TP-Link Wireless Adapter not wanting to connect to Linksys router

czehner13

Reputable
Aug 26, 2014
20
0
4,510
Preface: I don't have much experience in Networking so sorry if I present stupid questions or sound dumb in general.

I just had a computer built and put in my own wireless adapter (TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 Dual Band Wireless N900 PCI Express Adapter to be extremely exact) and it worked just fine with my Belkin router. I move into my new apartment with a Linksys EA6300 as our community router. Everyone else (including myself on my laptop) can get on the internet with no problems at all. My desktop however, will recognize both bands coming in but is being extremely stubborn.

There are three different things that have happened so far:

1. It will connect ok but the connection is very unstable and will disconnect whenever it seems to feel like it.

2. One band will prompt me for the security key, and I will type it in (I am 100% positive it is the right key as I have done it countless times) and it will keep telling me "Security Key Mismatch"

3. The other band will prompt me for the security key and I type it in but instead of doing the security key mismatch it will just plain tell me it was unable to connect.

I have tried resetting both my router and my adapter, completely uninstalling and reinstalling everything to do with my adapter twice, and have been scouring anything related for hours upon end with no avail. Is it possible that the adapter and router aren't communicating simply because they're different brands? I can't seem to figure anything out, and any help would be very much appreciated.
 

Hellfire323

Reputable
Aug 18, 2014
12
0
4,520
Although I suppose it is possible (but unlikely), that some devices from different manufacturers may not work so well together, but I doubt that is your problem. Every device uses protocols which should be the same across the board, no matter the manufacturer. Routers will require a password for each band that it broadcasts on, although if you set the passwords, I'm sure you know this. One question though, what do you mean by "community" router? Is it used by you and your room mates or by "everyone" including your neighbors?

I've done some research on the Linksys AC1200 (EA6300) and it seems you are not the only one with an issue with this router. http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-Wireless-Dual-Band-Anywhere-EA6300/product-reviews/B00C0WZ9FW/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_one?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints=0

Seems to me that this device is poorly made. Perhaps you can look for a firmware upgrade that might help your problem, at least a little. But for an 802.11ac capable router, it has really low reviews. (It is possible that a lot of those reviews could be user error and problems caused by lack of knowledge, but with that many low reviews there may be something seriously wrong with this device)
 

czehner13

Reputable
Aug 26, 2014
20
0
4,510
By community I'm just talking about my roommates, we have the password on so neighbors don't get on. We do have around 4-5 people on the internet at most times but I've had to deal with that before and it wasn't so much of a problem.

As far as if it is just the router, is there one you would recommend that's $100 or less? I know Belkin's are fairly trustworthy and I haven't had too much issue, but any suggestions would help me.

The thing that's bothering me is that it's only happening to my one computer, the connection may not be great for everyone else but they still are able to log on with no problem.

EDIT: could it also be that my adapter is an N adapter and the router is AC?