A new 6GHz band for WiFi is introduced with the latest WiFi 6E version. If your older desktop or laptop lacks an integrated 6GHz band, and you need a WiFi receiver compatible with your WiFi 6E router, then you can use a 6E WiFi USB adapter.
Best WiFi 6E adapters
The older WiFi cards and USB dongles only support dual bands (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz). But with the launch of the newer WiFi 6E technology a new 6GHz band is introduced for faster and stable wireless connectivity. It also supports more no. of connected devices. I have curated the list of the best 6E WiFi adapters.
1) NETGEAR Nighthawk A8000
Right now, this is the only WiFi adapter that I found with tri-band capability. I will update here as more options become available.
Netgear Nighthawk Axe3000 supports three bands (2.4 GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz)
NETGEAR Nighthawk WiFi 6E USB 3.0 Adapter (A8000) | AXE3000 Tri-Band Wireless Gigabit Speed (Up to 3Gbps) | New 6GHz Band | for Windows PC
26 used from $47.80
Features:
- Netgear Nighthawk supports 3 bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz).
- It is compatible with all the routers but provide best performance with 6E router.
- Fast AXE3000 which achieves up to 3 Gbps speed, which is approx. 2.5x faster then WiFi 5.
- Backward compatible with all WiFi versions.
- It is compatible with USB 2.0, but provide best performance at USB 3.0.
- Compatible with Windows 11 / 10 with 32 and 64 bit operating system.
- Supports latest WPA3 WiFi security standard.
- Use it with cradle or without cradle.
Pros
- It is extremely useful and increases speed if your router is WiFi 6E.
- The cradle and extended antenna make it very useful for better signal reception.
- Little bigger for a laptop.
- Can be used directly in USB or use the cable to put it nearby for better signal reception.
Cons
- If you have an older WiFi router, this is ineffective.
- Without USB 3.0, it will not provide optimum speed.
- To utilize the 6GHz band it require Windows 11 and WiFi 6E router.
Check price on Amazon.com
Is it worth buying a 6E WiFi Adapter
6E is the latest version of the Wi-Fi technology. And it is useful when you are going to upgrade your WiFi router to the latest WiFi 6E.
Even if you are planning to upgrade in the near future, you can buy it without any hesitation as it comes with backward compatibility. So it will work with older WiFi devices until you upgrade them to the latest technology.
But if you don’t have any plans to upgrade your existing network devices, then it will only add cost to you.
Why does a WiFi band or WiFi version matter when picking a new USB WiFi adapter?
A WiFi USB adapter is used to connect a PC or laptop to the WiFi network. Though a non-techy user may pick any of the USB adapters, they will later struggle with the very low speed as compared to their router speed. So always use the right type of USB adapter with the latest WiFi generation or with the matching frequency band.
