I need to move my windows 10 desktop away from the router and need to use an USB WiFi adaptor to connect to the internet. I have an older Belkin F5D8053 but It wont download the drivers. Win10 recognises it but cant set it up. The latest Drivers on the Belkin Web Site are the same as I have.
First, Is there a way around this to get it working?
Second, If not can anyone recommend a USB Wifi Adapter that does work with Win10
Thanks
Anotheroldgit
Ah yes, the famous Windows 10 USB WIFI adaptor driver issue. You could try unzipping the drivers and from device manager selecting "have disk" and pointing to the inf file. But I have my doubts for success from posts like this:
F5D8053N - Windows 10 - Belkin Community
I currently have a desktop MB that has wifi on the chip and this solved my USB wifi problems once and for all. You can check this thread when I had a similar problem (post 15).
Solved USB Wi-Fi adapter not showing on tray - Page 2 - Windows 10 Forums
The D Link DWA-182 firmware C worked for me in Windows 10. You have to make sure you have the revision C model (not A). However, even with that there were issues. Windows 10 recognized it as the realtek (chip) drivers. To get the D link drivers showing up (and working) in Windows 10 I had to extract the drivers and point to them in device manager. Then they installed and I didn't have disconnect issues after that (well, most of the time).
You could try this D Link one but make sure your store has a return policy just in case. Otherwise I would suggest a search on all the adaptor manufacturers (Asus, etc) to see if their model actually has a Windows 10 driver to download. If they don't, good possibility there will be an issue.
The USB dongles are super cheap these days. Ditch the old Belkin and get a Netgear or Linksys. The Rosewill adapters from Newegg.com are good also.
I've had good luck with Alfa AWUS036NH. It works fine with Win10. However, it's only 150Mbps. Alfa also makes a dual-band AC1200 adapter - Alfa AWUS036ACH. I haven't tried it, but I assume it also works with Win10 since it's newer than the one I have. However, you can get a pair of TP-Link 600Mbps Powerline adapters for the same price as the Alfa AWUS036NH and get much higher throughput. I'm sure there are other models and brands that work just as well. Your actual speed - whether WiFi or Powerline - is going to depend on distance and other external factors. If you are used to gigabit Ethernet speed you may be disappointed. If your Wifi or Powerline speed is less than your internet connection, or if you transfer files to/from a NAS on your LAN you may notice the slower speed.
Edit: changed spelling - "PowerLink" to "PowerLine"
Last edited by pokeefe0001; 16 Oct 2016 at 19:56.
The desktop that has the problem doesn't have built in wifi, otherwise why would I need a USB adapter. The adapter worked fine with win 8.1 but win 10 removed the driver and I cannot re install it for the older adapter I have, therefore it is a windows/Microsoft problem
No, it means that the manufacturer of your adapter didn't write a Win10 driver for the device (or that you haven't found the Win10 adapter that they did write.) Microsoft writes (or more probably, distributes) some drivers, but for most devices it is the manufacturer's responsibility.
Win10 seemed to catch a lot of vendors off guard. Maybe Microsoft didn't provide 3rd party vendors with information about Win10 in a timely fashion, or maybe the vendors just assumed that their old drivers would work. But Win10 has been out a long time now. If the vendor of your device has not provided a driver by now it's not Microsoft's fault.
There are a lot of Wifi adapters from vendors that support them and have provided Win10 drivers. Perhaps you should get one of those adapters.
Yep, I agree with that. Again, I would look at 2016 reviews of wifi adaptors
ff_verified
And then look at a few and go to their website to see if they actually have a Windows 10 driver (not just XP, 7, 8, 8.1)
A6210 | Product | Support | NETGEAR Version 1.0.0.35 (Supports Win10)
I have a Linksys adapter due to be delivered tomorrow. Claims to work with Win10 straight out the box, but the web site does appear to have Win10 drivers available. Guess it's wait and see time.
Quote
