Installing Alfa AWUS036H on a Windows 8 Pro laptop
(Update July 6, 2015: it appears Microsoft's online database now includes the latest INF file for this device which is from Realtek from 12/2009. So you may not need to go through the manual process outlined in the video. Try the following process first, then try the video if no luck: You must be connected to Internet first through internal Wi-Fi or Ethernet for this to work. Go to Device Manager, go to Other section, and right click "RT81787" device, and select Update Driver. Then select "Search Automatically for Updated Driver Software". Allow wizard to finish. Note this process will not work if you do not have Internet access through your internal Wi-Fi card or built-in Ethernet when doing it.)
We have tested the Alfa AWUS036H 1000mW long range WiFi USB adapter on Windows 8. There is also a range comparison to the on-board WiFi card at the end.
On our Toshiba notebook, it was plug and play, no driver needed. In this video we also show how to install the driver manually in case it is not plug and play for you (for this part, expand the video window or put in full screen mode to see on-screen text clearly). There is no official Windows 8 driver for this product yet, so this video details how to install using the Windows 7 driver. The Alfa Client Utility program is not currently compatible, but you can use the Windows 8 Connection Manager to scan for and connect to networks. Let us know in the comments section below if installation was also plug and play for you.
Update 11/15/2013: No video? No problem. Click here to see an online Windows 8 driver install guide for AWUS036H from Alfa Network, Inc. Note that this guide pertains to any Realtek RTL8187L based device from Alfa including AWUS036EW, UBDo-gt8, and Tube-U(G).
Update 7/13/2014: Several buyers have referenced they had an easier time doing the install by taking these steps:
1. Computer must already be connected to Internet using internal WiFi, then plug in AWUS036H adapter
2. Press Windows key + X key on Windows 8 desktop screen and select "Device Manager" from the popup menu
3. Under Network Adapters, click this device once to highlight, then right-click and select Update Driver Software
4. Cick "Search Automatically for updated driver software
This may not work for everyone.
Update 3/19/2016: Our staff and some customers have found that the above process also works for many Windows 10 PCs. Some customers have not had success so this should be seen as a possible solution and not a guarantee of Windows 10 compatibility.
Comments
Ahmed Anwar said:
I have the same same adapter and its not working with windows 8 pro upgraded from 7.
I tried your methods but to no avail. I get the system cannot the path specifed error.
Please guide.
Rokland LLC said:
Please let us know more details, such as when you received the error. If you can take any screenshots using the Snippet program in Windows 8 and email them to us, or use http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/ to record your installation attempt on Windows 8 and upload the video to youtube and send us the link, this will be very useful in us figuring out the problem
Edward said:
I have a windows 8 OS in my laptop and I want to install the Alfa awus036h when start to run the CD Driver it is showing the driver is not supported. I want to ask do you have the driver for Windows 8 OS?
Rokland LLC said:
Thank you for posting Edward. The installer program is not yet Win8 compatible. You can do a manual install of the driver using the video above.
cHoWzeNwaN said:
Alfa AWUS036HR recognize on windows 8 but right after I connected to a wifi network, it stop working, light turns off, and it doesn’t work anymore until I delete the driver and is auto detected again. Anybody else with this problem? Any solutions? Works perfect on Windows 7.
Windows 8 Pro 32bits
Auto decteted driver: RTL8188RU Wireless LAN 802.11n USB High Power Dongle.
Driver version : 1021.0.716.2012.
(try to updated its says it’s the lastest version.)
Thanks for any clue you can give me
Rokland LLC said:
@cHoWzeNwaN Yes, that is a known issue with AWUS036NHR, the NHR model is not compatible with Windows 8 at this time. This video is for the AWUS036H model.
Paulo Bruno said:
Hi, i managed to install the drivers but when i try to use the virtual wifi mode, it says disallowed. On windows 7 I could do it without any problem. What can I do to fix this?
Thank you.
Rokland LLC said:
Paulo, please contact our support team by email for individual help, so we can get more information from you about the problem. Thank you.
Tom said:
Hi,
I have just installed the AWUS036H on Windows 8 and works perfect. I have followed all the steps on video above and it didn’t work because the CDrom included does not have the drivers for Win8. I have just followed the steps and instead of click on “Browse my computer….” just click on " Search Automatically for updated windows….".
Samsher Ali said:
alfa the best
Duane Florschuetz said:
Thanks for the video guide that I went searching for after the installation disk told me my Win 8 system was not supported. Successfully installed AWUSO36H and is working well after disabling the internal adapter. Your step by step details were very helpful.
David Martin said:
My AWUS036H worked plug and play on my ASUS laptop. No need to watch your video or use the installation disk.
Ajmal said:
i have a very big problem.plz… can anyone help me.
my alfa wifi adapter shows all the wifi networks , mine also , but when i enter password it shows like its connecting but it doesnt connect.
Jim said:
I have 64 bit dell desktop running win 8.1, just plugged the AWUS036H into USB port and in about 10 seconds it connected to net. Couldn’t have been easier.
Brett said:
I just did the plug and play on my 8.1 Lenovo an so far no problems. We will wait and see how long the connection lasts in a place I have problems w/ it staying on.
DanO said:
OK, after trying everything I could think of including this tutorial, I was about to give us when it dawned on me that I had it plugged into a USB 3.0 port. When I switched it out to a 2.0 port, it started working perfectly!!!
Neil said:
Mine works plug and play on a new HP laptop with Windows 8.1 64.
gina said:
I tried plug and play, chose windows 7, and it kept crashing. Your way worked perfectly. Thank you.
rubel said:
good
Johnny Gallardo said:
i installed successfully with your method but i still have yellow exclamation on the new installed driver :( not working.
ive done this before im not sure why it’s not working now??