has too many issues.

I would appreciate any feedback on this issue, and if anyone else has any suggestions on how to get the card working.

jacklew · 05-21-04, 01:39 PM

I just RMA'd my MA701. It died about 3 weeks ago when I was backing up with Sprite to the PC and hit cancel - didn't abort. I hit cancel, it aborted, and the MA701 LED started blinking. Reseated and still blinking. Hard reset, still blinking. I pushed on the back of the blue plastic and it connected. It worked for a few days and then died again. It worked once yesterday for about 25 minutes and then died again. Just hope they really aren't turning out junk.

ShaunLeeClarke · 05-29-04, 01:52 AM

From that previous post, it definately seems to be a hardware relate issue, must be a dodgy connection on the main PCB.

However, what doesn't make sense is that the card seems to work OK for me after a hard reset.

I guess I'll RMA the card and see how I go from there.

Thanks for your assistance.

jacklew · 05-29-04, 05:43 PM

It is hardware, but still can't narrow it down. If I let turn it off and then on 10 minutes later, it will connect for a few minutes and then never again. I can repeat this so it looks heat related. Still it's being replaced by Netgear.

stevef · 05-30-04, 04:09 PM

I've had my MA701 for at least a year, no problems at all. Upgraded to WM2003 - OK. The Axim is fine (nearly 2 years old) and so is my WiFi. Netgear's support is no worse than Linksys, (I have a WCF12 in my Axim), Both companies failed dismally with WM2003 drivers.

Handy · 06-05-04, 02:48 PM

This has been discussed elsewhere in another thread. I had the same problem with my MA701 after about a year. I switched to a Symbol card and it's much better all around.