Netgear Router and Windows 7, 64-bit Compatibility?

[PitViper]

Anybody out there successfully running a Netgear Super-G WGT624 v.2 wireless router with the 64-bit version of Windows 7? I’m also using Netgear WG311T Super-G wireless desktop adapters (listed as compabible).

I created a dual-boot system with Windows XP 32-bit. According to the Windows 7 upgrade advisor, all my new components are Windows 7, 64-bit compatible, except the WGT624 v.2 which listed as “unknown”. (i.e., Information coming soon. We are working with the device manufacturer to confirm this product’s compatibility.) The router is listed as compatible with Windows 7, 32-bit and the dual boot works perfectly otherwise.

Windows 7 detects and identifies my network, but for some reason, I cannot connect. Any suggestions?

[Jeffbx]

A router is a router - Windows doesn't know what kind it is, it just knows it gets a signal from it.

Can other machines connect to the router? Has that machine connected to other routers? Have you been able to connect that machine to that router under a previous OS?

[PitViper]

A router is a router - Windows doesn't know what kind it is, it just knows it gets a signal from it.

Can other machines connect to the router? Has that machine connected to other routers? Have you been able to connect that machine to that router under a previous OS?
I'm able to access the router from three other XP computers, including the XP on the dual boot computer. Windows 7 automatically installed the 64-bit drivers for the wireless adapter (and every other component) when I loaded Windows 7 onto a clean partition. The device manager in Windows 7 says the wireless adapter is working properly. But when I enter the WPA key, the adapter does not connect with the router in Windows 7.

Under Windows XP, the adapter drivers had to be installed before the adapter was inserted into the PCI slot. I wonder if I should uninstall the adapter drivers in Windows 7, shut down, remove the adapter, reboot, then reinstall the drivers, shut down, then reinstall the adapter?

Netgear's site is not much help as it really does not yet address any Windows 7 issues (or even its existence).

[Jeffbx]

Weird. Try turning off all security on the router temporarily - see if maybe it's the WPA that 7 doesn't like.

Are you using the Netgear wireless utility or letting Windows manage it?

[PitViper]

Weird. Try turning off all security on the router temporarily - see if maybe it's the WPA that 7 doesn't like.

Are you using the Netgear wireless utility or letting Windows manage it?
I'll give that a try this evening.

Right now I'm letting Windows handle it, even in XP. Do you think the Netgear utility is better than Windows utility? I've found info on how to disable the Windows utility if need be.

[ray]

It might be your drivers, actually.

Download the Vista drivers from the Netgear website for your wireless adapter and install those. I am running Windows 7 64-bit at home with a Linksys Router and a Netgear wireless usb adapter. Netgear didn't have Win7 drivers for my adapter, so i just installed the Vista drivers.

Everything works like a champ.

[PitViper]

It might be your drivers, actually.

Download the Vista drivers from the Netgear website for your wireless adapter and install those. I am running Windows 7 64-bit at home with a Linksys Router and a Netgear wireless usb adapter. Netgear didn't have Win7 drivers for my adapter, so i just installed the Vista drivers.

Everything works like a champ.
Thanks for the tip.

Now I'm wondering where Windows 7 got the driver that it installed automatically for the WG311T adapter. The hardware manager says it's working properly and the upgrade advisor says its fully Windows 7, 64-bit compatible.

[ray]

Thanks for the tip.

Now I'm wondering where Windows 7 got the driver that it installed automatically for the WG311T adapter. The hardware manager says it's working properly and the upgrade advisor says its fully Windows 7, 64-bit compatible.

From what I could tell when I upgraded, MS likes to use Realtek drivers for networking devices. It's possible they installed a Realtek driver for your usb adapter that is causing connection issues.

In the past, I've noticed some of my 10/100 NIC cards always using realtek chipsets, so it's not surprising that MS might be doing the same for Win7 installs.

[PitViper]

A router is a router - Windows doesn't know what kind it is, it just knows it gets a signal from it.

Can other machines connect to the router? Has that machine connected to other routers? Have you been able to connect that machine to that router under a previous OS?

After a quite a bit of effort, I'm thinking it really is the router. I cound not get a YES or NO answer from Netgear, but the router is NOT on their list of Windows 7 compatible routers. You'd think they'd know by now. Microsoft says the router is compatible with the 32-bit version, but the 64-bit version is unknown. The Netgear WG311T wireless adapter was correctly identified and loaded 64 bit-drivers from Atheros Communications upon Windows 7 installation and updated them when I connected to the internet (via hardwire).

Here's Netgear's response:

Dear Mr. .....,

Thank you for choosing NETGEAR, my name is Leah and I will be your support engineer.

I understand that you are checking which Netgear router will work with windows 7 and you want to confirm also if it is compatible with the WGT624v2 router. I apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced.

Most of our latest routers will work with windows 7 operating system and your router would probably need a firmware update to be able to work also with windows 7. Please try to setup the router manually to check if it will work.

As of the moment, Netgear is collaborating with Microsoft to provide updates and support for the selected Netgear products. Netgear will continue to offer additional products software as they become available and will update the website accordingly.
The link below contains a current list of available Netgear drivers and routers that will work with windows 7. Please visit http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/11127/kw/windows%207/r_id

[Jeffbx]

Hm - looks like you may not be alone...

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1650578

[PitViper]

Hm - looks like you may not be alone...

