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Brand | NETGEAR |
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Model | A6200-100NAS |
Standards | IEEE 802.11ac, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n |
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Wireless Data Rates | Up to 300 Mbps / 867 Mbps |
Interface | USB 2.0 |
Frequency Band | 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz |
Antenna | Internal Antenna |
Color | Black |
System Requirements | Intel Pentium class PC Available USB 1.1, USB 2.0, or USB 3.0 port Microsoft Windows 7, XP, Vista: (32 / 64-bit) Supports Windows 8 |
Features | Ultimate range and performance with 802.11ac Adjustable antenna for improved performance Stream multiple HD videos simultaneously Works with 802.11 a/b/g/n and ac WiFi routers Beamforming+ technology boosts speed,range and reliability Fastest downloads Push 'N' Connect–push button security Desktop dock provides option for better desktop placement Easy NETGEAR genie setup |
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Dimensions | 0.56" x 3.75" x 1.23" |
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Weight | 0.04 lb. |
Package Contents | A6200 Wi-Fi USB Adapter - 11ac Dual Band (A6200) USB cable with desktop dock Installation guide NETGEAR genie installation CD |
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Type | 12V |
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Class | AC1200 |
Date First Available | September 20, 2012 |
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Pros: It looks neat? The good news is that Newegg shows you where to get the newer, better version of this product. It actually worked in Ubuntu decently well for whatever reason. When it does work, it performs decently and provides around 200mbps transfer speeds across my local network and almost the same when testing through speedtest on my gigabit internet line. Looks alright and the hinged USB port is very appreciated for the size.
Cons: There isn't driver support for Windows 10 and the Windows 8 driver barely works. The Wireless Utility that comes rolled with the driver is unreliable and essentially garbage overall to use and navigate. I recommend just going with the standalone driver if you're unfortunate enough to have one of these adapters. I've heard that some generic Intel drivers work with this card, however I haven't been able to quite swing it on a Windows machine (be it 10, 8 or 7) I also attempted to use the standalone driver to install this on a Windows 7 laptop I had lying around but gave up after about thirty minutes of installing the device and it just simply not working. The price it outrageous especially when you consider that this product doesn't even work and NetGear has all but given up on providing drivers or support for it. It really is a shame as it does work well. It just doesn't work on the most common operating system on the planet for desktops. Don't try to install the Windows 10 Beta Driver. It will damage your registry. I've confirmed this on a VM. The entries within your registry that deal with automatically joining wireless networks will get corrupted and you won't be able to get reliably connected to any wireless network until you rollback the changes (at least that's what has happened to others and I've confirmed in a controlled test).
Overall Review: Oddly enough, it worked out of the box when I connected it to my Ubuntu box. For what it's worth, it worked well and reliably stayed connected to to my network 100 feet away from the AP and returned a nice 200mpbs transfer rate over 5GHz. It isn't blazing fast but I was just glad that it worked on any computer at all for more than an hour or so. Just don't bother buying this. That's just my opinion. I shouldn't have to work this hard to get a hundred dollar USB wireless adapter to work. I pulled my hair out for days trying to get this working in Windows 10 and in Windwos 7 for a reliable test. Just no dice.
Pros: Does it's job of connecting the PC to the network Includes: Software CD, extension cable/mount, and installation guide. Sticker on the device as you open it warns you to install drivers before sticking the device in your PC, based on other reviews, this would have avoided many hiccups in setup for others. Somewhat recent driver releases added support for Win8 and Win10. Connection was solid and had no issues with install.
Cons: This is not a plug and play device, as more and more devices no longer use DVD/CD drives, it is important to be sure you can get your drivers somehow. This is a USB 2.0 device, this will limit the max speeds boasted by the device. For normal browsing and internet use this is not an issue, however it is something to consider when buying a new device. Price isn't outstanding for what it is. Many cheaper alternatives that can accomplish USB 2.0 speeds for a fraction of the cost. It is bulky width-wise. It's clear they had laptops in mind when making it (adjustable to be upright when in a laptop not using the cable), but it will block any USB directly next to it. This is a minor gripe, but it doesn't fit snugly into its mount/cradle. It will rock back and forth and feel somewhat flimsy.
Overall Review: The new version linked in the product page addresses many of the issues I had with this particular product and would advise looking into it as an option. The new version includes USB 3.0, a better price (same price when not on sale), and the cradle and device appear to fit together without rocking (mostly in part to the adjustable portion of this one).
