NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
omnescient
Jan 09, 2015Aspirant
A6210 operating @ High Speed (USB 2.0)
I've installed A6210 using the standalone Windows 7 driver, and on every boot I receive the W7 message informing me that the device will perform faster when using a SuperSpeed (USB 3.0) port. It i...
- Oct 09, 2015
Hi JamesGL,
I guess this will not help ltj, he most likely doesn't have a problem with A6210 and Windows 10.
His problem - and that of many other customers including me - more likely is the following:
The A6210 works. But only at USB 2.0 speed. Even at USB 3.0 ports.
I will repeat this, just to make the problem clear, once and forever :smileywink:
When using the Netgear driver and plugging the A6210 into USB 3.0 ports
... the A6210 does not connect and work at USB 3.0 SuperSpeed
... it only connects and works at USB 2.0 High-Speed
We purchased an USB 3.0 device. It is advertised as "faster access with USB 3.0". We install the driver. We plug this piece of hardware into an USB 3.0 port. It only works as an USB 2.0 device. The free Tool "USB Device Tree Viewer" confirms this. USB 2.0 speed only. The achieved transfer rates are way too low. As an USB 3.0 device, the A6210 should do much better.
That's the topic of this thread: USB 2.0 speed at USB 3.0 ports.
Luckily, this seems not to be a fundamental hardware problem, but a software / driver problem.
Solution: (that at least worked for me)
- install the standalone version of the Netgear A6210 driver
- stop and disable the Windows service "NetgearSwitchUSB", which is installed and started by the installer
- unplug the A6210
- wait a moment
- reconnect the A6210 to the same USB port.
The A6210 should now be recognized correctly as an USB 3.0 device and will work at SuperSpeed. Hurray!
The service "NetgearSwitchUSB" somehow switches the A6210 via software from USB 3.0 to USB 2.0. If the service is active and you look at the "USB Device Tree Viewer" while plugging the A6210 in, you can see the A6210 shortly and correctly as an USB 3.0 device. But after a second, it disappears and comes back as an USB 2.0 device. Disabling the service prevents this.
How to disable the service (Windows 7):
- Open the Control Panel, click on "System and Security", then "Administrative Tools", then "Services".
- In the list, locate "NetgearSwitchUSB", right click on it, select "Properties"
- Click on the "Stop" button and wait a few seconds
- Click on the drop down menu next to "Startup type" and select "Disabled"
- Click on the "Apply" button
- Click "OK"
- done
I use the A6210 for many month now at USB 3.0 speed without that service active, so it seems not to be mandantory for proper functionality.
Hope that helps.
Bye,
a guy from Germany.
ltj
Apr 12, 2016Aspirant
Hi again everyone. I haven't been around for several months, but I'm back and going to try Eric's suggestion. It looks promising, but so did several other suggestions that just didn't seem to work for me and I've been running in USB2 mode. I must say that I spent a lot of time working with customer support and even with the engineers in China and they were all great, but the USB 3.0 problem remains. My A6210 doesn't crash anymore and it boots up without problem, but... Anyway, I'll give this a shot this weekend or next week and hopefully report back that it worked.
btab
Apr 17, 2016Aspirant
Just got an A6210, installed the drivers from the DVD and I'm getting the same problem even though I know for a fact it's plugged into the USB 3.1 port on my brand new Gigabyte Gaming 3 board. Tried setting the max USB speed but to no avail. If the Mediatek driver installation works, and chance Netgear might issue a driver update that would likewise solve the problem?
- DalvikMay 10, 2016Aspirant
Hey guys,
i also just bought one of these and i still can't figure out how to get usb 3.0 to work. Tried it on my 5 year old laptop and on my 2 year old pc, everywhere its just high-speed, not super-speed.
I tried stock drivers and Mediatek-drivers, no difference at all.
Also on my pc the adapter struggled a lot to get a wifi connection up and running...most of the time it ony recieved packages and did not send anything back. O.o
Any new ideas on this?
- JamesGLMay 27, 2016Master
Hi Dalvik,
Please check previous post on how to force the device to be on USB 3.0 connection.
- JamesGLMay 31, 2016Master
Hi Dalvik,
We’d greatly appreciate hearing your feedback letting us know if the information we’ve provided has helped resolve your issue or if you need further assistance.
If your issue is now resolved we encourage you to mark the appropriate reply as the “Accepted Solution” so others can be confident in benefiting from the solution. The Netgear community looks forward to hearing from you and being a helpful resource in the future!