zlim Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 Someone new to linux has finally got a USB stick to boot into Mint but he can't get online with his old wifi adapter. Can anyone point me to a USB wifi adapter that works well in linux? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 This one works great on linux and even allows monitoring mode for injection. It uses the Atheros AR9721 chipset https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SZEOLG 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookmem Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 7 minutes ago, zlim said: Someone new to linux has finally got a USB stick to boot into Mint but he can't get online with his old wifi adapter. Can anyone point me to a USB wifi adapter that works well in linux? Ndiswrapper is still available in Mint and should allow them to use the Windows driver for their wifi adapter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 I'm sure there are others, but Bolse has been 100% reliable for me. Drivers also available for Windows & Mac, but works with Linux OOTB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 Thanks, Josh. I will throw him the link. Ndiswrapper is still available in Mint Sorry, that is too hard for someone completely new to linux. This person struggled even to make a live USB stick. Hedon James, sorry but I don't know what Bolse is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 Second Josh's selection as that one has always worked great for me. My granddaughter is using it now with Linux Mint in my old Acer desktop. Here is another smaller one that also works great. https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networking/usb-adapter/tl-wn725n/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 15 minutes ago, zlim said: Thanks, Josh. I will throw him the link. Sorry, that is too hard for someone completely new to linux. This person struggled even to make a live USB stick. Hedon James, sorry but I don't know what Bolse is. Bolse is just a brand/manufacturer of usb wifi dongles that I've had 100% success with. I was gonna post an Amazon link for you to see, but i don't see any Bolse in the list.....looks like maybe they went under, or got bought out? But I did see this one in the list, advertised as linux-compatible, and speeds up to 867 mbps if connected to a 5Ghz signal. That would be really good speed for a home network. And I'm a huge fan of the nano/micro designs, especially for laptops, as the small size makes it unlikely you'll bump the stick and bugger up the usb port. FWIW... https://us.amazon.com/D-Link-Wireless-Internet-Supported-DWA-181-US/dp/B07YYL3RYJ/ref=sr_1_20?dchild=1&keywords=usb+wifi&qid=1634044560&s=electronics&sr=1-20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 (edited) @ HJ I have researched a bunch of AC adapters and it appears that Linux performance can be a bit spotty as compared to the slower old school N wifi adapters. Tried and true Atheros does not seem to make an AC chipset, and of the two that do - Mediatek and Realtek, Mediatek is preferable because in most cases its drivers are in the kernel. Realtek can be made to work but you may have to make and install the driver as well as put the module in the kernel. I haven't tried a modern AC adapter in Linux because I still get decent performance out of my N adapters. Right now I am getting close to 200Mbps on my Intel dual band N adapter in the Thinkpad. Here's the current wifi situation for me in Linux: Thinkpad - Intel dual band N Lenovo - Atheros single band N Old Dell desktop - Realtek single band N Home built desktop - Atheros single band N Toshiba netbook - Atheros single band N All have internal wifi except for the old Dell which has a TP-Link nano adapter. Edited October 12, 2021 by raymac46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wa4chq Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 (edited) I've used this with Raspberry pi running Linux and it works fine. WiFi adapter I've also used this a few years back when I was on the boat. It worked great on my Lenovo laptop running Linux. Alfa WiFi adapter Edited October 13, 2021 by wa4chq Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookmem Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 I've had a lot more problems with older wifi adapters not working with Windows, in the last couple of years, then with Linux. I think any new wifi adapter should work with Linux if you are using a version with a fairly up to date kernel. But, as I stated earlier, Ndiswrapper should make any adapter usable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 The only wifi adapter that gave me trouble in Windows was an Atheros AR956X internal one in a Lenovo Flex2 laptop. That one used to disconnect randomly in Windows. Since I switched the laptop over to Linux it works perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted October 13, 2021 Author Share Posted October 13, 2021 Thanks for more suggestions. I will throw him additional links. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookmem Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 2 hours ago, raymac46 said: The only wifi adapter that gave me trouble in Windows was an Atheros AR956X internal one in a Lenovo Flex2 laptop. That one used to disconnect randomly in Windows. Since I switched the laptop over to Linux it works perfectly. I've had wifi adapters that worked fine in Win 7 but failed completely when the box was upgraded to Win 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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