Pros: Well after I sorted out the software problems this thing just works. Setting up the wifi connection was easy and fast. Comes with a little mounting extension which can sit on your desk if you have a desktop. The software requires to be installed before plugging in the device and if you have windows 10 like me make sure you go to the website and download the drivers for 10. Overall i've been using this thing for 2 weeks now instead of a wired lan connection and haven't noticed a single difference. Internet is fast and snappy, it's never disconnected on me or hinted that i was even using a wifi adapter!
Cons: Only the software/driver but that was more my fault for not looking on the website. The old drivers would "install" but not work but once i found the windows 10 support driver everything worked instantly and flawless.
Overall Review: Gets 5 bars of signal through 3 walls. Most of the other adapters i've used so far loses one or two bars from that distance but this one keeps going. The only thing that i have noticed is in some of my online games i noticed a bit of a ping increase this is no doubt because of how wifi loses packets but for an adapter this thing held its own, and as always use a wired connection whenever possible.
Pros: I am writing this review because I am an EggXpert Reviewer that reviewed the AC Router R6300. I asked for a A6200 so I could properly review this wireless AC and see what speeds I got. Netgear sent me one, so I'm copying a good bit from the R6300 review I did. In order to test the wireless AC proper, I got a Netgear A6200 (thanks Chester Lee @ Netgear). When I got it, I was surprised to see that it supports Wireless AC up to 900mbits (no 1,750 = 450+1,300mbps), but the real kicker is IT IS ONLY USB 2.0. For techies, red flags should be going off right now as the maximum theoretical bandwidth is only 480mbps (60MB/sec). So, we’ll see in real world. The R6300 was plugged into my high end computer (3770K/Samsung 840 Pro in Raid 0/32GBram) with 6’ factory made Cat6 ethernet cable. I installed (most do before plug in) and plugged in the netgear A6200 AC wireless adapter across the room into another high end computer (2600K), direct line of sight, 25’ away (no walls), 100% connection @ full 855mbits connected via the AC 5Ghz wifi. I then copied a single HUGE file from my shared RAMDrive to the other computer’s shared RAMDrive (5.4GB/sec read and write - no bottlenecks) So this is all set up for the absolute fastest possible, Enough drumroll -eh? = *205mbps* (25.62 5MB/sec). Ta-da-What? Yup, that’s the max real world speed. Medium sized files will be probably 40% lower and tiny files may be 1-2MB/sec at best. A bit shy? Continue on to the Cons:
Cons: It's a WAY lower than even USB 2.0's max bandwidth. Less than half, so it's not just being limited by USB2.0. Something else is going on here. I verified this with Netgear themselves (Ruy Lopez @ Netgear) and he said (exact quote) “We’ve seen around 250 Mbps download throughput on the A6200 so 205 Mbps you are seeing is very reasonable speed. The A6200 is limited to USB 2.0. “ So I mean, they admit they can also only get up to 250mbps max (~31.0 MB/SEC max). I only got 205mbps, no matter how I positioned the R6300 router or A6200. Well, quite a bit off from 480, 900, 1,300 or 1,750mbps woudn’t you say? (Yes I realize over 480mbps is not possible) SO this AC doesn’t seem that much faster than wireless N -eh?. Today. Yes, I have to keep saying that (TODAY - January 2013) because as you know tomorrow the whole world WILL be different and most of this review could be obsolete and wrong and make my look like an idiot who doesn't look like I know what I'm talking about. That's what you get when you are on the bleeding edge. They obviously either need to add a USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt port on both the R6300 and A6200 it to get rid of the bottleneck of bus (USB2.0 or gigabit ethernet).
Overall Review: The bottom line is, you can get ~200-250mpbs MAX for wireless AC as of January 2013. Maybe the drivers and firmware will mature. I hope this helps you decide if the bleeding edge is worth it. I am dinging them HARD for just blatant false advertising for 900mbps on the box, but only putting a USB2.0 port on it (480mbps max). That's just really wrong. Sure you can upgrade the drivers and firmware (it needs it) but you're still not going to get over that 480mbps bottleneck NO MATTER WHAT. Yeah, techies know, but other people may not, and even for the company saying they are only getting 250mbps max, to say 900mbps on the box.... for shame. I estimate this product will be discontinued very soon and a USB 3.0 will soon be out. Hopefully a PCI-e or thunderbolt as well.
