Windows 10 (A6100 A6200 A6210) Installation Heads Up

Retired_Member · ‎2015-12-21

This worked for me!!! Thanks very much

dug_less

Occasional Contributor

Posts: 8

Registered: ‎2015-02-28

Re: Windows 10 (A6100 A6200 A6210) Installation Heads Up

‎2015-08-09 05:58 PM

Everyone, I can't stress enough the answer is here for the A6210. http://www.mediatek.com/en/downloads1/downloads/usb/ . Uninstall all instances of the netgear driver and remove the wifi adapter. Reboot your pc and install the Mediatek driver only! Once the driver is installed, plug your adapter back in and the go to your adapter properties and change 2.4 and 5.0 region to 0. Reboot your pc and your problems will be resolved. You will also find that the A6210 is now cinnected at usb 3.0 spec.

I wake up every morning telling myself I love my job!

seanvree · ‎2015-12-21

link doesn't work.

tohare0 · ‎2015-12-25

I reinstalled Beta version (1.0.0.35). Router (R6300v2) is set with different SSIDs for 2.4 and 5. Connected to 5 only by entering password (not WPS). Been a few days and seems stable.

piotekus · ‎2016-01-04

Refer to A6210

Unistall your current probably newest driver 1.0.0.34 (use CCleaner if you encount problems) an install oldest for Windows 8 Software Version 1.0.0.25. Now 5 gHz connection should be stable. If not, try Software Version 1.0.0.28 for Wdows 8.1. I don't know which one resolved problem to me, but now I have even istalled newest driver and everything works. Older version of driver remains something in system what fixing problem.

Cdr_Perkins · ‎2016-01-06

Hello,

i have the same problems with my A6210.

Under Win 7 all Netgear drivers work fine, but they were unable to get an USB 3.0 connection. I was in contcact with the Netgear support about this without a solution.

So i switched to the Mediatek driver and everything runs without any problems, 2,4GHz, 5GHz and USB 3.0.

Under Win 10 the Netgear standalone drivers are working, but with the known problem - no USB 3.0.

I thought, no problem, take the mediatek driver like under Win 7.

All the mentioned Mediatek driver worked, USB 3.0 included, but the A6210 sees only my 2,4GHz connection and not the 5GHz one.

Channels are exact the same, like under Win 7 (i'm in Germany, so 1 is the right for me).

Before the "real" upgrade to Win 10, i've tested everything in a Win 10 VM under Win 7. And there is the same problem.

Has anyone a hint for me?

Thanks

Marcus

smintz · ‎2016-01-11

now you tell me! 🙂 I have been having nothing but problems since my ISP installed the drivers. What as a novice can I do to reverse it and re-install?

Cdr_Perkins · ‎2016-01-11

In my case the problem was the forced and automatic device driver installation by Win 10.
Regardles of wether Mediatek was installing his driver, Win 10 installs his own driver over the Mediatek installation - a Netgear driver.
And when i uninstalled the forced Netgear driver, Win 10 installed an old Mediatek driver and so on. It looks like after uninstall a driver Win10 rolls out all of the other USB drivers they were installed in Win7.

This was the reason for my problems and why it didn't shows up my 5GHz connection - because of old driver installation by Win 10 (or Win 7, who knows).

I think this is caused by installed USB drivers under Win7 (upgrade to Win10, no clean install), meantime i'm pretty sure.

I had similar problems with a Kensington trackball and his driver, but now this works too.

Solution was to install the newest Mediatek driver, wating until Win 10 has installed his own driver and after that installing the Mediatek driver manually from its installation folder via device manager.
Because of this i have switched off the automatic device driver installation in Win 10 via gpedit to have no further problems - fingers crossed.

Now everything works.

Marcus

shauncho · ‎2016-01-12

Soooo any update on a fix for the A6200 connection dropping issue in Win10?

