802.11AC adapter with Windows 8.1

[peterr928]

Since upgrading to Windows 8.1 last weekend, my Netgear A6200 adapter has been dropping connections constantly. I've tried different drivers and haven't had any luck. After a useless support call to Netgear yesterday, I started looking for alternatives as I really don't want to perform a fresh Windows 8.0 install in order to downgrade.

I'm using an R7000 router, so I would like an adapter that supports TurboQAM. Does this currently only leave me with the ASUS PCE-AC68? This card appears to have mixed reviews and it's also pretty pricey so that has me worried.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[thiggins]

TurboQAM is not ready for prime time yet. The only adapter is the PCE-AC68 and it needs a new driver that enables TurboQAM.

 

[peterr928]

Thank you for the reply. It sounds like I may be better off with downgrading back to Windows 8 and just waiting to see what happens with TurboQAM adapters over the next few months.

 

[stevech]

Thank you for the reply. It sounds like I may be better off with downgrading back to Windows 8 and just waiting to see what happens with TurboQAM adapters over the next few months.

I'd pay the fine and purchase Win 7 for whatever hardware you have that didn't come with Win 7.

 

[remixedcat]

I wouldn't downgrade an OS for a WLAN adapter. Just find one that doesn't have issues with Windows 8.1. The Asus one should work good with it. I would pick that one or the Amped ACA1 (USB3). Or I would take a range extender and use the wired LAN ports on it and use it like a bridge. That may actually be best, as no drivers are needed.

What I don't get in this day and age there's something called MSDN where you can subscribe and have the OS before everyone else does. They do this so manufacturers and developers can have thier stuff ready BEFORE THE RELEASE so people can just get on with thier lives and not spend time wating. Why can't companies take advantage of this? THIS IS WHY MS DOES THIS! Are they that cheap they can't pay 500 dollars to ensure the products work? That's nothing. I even have MSDN for my personal stuff and that's not a big deal to me and I don't got much money.

 

[stevech]

I agree... not because of the WiFi adapter. But because of Win 8.

 

[RMerlin]

I agree... not because of the WiFi adapter. But because of Win 8.

Actually, once you slap Start8 on top of Win8, it turns into a decent OS. Aside from the brain-damaged Metro UI that only gets in the way when used on a normal desktop (and I never see it at all thanks to Start8), the OS underneath does have a few good improvements over Win7. They just didn't get well publicised since Metro stole all the stage time.

Now, Win 8.1, that's another story. Broken mouse handling under various DPI, breaking some software like Virtualbox (I had to downgrade to VBox 4.2.18 to get my development VM stable again), not re-creating the install.wim needed for the PC Refresh and various other repair functionalities... That thing's not fully ready for primetime, despite spending 2 months in refinement since they checked out the final code.

 

[remixedcat]

Well the features that are very worth it are:

• The file transfer dialog finally makes sense with the speed graph
• The Task manager is improved greatly
• Built-In ISO mounting/burning
• Hyper-v
• Improved explorer UI. The ribbon is so much easier to do a lot of file ops on
• Very fast boot