Pros: Update to review below. After a few weeks I started having driver issues under Windows 10 again. The device would stop working. I ended up replacing the WiFi with my old adapter. I pulled this out of the box again about a week ago and am using it on a Windows 7 box. No problems so far on Windows 7 but I would not recommend this for Windows 10 because of the driver problems. It appears Netgear has not release an updated driver since 2014 so more than likely they will not fix the problem that everyone is having with Windows 10. Dropped this down to 3 eggs since I do not feel it warrants a higher rating when it is essentially not compatible with Windows 10. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Review First of all, let me start with saying I took 1 egg off because of issues with driver. Once I worked that out, I ended up with a really decent wireless USB adapter. With the latest driver, my wireless signal went from 3 bars to 5 bars. My wireless speeds transferring from computer (Ethernet) to the computer with Netgear A6200 is much faster than my old dual band adapter now that I have functioning drivers.<br><br>NOTE: Download the latest driver that is for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 before installing adapter. If you use the drivers off the CD, you will have a hard time getting this adapter to function under Windows 10. <br><br>Once I installed the driver from Netgear downloads, the adapter problems were solved and it works flawlessly. My range is good and no problems with streaming for transferring files.<br><br>When you download the latest driver from Netgear - make sure you get the driver for Windows 8.1/Windows 10. I completely removed the driver and uninstalled the Netgear software, removed the adapter, and rebooted. I then unzipped the new driver, ran the full install and plugged in that adapter. What a difference. Paired up with a Netgear Nighthawk, this adapter really performed well. With both the router and adapter using beamforming technology, had no problems with a strong signal and speed. When transferring files from another computer hooked through Ethernet, the speed was about the same as moving files to my USB hard drive. After the driver update, I was also able to seamlessly stream HD to the television. <br><br>Just for information, I was able to connect to a TP_Link dual band after driver update and performance and range are better than with the other dual band USB adapters I have.
Cons: Driver headaches. The driver on the CD has some minor issues on Windows 8.1 and don't even attempt to use it with Windows 10. Hopefully Netgear will start shipping with the new driver as the driver on the CD makes this product look bad - which it isn't.<br><br>Before the driver update, I tested in Windows 8.1 with the drivers on the CD. I get decent wireless speeds and fair range but nothing to brag about or justify the cost. Streaming multimedia to HDTV resulted in choppy performance. The video would skip or hang completely while streaming. The adapter would disconnect and show up as Disabled about every hour. No amount of enabling device would correct problem or connect to router. I would have to unplug the adapter and then plug it back in the USB port. Disconnects happened frequently under Windows 10. Under Windows 8.1, the adapter worked but was slow and range was questionable.
Overall Review: I played around with this for a week on Windows 8.1 and was not thrilled. When I installed it on my Windows 10 box, I had nothing but problems but these problems ended up making me search for a solution. I am glad I did. I was ready to box this up and throw it on the shelf but now I am happy to say, it has replaced my other dual band adapter.<br><br>A lot of reviews on here show folks were having the same problems as I was. Before you give up, try the new drivers. Just make sure you completely uninstall the old driver and software. Even after I did the uninstall, I had to go into Device Manager, choose 'Show Hidden Devices' and then remove the A6200 a second time. Some remnants of the drivers were still in the registry and showing hidden devices and then uninstalling completely removed the old driver. Netgear also has a Beta driver that is new but I have not tried it. I have the adapter working well but curiosity has got the best of me so now I will try the Beta driver after I finish this review.
Pros: - Quality build - solid plastic feel, doesn't feel like it's going to break if you accidentally drop it and it's not too heavy - Good designed USB WiFi Adapter, doesn't look like a regular thumb drive anymore, there are angles on it that add to its austhetics - Conveniently placed WPS button and recessed enough that you won't accidentally press it - Built in high gain antennas - Works with USB 1.1, 2.0 and 3.0 - but USB3.0 will give you much faster speeds (they claim) - Works with 32-bit and 64-bit PC's (did not test with MAC's) - Worked with Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 (tested) - Comes with a desktop extension cradle - so you place the USB WiFi Adapter in the most optimal spot - Comes with CD which has installation guides, software, and drivers - For the most part, the genie setup is pretty straight forward and easy to use - The USB WiFi Adapter itself has a swivel antannae so you can plug into USB and be able to angle it to (maybe) get better reception - Beam forming technology built in! - I've found this helps especially if your PC or laptop is far with walls in between them and if you take your laptop from room to room - Can connect to either 2.4GHz or 5.0GHz channels - however this depends if your router supports these channels as well. - If configured correctly, it supports AC1200 (300Mbps / 867 Mbps)
Cons: - NOT plug and play friendly, MUST run software first!- these days, everything should be plug and play (in my opinion) - The WiFi Adapter itself is still a little big and long. On a laptop, it protrudes outwards and sometimes gets in the way. You MUST be careful with it if you move your laptop around a lot - Limited 1-year warranty - why? most products are 2-5 year warranty now!
