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After a co-worker asked me to install the Windows 7 beta  onto his wife’s new Aspire One, I ran into a common netbook frustration. My freshly-loaded OS couldn’t find an appropriate wireless driver.

A couple of Google searches later, and I was starting to get disheartened. Finally, I came across atheros.cz.

If you’ve got an Aspire One, the file you want is on this page. The download failed with IE8 and IE7 due to the infamous gold bar, but Firefox and Chrome can get at it with no problem. Once it’s on your machine, extract the files to a folder and then open Device Manager.

To install it, don’t let Windows 7 search for drivers. Instead, choose browse and then click let me pick. Now choose have disk and browse to your new folder.  Select the Atheros AR5006x from the list. You may have to reboot – prior to doing so, I was able to see access points but couldn’t connect, and the LED would not come on.

After rebooting, everything worked just fine. Good luck!

If you missed it, here is the link to the Acer Aspire One Atheros Wireless drivers for Windows XP / Vista / Windows 7

Lee Mathews is a computer technician in Manitoba, Canada. He’s a regular contributor to Download Squad, and the proud owner of an MSI Wind U100 netbook.

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Lee Mathews

Computer tech, blogger, husband, father, and avid MSI U100 user.

32 replies on “Get the wireless working in Windows 7 on an Aspire One”

  1. i have install new windows in my aspire one..
    then all the driver on my notebook cannot been found..
    what should i do…

  2. It worked fine for my Acer Aspire One AOA 150. I installed the drivers while the WLan device was “visible” in the Control Panel, and I haven’t any problems now.
    I had to reinstall Windows 7 to turn the device to “visible” again, because if it was “invisible” I couldn’t neither make it work nor appear in the devices list.
    Thanks a lot and sorry for my English! Greetings from Argentina!

  3. I solved the problem!!!
    I tried hard to make the problem go away. None of the tips I read were realy helpfull. The driver Microsoft provides doesn`t work, neither does the one for Widnows 7, found on https://atheros.cz. However, I found in one forum a post, saying that a vista driver should work, so I downloaded the latesst Windows Vista driver for my Atherso 5007EG and it`s holding well for now. Here is a link: https://www.atheros.cz/atheros-wireless-download.php?chipset=22&system=3 You have to install the driver manually. Go to Devices and printers, then select your computer from the list of devices, then go to hardware, choose the Atheros device and go to properties. When the device window opens, go to change settings, driver, update driver. Go to “brouse my computer for driver software”- let me pick from a list… Have disk-> and then navigate to the donloaded driver directory.
    I wrote it in details, so that begginer users can handle it 😉

    P.S. the only problem after that is the light indicator for the wireless adapter is on all the time, but I guess you can live with that.

  4. you sir are a god… thank you.. it worked perfect.. serious legend..super ledgend

  5. That’s it!!!! I’m buying an EeePC. The Aspire One SUCKS big time! My wireless won’t work. Period. Amen
    A friend of mine has the EeePC and its wireless works even on linux.
    EeePC, here I come. 🙂

  6. do i have to search for drivers before i install windows? what happens if I have already installed it and now need to install the driver? It takes me to a site where I have to pay. Im beyond frustrated..PLEASE HELP!!

  7. my computer acer aspair one it has no network driver what should i do???

  8. The link seems to be broken. do you have this file that you could pass along to folks?

  9. Do you know if Acer is using the same wireless adapter in the D150 version of the Aspire One? I assume if they are, this driver should work for it as well?

  10. “To install it, don’t let Windows 7 search for drivers. Instead, choose browse and then click let me pick. ……”

    i cant find the browse!
    Can somebody help me, i am a noob

    1. I think it’s the “Have Disk…” button when you search for the driver yourself.

  11. The driver you listed the AR5006x is an older driver the newer updated driver is AR5007EG you can download them from Acers FTP site all version of the drivers are inculded in theWireless_ Atheros v. 7.6.0.264 zip . Once you start to update drivers it will show 3 versions of the AR5007EG in the list choose the second version and reboot system. You might have to update driver a second time to get the light to start working. Here is the link below

    https://support.acer-euro.com/drivers/ftp/ftp.html

    1. lccuurtis1, you suck. The latest version 7.6.0.264 totally not working. I tried to install more than 10 times still failed.

  12. is that pink netbook the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen? yuk, yuk and double yuk!

  13. Why can’t you click “the infamous gold bar” and select “download the file”?
    It’s so easy/

    1. Yes, it does work, it’s just that the site is completely unclear as to what it’s doing at any point, and you have to wait arbitrary lengths of time without any indication of what’s going on, such that it would appear to anyone but the most patient that the download had failed.

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