TP-Link Archer AC1300 not recognised by PC

[syates29]

This is my first time on this site so please bear with me!

I recently bought a TP-Link Archer T6E AC1300 network adapter for my PC (Win 10) but I can't seem to get it working.

I plugged it into my PCI-E slot and a small yellow light on the adapter lit up, so I assume it is at least correctly physically connected. I tried running the driver disk given and I repeatedly get an error message stating the device is not detected; meaning I am unable to proceed with the driver installation. The device has not shown up in Windows Device Manager so I have no idea how to proceed.

It seems that the device was not originally compatible with Win10 but I believe a new set of drivers has been released since. I'm not sure how I can either force Windows to recognise the device or how I can push through the Win10 drivers (which I'm guessing is the issue).

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Latest Windows 10 driver package here, released November 2015:
http://www.tp-link.com/en/download/Archer-T6E.html#Driver

There is also a TP-Link wireless manager utility:
http://www.tp-link.com/en/download/Archer-T6E.html#Utility

However, as that utility is not stated as being Windows 10-compatible, install the driver only then use Windows built-in wireless manager to connect to a network.

 

[syates29]

Latest Windows 10 driver package here, released November 2015:
http://www.tp-link.com/en/download/Archer-T6E.html#Driver

There is also a TP-Link wireless manager utility:
http://www.tp-link.com/en/download/Archer-T6E.html#Utility

However, as that utility is not stated as being Windows 10-compatible, install the driver only then use Windows built-in wireless manager to connect to a network.

Unfortunately, I have already tried this and it doesn't seem to work. Both the driver and the utility downloads open a TP-Link program that requires the device to be detected before it will install any new drivers. Although my device appears to be switched-on, nothing is showing up on the Device Manager and I have no internet access. The only entry under the network adapter heading I can find is called 'Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller'.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller -- that's the ethernet adapter for a wired connection - - nothing wrong there.

May I suggest you remove the WiFi card carefully after discharging static electricity from your body, then firmly refit the card. You can also try it in a different PCI Express slot if your board has more than one.

If still not detected, the card may be faulty. Did you touch it at any time without first discharging static from your body?

 

[syates29]

Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller -- that's the ethernet adapter for a wired connection - - nothing wrong there.

May I suggest you remove the WiFi card carefully after discharging static electricity from your body, then firmly refit the card. You can also try it in a different PCI Express slot if your board has more than one.

If still not detected, the card may be faulty. Did you touch it at any time without first discharging static from your body?

I just re-fit it (and tried a number of times earlier) but it still isn't registering with the Device Manager. I was careful to touch a bare part of the metal radiator in my room as I believe it is grounded, which I have been told should do the trick. I guess the card may be faulty then so I will hopefully get a new card soon.

 

[Brian_177]

Alright, so to help you, I'll put as clear of a path as possible that I took. It's taken me 3 hours to work this out for myself. I also have Windows 10 64Bit and bought this card and had tons of problems getting it installed.

1. Download and install latest drivers from TP-Link's website for Archer T6E Windows 10.
2. Extract and Install the 'Setup.exe' (I ran this in Windows 8 Compatibility Mode as an Administrator)
3. Locate "SetupController_Log.txt" in C:\ProgramData\TP-Link\
4. Locate line similar to "17:44:26: OS is 64-bit. g_bvIsOS64 = TRUE, g_szWINSYSDIR = C:\WINDOWS\system32\, g_szDevcon = C:\Users\Brian\AppData\Local\Temp\{84CF8374-E9D9-4487-9619-E2C723DE617C}\{2716E9BF-1A34-45DE-B657-541F4AED9858}\devAMD64.exe"
5. I suggest following the directions on TP-Link's website for the Windows 8 Manual Install of the driver. When it states to look for the *.INF, direct the installer to the same location as the temp folder in step 4. For me it was "C:\Users\Brian\AppData\Local\Temp\{84CF8374-E9D9-4487-9619-E2C723DE617C}\{2716E9BF-1A34-45DE-B657-541F4AED9858}\"
6. This should locate the proper drivers for the card and allow you to properly install and use the card.

I'd love to have someone confirm this works for them.

 

[Curse_]

I'm plugged it into the right slot and Windows 10 installed the Card from itself..

Are you sure you did not place the card into a PCI-E 4/8/16 slot?
It has to go into one of the very small ones in between those big PCI-E slots.

