NETGEAR Certified Refurbished AC1200 Wi-Fi USB Adapter High Gain Dual Band USB 3.0 (A6210-10000R)

I have only had this for 1 day so at this time here is my story.I have Brighthouse Cable 200 meg download and 15 meg upload. I have a Netgear N900 and a Netgear X6 Nighthawk router both connected to my Brighthouse modem. I have 23 devices that connect to my routers including 1 iPhone, 2 iPads, 3 iPods, 1 Galaxy Note 4, Laptops, Security cameras, 2 Wireless Printers an Amazon Echo and 5 Hue Lights. Everything works great except for my Lenovo Flex 2 15 laptop that only has 2ghz WiFi adapter connection. My laptop is running Windows 10 Pro and when watching Netflix, Hulu or Amzon Prime movies it got to the point where I felt like I was watching pain dry. Everything was always buffering and I was at the point where I wanted to buy a new laptop. I removed everything from my network except for the laptop. I turned off Bluetooth, made sure I had the latest drivers and made numerous changes to the settings of my adapter and router but nothing seemed to help. I decided it had to be the WiFi adapter built into the Lenovo laptop so I decided to take a chance and purchase this Netgear adapter to see if getting a 5ghz connection would make a difference. I received the adapter, ran the installation, plugged in the adapter and connected to the 5ghz connection. The 1st thing I did was run a speed test and all I can say is WOW! The speed test showed my download speeds were over 200 meg. I reconnected everything to my network and then ran another speed test and was still hitting the 200 meg speeds on the 5ghz channel. See attached picture.At this time I have zero buffering on anything I watch and I am quite surprised at how well this $60 adapter has made a difference. While it has only been 1 day I will update this review if I notice any difference from what I am seeing today.

One of the best USB 3.0 WiFi sticks I've ever used. Installs seamlessly on Windows 10 and Windows 11 laptops and PCs. I've bought two of these and have not been disappointed. I ended up giving away both of them (family/friends) and will be buying the latest, upgraded (faster) version soon. Some have noted dropped WiFi connections but have never experienced that myself. The only downside is the (extended length) size but the stick is easy to store and use and has a flip-up antenna that works in both the up and down position (up for longer ranges) and also comes with a ~3ft extension USB 3.0 host tabletop port.HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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.