Windows 10 (A6100 A6200 A6210) Installation Heads Up

[Retired_Member]

Yes, great for Win 7 users...bad for Win 10 users. 

[michael1800]

Out of respect for Netgear, I won't link to any specific products, but since this has been an open issue for quite some time, I started searching for alternatives. Before you opt for a refurb, look into the Edimax line. All specs and price considered...mind blown. I'm going to clean install Windows 10 tonight, however, and may end up sticking with the A6100 if I can't return it.

[michael1800]

A clean install of Windows 10 did not resolve the driver issue for A6100, for the betas or the latest official drivers. I've been burned by the A6100 and the R6100 now. Lesson learned. Bye, Felicia!

[JamesGL]

Hi michael1800,

Please check your inbox.

[shauncho]

What's a guy gotta do around here to get a "Check your inbox" message? 😉 

Well, I don't know what's different but in the past few weeks my dropped connections have been increasing. I now go through 20-30 disconnects a day... Completely unacceptable.

I too am done waiting for Netgear to resolve this. I'm on to a new adapter. Should have stuck with my instincts and gone with my usual reliable networking brands. Thanks for the memories? At least now I know not to waste my time with Netgear products ever again. 😞

[smintz]

Good. It's about time someone shiws them how bad quality is

[loserica]

After upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10 I had the following problem : the A6210 adapter would not connect to any network (2.4G or 5G), and it would freeze in the process.

After trying a couple of solutions listed on this page, including the Mediatek driver, nothing worked.

Finally, the solution was very simple : just download the following driver, with the adapter plugged in :

http://support.netgear.com/product/A6210

and run the A6210_v1_0_0_34.exe. Everything worked.

[Plattfish]

So, still no solution to the 6200 dropouts? This is getting pretty absurd, I can't believe it's taking Netgear this long to iron out. Of course, that's assuming they are still trying, I haven't exactly seen a lot of activity from Netgear on this forum, other than the one poor chap trying to do damage control.

[UMDTERPS]

I switched to a wired connection, problem solved!  (yes, some of you can't). If I ever need to use a dongle again, I will buy a non-netgear windows 10 certified device. 

[stavers]

I have yet to find any Windows 10 compatible USB adaptor!  I have been looking quite hard as well!

[Plattfish]

Yeah, it seems like the only real solution at this point is ditch Netgear, which is unfortunate. But I've had this problem literally since I switched to Windows 10 last year, so I'm definitely running out of patience at this point. I mean, the fact that they still haven't fixed such a basic hardware/software issue does not give me much faith that they ever will. Unless someone from Netgear can re-assure me that this specific issue (random disconnects with my 6200, forcing me to unplug and replug in the dongle) is being looked into, then this will be my last Netgear device. 

[ed_di]

yes i doubt this will be fixed any time soon.. its already taken too long..

Anyway, its not perfect but i'm using a bat file executed from the task manager every minute to check for a network connection.

The bat file disconnects and reconnects the wireless adapter if the network is down.  This will have to do until the drivers are fixed or I can figure out a better method.

good luck all ..

ps.....shame on Netgear and piss on MediaTek.... p.s.   do not buy any wi-fi device that uses a mediatek chip /firmware .. Mediatek is primarily to blame for this lack of reponse/fix.  This problem is not isolated to Netgear.

[smintz]

Can u show us the tact of the bat?

[smintz]

"Text"

[smintz]

It's easy to blame Netgear I too never had a problem with Dlink. BUT many of the posts here also mention win 10. It's not stable enough driver-wise.

[ed_di]

bat file ... use your own router ip, and wifi details ... 

just create a task to run every minute...

==================================================

@echo off
echo Testing wifi
ping -n 2 -w 200 -l 64 192.168.1.1 & if errorlevel 1 goto reset
goto done
:reset
echo Restarting Wireless Adapter
netsh wlan disconnect
netsh wlan connect ssid=dd-wrt name=dd-wrt interface=Wi-Fi
:done
echo done

====================================================

you can add something like the following after the connect line to log the number of resets that happen..  

echo %DATE% %TIME% Restarted wireless adapter. >> c:\\reset.log

you may also want to hide the execution of the script to prevent popups... lots of ways to do that via google....

[shauncho]

just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, now it's to the point to where I start up my computer and it's already not connecting. Have to unplug and plug it again and it connects then drops in a few minutes.

@ed_di I'm gonna try out your batch file and see how that works out for me. Thanks for sharing that!

[shauncho]

ok so this is different. When I was testing that batch command to reconnect the wifi, I got many chances to use it...and I noticed that something was causing the device to have a failure of some sorts. Device manager was showing an exclamation over my wifi adaptor icon and it was displaying the "The device cannot start" message. Anyone else having that problem?

