Who is Atheros

Atheros began as a joint university project between Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley and the private industry in 1998. The experts in signal processors worked together to form a new wireless chipset.

Shortly after discovering success, they became a publicly traded company. Then in 2011, Qualcomm took over the company in a multibillion dollar acquisition, where it took on the name Qualcomm Atheros.

Now the Atheros chipset is found in name brand wireless devices like Netgear, D-Link and TRENDnet to name just a few. Chances are if you have the standard IEEE 802.11 for wireless networks, then you have an Atheros wireless chip in your system.

Aethros Company Information

• The company is run by president and CEO Craig H. Barratt
• Teresa H. Meng is a founder and the director of Atheros
• The headquarters are in Santa Clara, California, SA

Atheros Driver Problems

Aethros has a reputation for not letting free software circulate. In fact, writers of free software have to reverse engineer the devices in order to create free drivers for Atheros. While a company has every right to do this, it is frowned upon not to release enough information for the industry to create free drivers for a given device.

Common Questions and Problems with Atheros

• Do I need the Atheros installation program? – Technically, you can uninstall the application and your computer would be fine. However, if you want to connect to the Internet using a wireless adapter now or in the future, you need the program. It is better to just leave this application alone.
• Updated Windows and now my wireless does not work – In order for the wireless to work correctly, you will need the device drivers which match your current operating system. Install or reinstall the drivers which match your new operating system.
• Atheros driver accidentally deleted – Chances are that you can't get it back and your Ethernet does not work. Many people delete programs they are unsure of when cleaning up their old programs. Unfortunately, Atheros is not one of the programs you should delete. You can get your Ethernet working again by locating and downloading the correct Atheros drivers.
• Problems after updating the Atheros driver – When you update an Atheros driver using the Windows Update, it may mess up the Ethernet. Sometimes, even when you use the Windows Update, you can download the wrong driver. It generally happens when the suggestion is optional. Simply rollback your driver in the Device Manager to resolve the problem.

Update Atheros Drivers at Home

No matter where you look, you will not find any drivers available from the Atheros website. This means you have three options for updating these drivers. You can 1) use the Windows Update method, 2) use the Device Manager method, or 3) use driver update software.

How to Update Atheros Drivers Using Windows Update

Next to driver update software, this is the safest way to update your drivers. Unfortunately, this method does not always get you the latest drivers on your computer. It only provides you with drivers provided to Microsoft.

1. Click Start
2. Click "All Programs"
3. Click "Windows Update"
4. This will open a window with the available updates.  If any are needed, it will be listed on that screen or listed after clicking Optional updates.
5. Check the box(es) you wish to update
6. Click Ok
7. Click Install Updates
8. Restart Your Computer

Read our driver tutorial center to find more information: How to Safely Update Ethernet Drivers.

How to Update Atheros Drives Using Device Manager

1. Click Start
2. Click Control Panel
3. Click Hardware and Sound
4. Click Device Manager
5. Click the arrow next to Network Adapter
6. Right click the device
7. Select Update Driver Software
8. Select Search Automatically for Updated Driver Software
9. Follow the onscreen instructions
10. Restart your computer after installation

Update Atheros Drivers Automatically

We always recommend the use of driver update software for updating drivers. However, it is even more important for devices like Atheros where finding the driver from the Atheros website is not possible.

Resource Links for Atheros

• Find Athero driver and product support on the official Qualcomm Atheros website.
• Atheros executive found guilty of insider trading.

Interesting Video from Qualcomm Atheros

Qualcomm Releases a Video on Acquiring Atheros and Its Future: Qualcomm Acquires Atheros.