USB Wifi Adapter for Rocky Linux 9

Rocky Linux General
1

Can anyone suggest a USB wifi adapter that will work with Rocky Linux 9?

2

What sort of features do you need? Normal use, or do you need things like monitor mode and packet injection?

3

Just a basic adapter that will allow me to connect to the wifi network in my home.

4

I found some recommendations at USB-WiFi/USB_WiFi_Adapters_that_are_supported_with_Linux_in-kernel_drivers.md at main · morrownr/USB-WiFi · GitHub. The overall advice seems to be to use something based off the mt7612u chipset, a few of which are listed in the first section of USB-WiFi/The_Short_List.md at main · morrownr/USB-WiFi · GitHub.

By the way, if you happen to have a free PCI slot, I’d strongly recommend slapping an Intel wifi card in there instead of using a USB adapter.

5

I’m still on 8.7 but I imagine this is still relevant:

ls -l /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/
then you might go to
ls -l /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/net/wireless
and then possibly to
ls -l /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek
and
ls -l /lib/modules/4.18.0-425.3.1.el8.x86_64/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl8xxxu
where u’d find
rtl8xxxu.ko.xz
and do
modinfo rtl8xxxu.ko.xz
to get

filename:       /lib/modules/4.18.0-425.3.1.el8.x86_64/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtl8xxxu/rtl8xxxu.ko.xz
firmware:       rtlwifi/rtl8723bu_bt.bin
firmware:       rtlwifi/rtl8723bu_nic.bin
firmware:       rtlwifi/rtl8192eu_nic.bin
firmware:       rtlwifi/rtl8192cufw_TMSC.bin
firmware:       rtlwifi/rtl8192cufw_B.bin
firmware:       rtlwifi/rtl8192cufw_A.bin
firmware:       rtlwifi/rtl8723aufw_B_NoBT.bin
firmware:       rtlwifi/rtl8723aufw_B.bin
firmware:       rtlwifi/rtl8723aufw_A.bin
license:        GPL
description:    RTL8XXXu USB mac80211 Wireless LAN Driver
author:         Jes Sorensen <Jes.Sorensen@gmail.com>
rhelversion:    8.7
...

which’d give you something to go on.

I seem to recall having issues with my wifi dongle last I used it - had to turn off, unplug, replug, turn on etc. Kept it on a usb extension for easy access and positioning for signal (just a cheap dongle / no aerial).

Also, issues with usb generally though that could be old tech/ usb2/3 mixes and might be KDE related although similar stories online eg. usb keyboard/mouse issues (jamming/repeating) while copying large files or if plug phone in on one usb bus but no issues if plug it in on another. So I think usb is generally a bit buggy in some configs at least and I’d go the PCI route if available.

6

There’s also a page @ eLinux, with tested usb/wifi adapters: https://www.elinux.org/RPi_USB_Wi-Fi_Adapters

/* For RPi though, but still a useful page. */