NETGEAR Certified Refurbished AC1200 Wi-Fi USB Adapter A6210-10000R

The Netgear AC1200 A6210-100PES USB High Gain Dual Band Wi-Fi Adapter has been a fantastic upgrade for my home network. Here’s why this adapter stands out:

Key Highlights:

Dual Band Connectivity: The dual-band capability is a major plus. It connects seamlessly to both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, providing faster speeds and more reliable connections. I’ve noticed a significant improvement in internet stability and speed for both streaming and gaming.

High Gain Antenna: The high gain antenna ensures a strong and stable connection even at greater distances from the router. It has greatly improved my Wi-Fi performance in areas of my home that previously had weak signals.

Easy Installation: Setting up the adapter was a breeze. The included installation CD made the process straightforward, and it was also easy to download drivers from the Netgear website. It took just a few minutes to get everything up and running.

Compact Design: The compact and sleek design of the adapter is unobtrusive. It’s small enough to fit snugly into a USB port without interfering with other connections, which is a great feature for a clutter-free workspace.

Reliable Performance: I haven’t experienced any drops in connection or issues with the adapter since I started using it. It maintains a consistent and high-speed connection, which is crucial for streaming HD content and online gaming.

Good Value for Money: Considering its performance and features, this adapter offers excellent value for money. It’s affordable and provides a significant boost to Wi-Fi connectivity, making it a great investment for improving network performance.

Verdict: If you’re in need of a high-performance USB Wi-Fi adapter, the Netgear AC1200 A6210-100PES is a great choice. It’s easy to install, provides strong and reliable connectivity, and offers dual-band support for enhanced performance. Highly recommended for anyone looking to upgrade their Wi-Fi setup!

My initial install of this device was simple and it is working very well however, there were some things worth noting regarding its operation and the software.

First off, while connected using the A6210, it shows in my task try icon that my connection is 802.11n and not 802.11ac. My router, NETGEAR R6300v2 is 802.11ac capable and I have another device that connects and shows an 802.11ac connection. Additionally, the NETGEAR A6210 Genie software shows that my 5 GHz network is AC capable. In conversation with Netgear support, they have indicated that this is a limitation of Windows 7. My link rate is fairly consistently 866.5 Mbps and my download rates have gone up significantly also when compared to my internal Wi-Fi adapter that was only 2.4 GHz capable. Where I would get about 50 Mbps download speeds, I am now consistently above 80 Mpbs. The connection is rock solid and I have had no issues otherwise with the performance of this device.

Next, when using the NETGEAR genie software that came with the A6210, under the section “Other”, the “Software Update” button “Check”, I receive an error message, “ERROR: Could not connect to the NETGEAR server. Please check your Internet connection.” Clearly my Internet connection is working, so there must be an error in either the server it is looking for or the server is unavailable. Netgear did not respond to this issue when I brought it up.

The last issue I have noticed is, when selecting the “Get Diagnostics Info:, Get Info” feature, a separate window pops up, with a progress bar and this updates to 75% where it does not progress any further regardless of how long you wait for it to continue. From this pop up window, the only option available is “Exit” as the “Save to File” option is greyed out. Netgear did not respond to this issue when I brought it up.

All of that having been said, I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the software and there is no change to the issues I have noted. I rated it 4/5 stars simply because it isn’t perfect, but it does work very well aside from what I consider the minor issues listed above. The packaging says requires Windows, to include Windows 7, yet Netgear insists that Windows 7 doesn’t support 802.11ac. I am fairly confident that this is a defect in the presentation of the connection as my download speed is consistent with my other device (MacBook Air) that is showing an 802.11ac connection. Subsequent to installing this device, I have gone back and disabled my internal wireless adapter, though I don’t believe that was required.

The last thing worth noting is that my current setup is a large laptop that I have essentially setup as a desktop replacement and I am using the A6210 via a USB 3.0 (powered) hub and using the supplied cradle. I did this initially as my laptop only has one USB 3.0 port and I have two other devices (external portable hard drive and an external Blu-Ray optical drive) so I had reservations that it would work. I was happy to discover that it has worked just fine in this configuration.

Overall I am pleased with its performance and I am happy to say that it was a good purchase.

Installing was easy and came off without any issues. Product worked well until I tried to auto load a software update using a link on the NETGEAR genie.
It didn’t work. Kept giving me an error message saying I wasn’t connected to the internet (I was)
While I could manually upgrade the software I felt that the link should have worked.

I registered the product with model, serial# and my personal information to get their 90 day online support. It’s free for 90 days then you have to pay to extend the time period to two years.
Contacted “Rye” at NETGEAR Support who went through the usual do this/do that processes.
Nothing fixed the problem.

He asked for a receipt so I provided him with the Amazon.ca order/pay/delivery page with all relevant detail.
Apparently that wasn’t good enough.

Told him “fine your product is defective so I’ll return it to Amazon”.

I will now purchase a different manufacturer for my WiFi adapter

I cannot give it more than two stars as the support offered was so poor.

I purchased a ASUS RT-AC68U Wireless-AC1900 Router a couple of years back to replace a D-Link model that had finally died after some years of use. At the time I bought the router AC1200 adapters weren’t widely available & were quite expensive as well. I made due with wired connects mostly + a wireless N adapter at 1st, then eventually to the Edimax EW-7811UAC AC600 USB Adapter, which typically tested at about 30Mps down/5-8Mbps up on the 5Ghz band. I noticed that my tablet(s) and phone in the same room as the Edimax-equipped PC were a LOT faster to my router with speeds of 100+Mbps down/10-12 Mbps up (I’m only guaranteed 10Mbps up by my provider).

So I shopped around and noticed that pretty much all of the available wifi adapters (and routers as well) have their share of success and failures. The Netgear A6210-100PAS was no different but I chose it over the competing Asus model due to slightly better positive reviews. FWIW I have owned/own many Asus products so that didn’t make choosing any easier.

Setup was fairly straightforward, just the usual driver install prior to plugging in the adapter to a open USB 3.0 port. I obtained the drivers from the Netgear website and didn’t bother with the included disk. The driver installed fine on Windows 10 64bit and works great as of this review.
I do appreciate that Netgear provides both a “driver-only” and a “driver+software” option – there’s already way too much unnecessary bloat that comes with so many devices these days so it’s nice to have a bare-bones alternative.

The speed of the Netgear adapter is roughly 3X that of the Edimax but that’s not exactly fair given the fact that both adapters use different standards and different USB interfaces – USB 2.0 for the Edimax & USB 3.0 for the Netgear.

Pros:
Amazing speed without any settings changes/tweaks (see attached screenshot)
Adjustable antenna
Reasonable price
Did I mention how fast it is?

Cons:
Fairly large compared to other adapters I compared it to (Not really an issue for me as it sits on a desktop)
No activity light – just an illuminated WPS button
USB cable could be longer

None of my “cons” were bad enough to take away any stars – the performance more than makes up for any negatives.

Side note: I didn’t purchase the A6210-100PAS through Amazon (whose price was 10% cheaper) as I had a gift card from a big box store.