Overall Review: A special note to those that do not know: I'm glad it will work with ANY router, however, the speeds are limited to your router's speeds too; so if you only have an older 102.11g router, it will connect at 102.11g speeds (54Mbps), speeds will NOT be at the 102.11ac speeds even with USB 3.0 connection. I've been using this NetGear AC1200 WiFi USB Adapter on my older dual core laptop, which only has USB 2.0, and it's a great product when it wants to work. The speeds are fairly fast meaning streaming HD Netflix doesn't struggle, but I've had quite a few times when the network just disconnects out of no-where. Every time the NetGear AC1200 USB Adapter disconnects from my network (showing 0 WiFi bars), my Android phone and my PC still show network connection. This has happened both on the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands. I'm not bragging, but I have an (in my opinion) awesome router; TP-Link Archer C3200 AC3200 Wireless Tri-Band Gigabit Router. My other WiFi devices never gave me any issues with connection, but this NetGear AC1200 WiFi USB Adapter has dropped connection a couple of times on me and I just cannot figure out why (especially when other devices connected on the same router worked perfectly). Overall, I like how the adapter looks. I like that it has beamforming technology built right into the device. I like that it now brings my older laptop that was only equipped with a 102.11g card can now support 102.11ac WiFi. I like that it comes with an extended cradle to place it further from my laptop or PC for optimal connectivity. I like how it supports AC1200 speeds with USB 3.0 and when it does work, the speeds are super fast...however I also dislike that it's NOT plug and play. You MUST install the software with the included CD first before it can work properly. I dislike that it disconnects from my network randomly. I hope they can fix that soon with a software patch. I can only recommend this unit if it was under $20 and if you're wanting to bring your older PC or laptop with older WiFi cards up to speeds. Just make sure you have the right router to support the speeds too!
Pros: - super easy to connect - fast speeds out of the box - great connection across the house (1550sq ft) Overall, i'm getting a great AC connection across 95% of my house. No issues, no dropping, nothing!
Cons: Not my greatest AC adapter. I did get better results from my dlink dwa182.
Overall Review: Overall, I got great speeds and connection strength for this NIC but it was not the best of all time. I got better connection strength and speed with my Dlink DWA182, but that is the only NIC that got better results.
Pros: .Worked straight away out of the box with basic stand-alone drivers. . .Kind of futuristic/techie looking. . .In a USB 3.0 port it downloads at 3 Mega Bytes per second all day long (30Mb/s). . .No packet loss or disconnecting or restarting/unplugging EVER. Nice. . .
Cons: .Needs a hard adapter to space away from motherboard when plugged into the back of computer because the shape is impossible to use when many things are plugged into the computer like mine is (INWIN Dragon Rider full tower). And when plugging into the front of the computer my plugs are on top in the front and eats up the space of 2 USB ports, both of which are my 3.0 USB ports. It works well on my Cooler Master N400 series when plugged into the front however. . The included software is nothing more than a waste of time (installation) and hard drive space. It's useless. Just install the stand-alone driver and use windows wireless manager and you'll be fine. . . .
Overall Review: .Works better than my TP-LINK TL-WDN3800 Dual Band Wireless N600 PCI-e card within 20 feet of the router. However after 25 feet wireless bars drop off quickly. But never had any packet loss whatsoever. . .I think it would be cool (but useless) if the black part slid out from the grey part. . .Would be great if it had the current 90 degree bed PLUS a swivel to make it easier to use on the back of computers. . .Tried and tested true for nearly 2 months and I can honestly say this is well made and very reliable. I waited so long to review because I REALLY like to hammer on my review products before I just throw up some half baked review that isn't quite true later on if it fails or whatever. But this adapter really holds up well. I noticed there is a newer version out now, and has probably outdone this version. . .I noticed there is new software drivers out for it. "Improved wireless coverage and throughput in XP/Vista/Win7/Win8. (Add Beamforming)" which I just found because I a putting the adapter into another machine. So I will probably really kick it up now. Cool. the original price-point is WAY too much. However the new $25 price is about what it should be.