NOTE: try to insert it into the GREEN one.

 

[stevendaniel]

Alright, so to help you, I'll put as clear of a path as possible that I took. It's taken me 3 hours to work this out for myself. I also have Windows 10 64Bit and bought this card and had tons of problems getting it installed.

1. Download and install latest drivers from TP-Link's website for Archer T6E Windows 10.
2. Extract and Install the 'Setup.exe' (I ran this in Windows 8 Compatibility Mode as an Administrator)
3. Locate "SetupController_Log.txt" in C:\ProgramData\TP-Link\
4. Locate line similar to "17:44:26: OS is 64-bit. g_bvIsOS64 = TRUE, g_szWINSYSDIR = C:\WINDOWS\system32\, g_szDevcon = C:\Users\Brian\AppData\Local\Temp\{84CF8374-E9D9-4487-9619-E2C723DE617C}\{2716E9BF-1A34-45DE-B657-541F4AED9858}\devAMD64.exe"
5. I suggest following the directions on TP-Link's website for the Windows 8 Manual Install of the driver. When it states to look for the *.INF, direct the installer to the same location as the temp folder in step 4. For me it was "C:\Users\Brian\AppData\Local\Temp\{84CF8374-E9D9-4487-9619-E2C723DE617C}\{2716E9BF-1A34-45DE-B657-541F4AED9858}\"
6. This should locate the proper drivers for the card and allow you to properly install and use the card.

I'd love to have someone confirm this works for them.

I know this post is like a year old, but I just tried this and it worked like a charm. Thank you!

 

[MrThankUvryMuch]

I've been struggling with this issue the whole day. Turns out the card isn't compatible with PCIe x1 slots... apparently. I moved mine to an x16 slot (my mobo only has x1 and x16) and it works perfectly.

 

[Registertothankyou]

I've been struggling with this issue the whole day. Turns out the card isn't compatible with PCIe x1 slots... apparently. I moved mine to an x16 slot (my mobo only has x1 and x16) and it works perfectly.

This was exactly my problem. I have the AC1200 adapter, and I had tried both PCI-E x1 slots and my PC would not recognize the device. I downloaded the driver from the TP Link site and it returned 'TP Link unable to find adapter'

I was about to rma my device when I read your post and decided to give it a try. I stuck the card in an x16 slot and sure enough, the PC found the tp link right away.

Thank you.

 

[Ursohaha]

Alright, so to help you, I'll put as clear of a path as possible that I took. It's taken me 3 hours to work this out for myself. I also have Windows 10 64Bit and bought this card and had tons of problems getting it installed.

1. Download and install latest drivers from TP-Link's website for Archer T6E Windows 10.
2. Extract and Install the 'Setup.exe' (I ran this in Windows 8 Compatibility Mode as an Administrator)
3. Locate "SetupController_Log.txt" in C:\ProgramData\TP-Link\
4. Locate line similar to "17:44:26: OS is 64-bit. g_bvIsOS64 = TRUE, g_szWINSYSDIR = C:\WINDOWS\system32\, g_szDevcon = C:\Users\Brian\AppData\Local\Temp\{84CF8374-E9D9-4487-9619-E2C723DE617C}\{2716E9BF-1A34-45DE-B657-541F4AED9858}\devAMD64.exe"
5. I suggest following the directions on TP-Link's website for the Windows 8 Manual Install of the driver. When it states to look for the *.INF, direct the installer to the same location as the temp folder in step 4. For me it was "C:\Users\Brian\AppData\Local\Temp\{84CF8374-E9D9-4487-9619-E2C723DE617C}\{2716E9BF-1A34-45DE-B657-541F4AED9858}\"
6. This should locate the proper drivers for the card and allow you to properly install and use the card.

I'd love to have someone confirm this works for them.

Doesn't work. Driver installer refuses to run. It gives an error saying no tp-link hardware detected. I used compatibility and admin modes.

Led on the card is lit but nothing appears in device manager. Win10. None of PCIe or PCI slots work.

Edit: After several hours of trying, I was going to return the card back to the store, but decided to give it one more try. I changed card to a PCIe-1x slot that I had already tried before and booted the computer. I started driver installer and to my surprise it ran without any issues. Afterwards, I was able to move the card to another PCI slot and it still worked. Honestly, I have no idea what made it work.