The NETGEAR Nighthawk A8000 USB WiFi 6E adapter lets you upgrade your older Microsoft Windows PC or laptop to unlock the new 6 GHz WiFi band with a simple USB connection. Just install the A8000 driver software from the included USB thumb drive, connect the adapter to a USB port, and you can connect to the Internet.
If your computer has another WiFi adapter, like an older WiFi adapter built into the computer, we recommend that you disable it so that the A8000 does not conflict with the other adapter. We also recommend that you run Windows Update on your system before installing the A8000. For more information, see My NETGEAR Nighthawk A8000 WiFi 6E adapter is having connection problems. What can I do?
To use the A8000 USB WiFi adapter, your PC or laptop must meet the following conditions:
USB 3.0 (recommended) or USB 2.0 port
The A8000 requires a USB 3.0 or greater port for maximum performance. The A8000 is also compatible with USB 2.0 ports. However, USB 3.0 provides up to 10 times more speed than USB 2.0. You might experience reduced Internet performance if you use a USB 2.0 port.
Microsoft Windows 11 (required for 6 GHz) or Windows 10
The A8000 works with the latest versions of Microsoft Windows 10 and 11. However, Microsoft recently announced that they are not backporting WiFi 6E support to Windows 10. The A8000 provides WiFi 6 performance and backwards compatibility with older bands on Windows 10. Your computer must use Windows 11 to access WiFi 6E's 6 GHz band. For more information, see Does my Microsoft Windows PC support WiFi 6E?