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1650578
Yes it is VERY frustrating. I'm spending a LOT of time on this today since I'm off work. I'm about ready to call it a day and just boot to XP when I want to access the internet. (Unrelated point: Windows 7 can see the XP partition in the file manager, but XP cannot see the Windows 7 partition, eventhough both use NTFS.)


Weird. Try turning off all security on the router temporarily - see if maybe it's the WPA that 7 doesn't like.

Are you using the Netgear wireless utility or letting Windows manage it?
I can get a hardwired connection through the router. If I disable the security, I CAN get a wireless connection as well. The WPA works correctly in Windows XP, so maybe it's the Windows 7/64-bit/router/WPA combination. Windows 7 is set up to handle WEP, WPA-Personal, WPA-Enterprise, and a couple of versions of WPA2.

Since I'm using Windows 7 third party drivers on the adapter (which seem to be working), using the Netgear wireless utility is not a option. The Windows 7 utility identifies the network, says a connection is available, and the signal is strong. Hopefully a Win7 patch or Netgear firmware update will be available soon.

[Jeffbx]

Either that or turn off WPA & just use MAC authentication.

[PitViper]

Nothing really all that new here, just an actual confirmation of what was feared. Didn’t Netgear have about 6 months to beta test Windows 7 with their products before the formal release of Windows 7?

Dear Mr. ….,

Thank you for choosing NETGEAR, my name is Dell and I will be your support engineer.

I understand that you are experiencing a problem connecting to the internet wirelessly using your WGT624 v2 router and your WG311T USB adapter. I apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced. Because we are doing this online, it may require a few mail exchanges before we can resolve the issue. Please be assured that I will do my best effort to help resolve your case in the least amount of time.

As of now there are only four NETGEAR adapters that are tested working with Windows 7. The four adapters are WPN311, WPN511, WN311B and WN511B. Adapters that are not yet on the compatibility list are still being tested as of now.

For additional information you may refer to the link below:
http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/11127/kw/win7/r_id/100109

Just a note about Netgear's pathetic tech support: The WG311T is NOT a USB adapter as their support engineer states in the above response, it is a PCI desktop adapter. Also, Microsoft lists the adapter as fully 64-bit compatible (here) (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/Details.aspx?type=Hardware&p=Netgear%20PCI%20802.11g%20Wireless%20Network%20Adapter&v=Netgear&uid=WG311T&pf=0&pi=9&s=netgear&os=64-bit), but not necessarily the router (here) (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/Details.aspx?type=Hardware&p=Netgear%20Super-G%20802.11g%20108Mbps%20Wireless%20Router&v=Netgear&uid=WGT624&pf=2&pi=2&s=netgear&os=64-bit). Does Microsoft know more about Netgear’s products than Netgear? Or are they both full of sh*t? Maybe it's time to change hardware companies.

[Jeffbx]

That's sad & surprising... Netgear used to be a pretty good company.

Might I recommend Linksys for your next purchase?

[PitViper]

That's sad & surprising... Netgear used to be a pretty good company.

Might I recommend Linksys for your next purchase?
I was seriously considering Linksys. I wrote a VERY candid response to Netgear's last update. If Netgear does not get its act together real soon, I'll take your recommendation.

[gwilks98]

Nothing really all that new here, just an actual confirmation of what was feared. Didn’t Netgear have about 6 months to beta test Windows 7 with their products before the formal release of Windows 7?


The hardware industry was hit extremely hard by the recession. When Microsoft rolled a new OS, a lot of companies failed to get their products updated in time. (I can only assume it's because they scaled back on R&D and support staffs.)

Cisco NAC clean access agent still isn't compatible with Win 7 and won't be until March of 2010. The same goes for Snow Leoppard. (Which I find completely unacceptable given it's an embedded security program that's required for compliance in many organizations.)

I have about 270 T1s in my company across the US and between August and October, I saw an increase of 26-30 drops per month (from 6-12 on average.) Circuit disconnects are taking 120 days instead of 30.

I'm sad for you and Netgear's lack of support, but I'm not entirely surprised. Microsoft rolled a new OS at a bad time.

[PitViper]

I'm sad for you and Netgear's lack of support, but I'm not entirely surprised. Microsoft rolled a new OS at a bad time.
I can absolutely agree with you… to a point. And, I’m sure it’s not just Netgear. But it seems to me that their “support engineer” is not really a technical support person, but merely a public relations (PR) person whose main mission is to sooth the savage customer. I also get the impression that the PR stuff has been outsourced which, in itself, is not a problem. Perhaps Netgear should have outsourced some of the R&D in anticipation of the new Windows 7 release.

I seems that Netgear may have concentrated on the industrial customer. And who can blame them for that? But if you look near the bottom of Netgear’s compatibility page, it states, “These software releases are for the 32-bit Windows 7 operating system unless mentioned otherwise”. One would get the impression that they did not even bother to consider the 64-bit customer. Did Netgear really develop drivers in anticipation of Windows 7, or did some their products “just happened to work” with Windows 7?

Although the hardware I mentioned is not the state-of-the-art, it is still fairly modern and is currently available for purchase directly from Netgear (and others). I could easily understand the lateness of the drivers if this was not a current product. After all, Netgear makes money selling equipment, not writing drivers.

I’ll probably wait a few weeks and hope they resolve the problem. But, I have several computers utilizing Netgear products. Since Netgear is unable to tell me whether it is the router or the adapter that causing the WPA compatibility problem, I will most likely replace both of them with Linksys and the newer WPA2 encryption.