[michael1800]

Regarding 5GHz band problems (this does not pertain to connection drops)...

After more research and testing, I'll have to give Netgear a pass on this one. It turns out the 5Ghz channels that these USB adapters aren't seeing (and where most of our 802.11ac routers auto channel select to) are all DFS channels. US users are the most heavily hit by this. The core driver that Netgear uses to develop their driver (the Realtek chipset these units use is RTL8812AU), essentially dropped or failed to implement correctly DFS channel support in their Windows 10 drivers. So far, 802.11ac USB adapters which don't implement DFS in Windows 10 are *not* limited to Netgear. It's common to devices using 802.11ac Mediatek and Realtek chips (and possibly others as well). Routers, computers with baked-in ac wifi, and mobile devices don't use these chips, and thus are not having this problem. The W10 USB 5Ghz ac problem is extremely widespread (verified by searching other adapter support forums, the MS Windows forums, etc). I think we're all going to end up waiting for the chipset vendors to fix their core driver problems before our problems get resolved.

Unfortunately, the extremely rare USB 2 & 3 802.11ac adapters which *are* using DFS channels correctly in Windows 10 have other problems (connection drops, slow speeds, no internet access despite being connected issues, etc.).

[Retired_Member]

Michael1800, that is very helpful info and a great post. I don't think it makes it any better for people who have been struggling to get a working network connection on their computer - they just want a solution! - but it is always better to appreciate the scope of the problem. Why one of the Netgear moderators that have popped up on this thread can't just step up and acknowledge what they are trying to work through is a mystery though. How about some transparency? 

I'm still following this thread out of curiosity, but have I followed through on my ealier post and returned my A6200 for another brand of USB 3.0/AC adapter which has been working seemlessly under Windows 10. (In fairness, this manufacturer didn't supply working drivers until Dec 2015 (!) but that version does appear to make everything work). Out of respect to Netgear I won't advertise for their competitors, but IM me if you'd like a pointer.

[douga54]

Please post the information for the wifi adapter that you found that works well.  thanks.

[Plattfish]

I think JamesGL, the lone Netgear commentator you are refering to, is really doing the best he can. I doubt he is allowed to come out and say "We sold you a faulty product, sorry about that." It's unfortunate, and I think Netgear as a whole is being pretty shady, especially with their terrible tech support. But I definitely don't blame JamesGL, who has to sift through all of our nasty consumer complaints.

[Retired_Member]

I suppose if no one takes offense...

I've had solid performance using the ASUS USB-AC55 Dual-Band Wireless-AC1300 USB 3.0 and have been regularly steady at 867Mbps to my TP Link Archer C7 router from two rooms away, ~75'. That's using their 1.0.0.9 driver.

[Splinter6]

Accidental post please delete

[Splinter6]

ATTENTION ALL A6100 A6200 A6210 OWNERS

I HAVE THE SOLUTION TO ALL YOUR WINDOWS 10 WIFI PROBLEMS IF YOU UPGRADED FROM 7 OR 8.1 AND LOST WIFI.

Hi all, like a lot of you I had the problem of having no wifi after upgrading to windows 10 from windows 8.1.

I had installed Netgears driver for my A6200, device manager said it was working correctly with no yellow warning triangle.

However there was no Wifi adapter listed in the network adapters and it was as if my Win10 had no wifi functionality - I even tried other adapters.

I uninstalled and reinstalled the netgear driver a million times.

I tried removing the DNI_DNE thing in command prompt and fixing the registry (I didnt even have that problem)

I finally gave up and used my AV powerline network kit...

But I never really gave up.

So here it is the method to fix the issue

Theres a little known secret that you can reinstall Win10 without losing your current set-up - for my method though, you will need a way of connecting to the internet via a network cable to begin with.

This is different to the options you have of reinstalling while retaining files. This method keeps everything including your installed programs.

1. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR NETGEAR USB WIFI  STICK PLUGGED IN EVEN THOUGH ITS NOT WORKING
2. Go here https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10 and click "Upgrade Now"
3. Download the Win10 upgrade tool
4. Run the Win10 upgrade tool and accept the Microsoft license terms
5. Click "Change what to keep" its written in small font, its there just look for it
6. Select "Keep personal files and apps"
7. 
8. Double check you have selected keep personal files and apps
9. Click install and let windows "upgrade"

Once thats all done (about 30 minutes for me) your computer will reboot back to your login screen or desktop and everything will be as it should.

You should now be able to connect to both 2.4Ghz AND 5Ghz networks and your driver will be functioning 100% with all settings that were previously missing.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask and I will see if I can help.