What model of adaptor are you having issues with? A6200
Is the Win10 install a fresh install or an upgrade? I had the same issue with both upgrade and install but I'm currently experiencing it with my latest fresh install.
If an upgrade, from what version of Windows? N/A
What is the H/W model of the PC/tablet/netbook? uhhh...I built it?
What driver version are you attempting to install? 1.0.0.26-1, Win 10 version (It's installed. I'm not attempting.)
Did you try installing with AV / Firewall disabled? No (installed without problems with the AV active)
What error messages do you see? no error message.
If no error messages what failure of functionality do you see? My connection just drops out randomly and I have to unplug the dongle and plug it back in to restore connection. Sometimes it'll go a day or so without doing, other times it'll happen every 5 minutes. I thought I noticed a connection between the issue and the occurrence of peak wifi traffic at my house however it's also happened during non-peak usage periods, however less frequently. The main thing is it always happens when it's most inconenient!

Grandjammer · ‎2016-01-15

This worked for me, as a windows 10 fresh install. http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/24877

I also did the standalone installation and when I plugged my adaptor in it was instantly recognized and hasn't cut out once, whereas before I would be lucky to go half an hour without having to unplug and replug-in the adaptor.

shauncho · ‎2016-01-15

I hadn't tried the standalone. I just uninstalled an installed the standalone. I'll try that out and report back. So far so good but it's only been about 20 minutes.

Grandjammer · ‎2016-01-15

I figured I'd give an end of the evening update. So far I have had 0 disconnects using the standalone driver linked in my last post. Thanks to the generous gent who posted it!

shauncho · ‎2016-01-16

Same here. I was working from home all night last night and have been this morning and so far not a single disconnect! It would seem that having the NetGear Genie app installed screws it all up for Win10 user.

Thanks to whoever posted that fantastic advice! I never would have thought it was just that connection utility. In the past, I'd always been the "standalone" driver type. I never liked the bundled connection software with wireless adapters. for some reason I installed it with this A6200 and didn't have issues in Win7 so just stuck with it. had I stuck with my typical practices, I never would have encountered this issue because by the time I finally upgraded to windows 10, the xxxx26-1 driver had been out for some time.

Either way, awesome to not be bothered with this issue any more and can continue to love this wifi adapter!

iLeopard · ‎2016-01-16

here is a FAQ for A6200 intermittently disconnects issue, it was created in 2013 but recently updated on jan 5 2016.

Disable "Minimum Power Consumption" feature.

http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/23352/related/1

It seems a solution for A6200 in Windows 10.

shauncho · ‎2016-01-16

@iLeopard yeah I tried that and it actually made it worse in my case. lost all connection until I set it back to default.

so far the only issue I'm still having is that when I lock the computer and am away for a long time, it seems to drop the connection. So far this is the first occurrence since doing the standalone install, however, I remember this happening before too. It could be an issue with my USB hub however haven't tracked down what exactly is the culprit. Going to run the adapter off a built-in USB port for a little while and see how I fare. Will report back when I have some data.

aim54x · ‎2016-01-17

I just gave the standalone drivers in tthe V1.0.0.26-1 package (actually V1.0.011) and almost immeadiately it decided to drop out for me. Looks like the various Win10 updates have not fixed this package.

Great to hear someone else has had some success. I am back to my D-Link adapter for now. It may be only N150 and not AC1200 but it has been rock solid whilst I have had so much trouble with the much more expensive Netgear unit.

tpeter52 · ‎2016-01-18

I have been all over this forum..reading all 22 pages in hopes of finding a solution to my 5G connectitity issue.

I have a Toshiba A500 laptop and an A6200 WiFi adaptor. When I was running Windows-7, everything worked well, both 2.4G and 5G. Since updating to Window's 10 Pro, only the 2.4G works. I tried loading the latest drivers (1.0.0.26-1) and have tried some of the suggestions given here. I've done everything but jump over the moon Here's what happens:

2.4G is rock solid running the Genie interface or standalone - tried both.

