Netgear A8000: A Solid USB Wi-Fi 6E Adapter

Netgear has some very good information for these on the lookout to update a computer system to the latest Wi-Fi specifications.

The networking vendor today unveiled the Nighthawk AXE3000 Wi-Fi 6E USB 3. Adapter, product A8000 — you can phone it Netgear A8000 for shorter. Plug it into a USB port, and you immediately add Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E ability to the host computer.

The new dongle is a perfect in shape for all those who have now had or are about to purchase Netgear’s Orbi RBKE963 mesh program, as nicely as any of the company’s Wi-Fi 6E broadcasters or any other Wi-Fi 6E remedy, for that issue. And it’ll function with legacy routers, far too.

Netgear A8000: A person USB dongle to guidance them all

Though there have been Wi-Fi 6 USB adapters on the marketplace — these types of as the Asus USB-AX56, the D-Backlink DWA-X1850, or the TP-Hyperlink Archer TX20U As well as — for rather some time, the Netgear A8000 is the initial that also supports Wi-Fi 6E.

Just before this, the only way to get Wi-Fi 6E to a laptop is by using PCIe-based mostly upgrade, which can be a lot of work. With the Netgear A8000, all you have to do is insert the adapter into the computer’s USB port. And you can even move it from 1 computer system to a different with relieve.

To qualify as a Wi-Fi 6E adapter, the A8000 desires to be a selective Tri-band adapter. It has all a few Wi-Fi bands and can join to a broadcaster making use of one at a time.

Aside from the novelty 6GHz band, the adapter have to also guidance 5GHz and 2.4GHz for backward compatibility. Consequently, it’s the 1st USB Wi-Fi adapter developed to do the job with all present Wi-Fi broadcasters (routers and access details) and long term ones.

With regards to Wi-Fi specs, the A8000 is typical for a USB adapter. It is a dual-stream (2×2) adapter totaling 3000Mbps in bandwidth — 600Mbps on its 2.4GHz band and 1200Mbps on each individual of the other two bands.

Preserve in mind that, like all adapters, the A8000 can link on only a single band at a time, so theoretically, the swiftest speed you can get from it is 1200Mbps.

Netgear instructed me that the A8000 is dependent on the preferred Intel AX210 Wi-Fi 6E chip, which can deliver up to 2400Mbps per 5GHz or 6GHz band. On the other hand, thanks to the constraints of the USB software, the adapter does not aid the 160MHz channel width and, consequently, can deal with only 50 % of the 5GHz and 6GHz bands’ bandwidth — 1200Mbps or 1.2Gbps.

When it’s disappointing that you can not get the identical functionality grade as a PCIe increase-on Wi-Fi 6E card, the simplicity of use helps make up for the minimized functionality. Also, 1.2Gbps is usually the velocity of all other Dual-band Wi-Fi 6 USB AX1800 adapters (600Mbps + 1200Mbps).

In conditions of stability and attributes, according to Netgear, the A8000 supports WPA3 safety, which is required for any Wi-Fi 6E device, and options “Explicit Beamforming that boosts the pace, reliability, and range”.

Physical appearance-wise, the new dongle shares a similar bodily design and style as the former A7000 Wi-Fi 5 USB adapter, which is comparatively bulky. It is about twice the size of a regular USB thumb push.

And like its more mature cousin, the new adapter also features USB 3.2 Gen 1, a.k.a USB 3., that caps at 5Gbps. You could possibly be in a position to hook up it to a USB 2. port, but in this scenario, the speed will be substantially down below 500Mbps.

The adapter will come with a cradle to accommodate a desktop laptop or computer. On a notebook, you can insert it specifically into a USB-A port. Following that, open up up its built-in antenna, and you’re all established.

Regrettably, the A8000 does not element USB-C, possible simply because the connector would be too smaller to maintain its body weight. But you can possibly repair this, albeit loosely, with a USB-C to USB-A adapter.

Availability and pricing

Netgear states the new Nighthawk AXE3000 Wi-Fi 6E USB 3. Adapter (A8000) will be out there in the US commencing someday this month for the suggested retail value of $89.99. You are going to be able to discover it on Netgear’s web page or suppliers.