A6210 operating @ High Speed (USB 2.0)

[ltj]

I'm running a Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 mobo with AMD and Via chip sets and have the same problem. Everything that I plug into a USB3 port works at USB3 speed except for my A6210. I've tried everything that support has suggested without any luck. My drivers are up to date as best as I can determine and Usbtreeview reports that the A6210 is only USB2. A lot of money for no improvement over my old adapter.

[JamesGL]

Hi @ltj,

Please try to follow the steps on this KB article.

http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/29802/~/netgear-a6210-wireless-adapter-not-working-in-...

Regards,

JamesGL

Community Team

[PeterOxie · Accepted solution]

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 

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]

Hey PeterOxie, This looked promising even for my issues so I gave it a shot, but the A6210 still shows in USB Device Tree viewer as being USB2. I did leave the "NetgearSwitchUSB" disabled in the hope it will correct my manual start on each boot up. Great idea and maybe it will help someone else.

[ltj]

Thanks James. I'll try this shortly and see what happens. Device Manager already shows the USB3.0 Adapter though. (I tried to reply a few days ago, but it wasn't accepted...)

[JamesGL]

Hi All,

You can change the USB 2.0 to 3.0 by changing it on the device manager properties of the adapter. Please see screenshot below.

Regards,

JamesGL
Community Team

[ltj]

Thjanks James. I don't know why I didn't think of this before. I've been running this set at AUTO, but I'll change it to USB 3 and see what happens. I've also been working with support and made some other changes and they've just sent me a list of things to check that I'll get to in the next couple of days and then see what happens. It looks like mostly things I've already  done, but I'll see and then let the commnunity know what results. The first thing I'm doing is getgting rid of the Genie... Thanks again for your help!

[SrBoromir]

What if when I go to my device properties it only displays "Channel Mode" as an option under the advanced tab?

Running Windows 7 64 bit Home Premium SP 1

Thanks!

[JamesGL]

@SrBoromir,

Do you have a USB 3.0 port on your computer? If the port on your computer not 3.0 then probably that is the reason that you do not have that option.

Regards,

JamesGL
Community Team

[eericc]

Hi guys I always had that message concerning that i need to connect to a usb 3.0 to make it go faster.. I've tried all the suggestions in this forum and none of them worked except one.. I went to mediatek downloaded the driver from there

Steps I did

1) controll panel -> Programs -> Programs and Feature

2) Uninstalled Netgear driver/programs

3) Downloaded from mediatek Part Number: USB (RT2870/ RT2770/ RT307X/ RT2070 RT357X/ RT3370/ RT8070/ RT5X7X/ MT7610/ MT7601/MT7612U)

4) Installed the Mediatek driver

5) inserted Netgear USB A6210

6) right-click My computer -> Device Manager -> Network Adapters

7) right-click Unknow Device -> update Driver ->Browse My computer for driver software

😎 Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer

9) under manufacture look for Mediatek, Inc. -> Under Network Adapter  look for 802.11n Usb Wireless Lan Card

After that it will update and no more message! I restarted my computer still no message! I used USBTreeview and it says its at superspeed!

Hope this helps other people if they have this problem! 

- Eric

[ltj]

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]

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?

[Dalvik]

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?

[JamesGL]

Hi Dalvik,

Please check previous post on how to force the device to be on USB 3.0 connection.

[JamesGL]

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!
 

[ltj]

After using it for about 6 weeks since my last post, things seem to be okay here. Each time I've checked the 6210 has been using 3.0 and working ok. I don't know how or why it's working better, but the Mediatek drivers didn't help. Somehow in trying many different things it seems to be working as advertised using the . 34 drivers sent me by one of Netgear's engineers. I'll keep trying to figure this out in case there is something that will be useful to others. I will say that the engineers spent a lot of time on my problem with several remote sessions. Customer support was just that and I thank them very much. 

[btab]

@ltj any idea whether Netgear plan to release these drivers publicly? Or are they still working to confirm that whatever they've changed genuinely fixes the issue?

[markg14]

I thought I'd found the solution to the problem of having my Netgear a6210 not run at USB 3.0 speed, despite being plugged into a USB 3.0 driver.  (Just as a side note.  I am running Windows 7 and have an Intel Core i7 processor)

1. I downloaded the latest Netgear driver for the A6210 from this Netgear page: http://downloadcenter.netgear.com/en/product/A6210#searchResults

(the latest driver at this time, which I downloaded, is "Software Version 1.0.0.34 (Supports Win10)."

2. I used 7zip file Manager to 'unzip' the download file from Netgear (you can use Winzip or any other unzipping program), I then dragged the downloaded .exe file for the driver to my desktop. (There are actually two .exe files you can choose from once the Netgear download is unzipped.  The one with 'SA' at the end means 'stand alone,' meaning no Netgear software is included with it, and it just uses Windows to connect to the USB driver.

3. Unplugged my Netgear adapter from the USB port.

4. Went into my control panel and uninstalled the Netgear software that had already been installed on my computer.

5. Restarted my PC.

6. Double clicked on the Netgear .exe file I'd dragged onto my desktop.  Followed the steps on the screen.

7. After the driver installed, it prompted me when to plug in the Netgear adapter, which I did.

8. Then I re-entered my network password. 

Voila!  Or so I thought.  It said Netgeard USB 3.0 adapter installed.  I tested my speeds, and they were great.  However, I shut down my PC, turned it back on, and the problem came right back.  The only way I can get it to go to USB 3.0 speeds is to unplug the adapter from my USB port and then plug it back in (after the computer has finished booting up).  Needless to say, this is a pain to have to keep doing every time I turn my PC on.