5G fails to connect. Tried both Genie and standalone. Tried manually entering key and also WPS. Peculiar thing about WPS is that it looks like the key exchange takes place, but fails when the connection is being made. From this point on, the adapter is dead..no lights or anything. The list of WiFi networks disappears and for all intense purposes, the network adapter is not on the system. In device manager I get an error: "The device cannot start (Code 10) Operation failed...The requested operation was unsuccessful. At this point, the WiFi adapter cannot be used. If I reboot the system, the adapter immediately fails. To recover, I have to go into WiFi settings and "forget" the 5G connection, then momentairly remove the WiFi adaptor from the USB port, then re-install it, after which the adaptor will connect using 2.4G.

I believe my issue is related to all of the other 5G issues that have been reported on this forum. Like everyone else here, just hoping that the geniuses of design can find a solution.

mschaeff · ‎2016-01-21

All my devices were connected to the 5 Ghz network broadcasting from my Netgear Nightwalk AC1900 Cable Model/Router (Chromebook, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, SmartTV) except my Windows 10 desktop computer which was using the Netgear AC1200 High Gain Adapater (6210). I was very frustrated.

I just got off the phone with Netgear's tech support. It took 30 minutes to get there, but the lovely sounding Filipina on the other end asked me to change the channel of the 5 Ghz network from 36 (Nighthawk's default) to 149. Viola! It's working. My desktop is connected, and all my other devices are still connected as well. Hope that helps somebody. I haven't read all zillion pages to see if somebody else posted that.

I am not using the other drivers suggested in previous posts. I am using Netgear's version 1.0.0.34. It was not the version that came on the CD. I installed the CD version and then had to temporarily connect to my 2.4 Ghz network to update it to the current version *.34.

shauncho · ‎2016-01-21

ok so the first night with the standalone driver was good, but then the next day experienced a few dropped connections, however there seemed to be fewer drops. Over the past week I've been getting a couple here and there. seems to be more often during peak wifi-traffic hours in my house.

That's interesting about the 5GHz channel on the router. I'm using an Asus router but I'll give that a shot and see what happens. So far, only thing I've noticed is signal strength seems to be weaker now as I no longer get full bars on my windows wifi connection icon in the taskbar.

paulj · ‎2016-01-26

What model of adaptor are you having issues with? A6200
Is the Win10 install a fresh install or an upgrade? upgrade
If an upgrade, from what version of Windows? 8.1
What is the H/W model of the PC/tablet/netbook? HP Envy 15t laptop
What driver version are you attempting to install? V1.0.0.26-1, Win 10 version and V1.0.0.35, both fail
Did you try installing with AV / Firewall disabled? No (installed without problems with the AV active)
What error messages do you see? no error message.
If no error messages what failure of functionality do you see? Simply watching which WAPs are visible, suddenly they all disappear, even very strong WAPs. This is with NO connection (using Ethernet connection). Tried this in multiple environments (home and work), multiple WAPs.

shauncho · ‎2016-01-26

ok so tried a few more things with no real improvement in the situation. Tried different 5GHz channels (I'm the only 5Ghz in the neighborhood so tried them all) and I still got dropoffs at about the same rate. Also, normally I use a USB3.0 hub to connect my A6200(I know the A6200 isn't 3.0, it's the best way to allow me to place my adapter in an optimal location) so tried plugging it directly into the build-in USB 2.0 ports on my machine to rule out the USB hub causing any issue and in fact my drop out rate was higher; about 1 every 2-5 minutes.

It seems to happen more frequently when my throughput is high. Like if I connect to my personal server and transfer down some large files (2GB +) and also push a similarly large file, it'll drop out in a few seconds. If I'm just casually surfing the net and checking mail, it will only maybe happen once a day or so. Then if I'm VPN'd into work, it'll drop out every few hours. That's where it's the most frustrating.

