Netgear

It's great when a product actually works and is worth the price. However, when the companion software that comes with the product doesn't work, all the frustrations in the world cannot explain this until one has experimented with it.

I recently got a netgear wnda3100 usb for my desktop because my computer was too far away from the modem. I was recommended to plug and play by my friend, but I didn't have access to the internet, so I didn't get any drivers that way. So I decided to go ahead and install the software that came with it in the box. The software had an update, so I got a super long ethernet cable to plug into the network jack to get an update on this software. As I was using the software, it would only give me "Limited connection". I didn't understand why it wouldn't connect me to the internet. I must be doing something wrong. So finally I experimented on my laptop with any software and used the existing internet connection on the laptop to get the drivers.

And windows vista actually got this to work. Wow. It was a lot simplier than installing some darn vendor's software. So I remove the software from the desktop, hook up the desktop by ethernet, and got the drivers. Now it's working great without the software.

In hindsight, why didn't I just hook up it first to get the drivers? Because it was a hazard. I didn't think I needed to drag out the hundred foot long cable. Although if I had done that in the first place, I would have been a lot happier and a lot less frustrated. But now I know vendor's software fails.

It was probably incompatibility between vista and the software, but I see it as the vendor's fault as they should have had an update for that. Failed.