On an unrelated note, as I was looking into my overall router health I noticed someone new in the neighborhood nearby was using the same 2.4GHz channel as I was, so changed that and immediately noticed increased performance on all my devices operating on 2.4GHz. Just a reminder to check out your situation every once in a while and make sure you're still operating on the optimal channels for your environment.

Anyway....Come on Netgear...you're about to lose a customer.

paulj · ‎2016-01-26

A few more observations in case these help Netgear.

I use Acrylic Wi-Fi Professional to view network performance.

I've tried using Acrylic with an A6200 (both V1.0.0.26-1, Win 10 version and V1.0.0.35), an A6210 (V1.0.0.34), and a Linksys WUSB6300. With the Linksys everything works flawlessly, it's rock solid for days and I can run speedtest.net and it's still solid. With the A6200, Acrylic (and Windows 10) stop seeing wireless networks after a few minutes. This is whether or not I have a wireless connection, so even when there's no data being sent or received wirelessly. If I make a wireless connection and run Acrylic with the A6200 or the A6210, when I run speedtest.net Acrylic will stop with a lost ellement error. This is 100% repeatable. Again, all of this works flawlessly with the Linksys.

I can use Acrylic to capture Pcap and send to Netgear if this will help.

By the way, I'm seeing much better sensitivity with the A6200 and A6210 than the Linksys when they're working, we just need the drivers fixed!

michael1800 · ‎2016-01-27

I have the A6200 on a W10 upgraded from W7 and have been trying to fix mine because the device does not detect 5 Ghz networks. I followed the directions regarding installing the driver first, then plugging it in, as well as updating to the newer Windows 10 driver to no avail.

However, I did notice something interesting. It turns out the driver can only see 5 Ghz channels available in China (I am not in China). It cannot see channels 100-144 which my router usually auto-configures to, but it can see channels like 44-48, 157-165. Unfortunately, these channels are congested in my area, but 100-144 are much better. I've looked into the Advanced tab on the driver property settings window (from Device Manager), but the options there seem to indicate it's a 802.11bg driver--there are no options for 802.11ac or 802.11n. Also, and most importantly, there are no options to change the region. I've completely uninstalled and reinstalled drivers several times (and USB bus drivers) but I cannot get driver options to change the region or drivers that are pre-configured for the US. Please help. It seems like it's a driver installation issue as a friend with the same adapted DOES have region options.

ed_di · ‎2016-01-28

I just wanted to add another twist with regards to the A6210 adapter.

I recently purchased the A6210 and wish I'd spent more time research before doing so, would have saved me a lot of time.

Anyway, I tried all the drivers available, recent Netgear and Mediatek included.. In the end I settled for the Netgear as there was little difference between that and the Mediatek. (both 2.5Ghz and 5Ghz available on Windows 10)

My particular problem relates to constant disconnects at random intervals. At times a ping test drags for thousands of Milliseconds per ping for 10 seconds or so making an internet connection impossible.

The solution was accidental. I had another WIFI adapter available, a Linksys AE3000 that also used a Mediatek driver from the same driver bundle as the A6210.

The Linksys adapter was disabled, so for no particular reason I enabled it for a few seconds and then disabled it....

That was it.. I had a ping test running at the time and after disabling it ,the connection stabilized. No more drop outs, solid steady connection.... unfortunatey I have to repeat the procedure after every reboot or suffer the constant disconnects.

Maybe in some way that will help NETGEAR fix the problem.

Retired_Member · ‎2016-01-29

I'm in the same boat you are - I just bought this adapter this week and have been using it under windows 7 without any issue but was planning to update to Windows 10 this weekend. And now I'm shocked after reading through this whole thread and lots of Google searching it appears that Netgear has provided no solution to this device working under Windows 10!

What a shame. I'm planning to return it this weekend and get one of the well reviewed ASUS adpaters, unless anyone has an 11th hour fix that is actually stable?

paulj · ‎2016-01-29

The bright side of this is that you can easily pick up really cheap ($13) refurbished adapters from all of the Windows 10 people returning theirs.