Re: working usb wifi card, that is still possible to buy

[Larry Finger <Larry.Finger@lwfinger.net>]

On 11/05/2010 04:26 AM, Josh Lehan wrote:
> On 11/03/2010 02:24 AM, Pavel Machek wrote:
>> Hi!
>>
>> Is there an USB wifi card that can still be bought in reasonable
>> ammount (like 1000 pieces) and is well supported by Linux?
>>
>> So far I tried carl9170 (as seen by previous mails) and
>> rt2x00usb. carl9170 is not really usable; rt2x00usb works a bit
>> better, but also fails after some time:
> 
> I would like to know as well.  This would be for ARM, though, not
> PowerPC.  It's tough finding reliable USB Wi-Fi adapters that work under
> Linux these days.  It seems the development focus has shifted to
> PCI-based chipsets, unfortunately.
> 
> I've had mixed success with the VIA VT6656.  These drivers are only at
> "staging" quality within the mainline kernel, though.  There are
> separate drivers that can be downloaded directly from the vendor, though.
> 
> Anybody else have a good suggestion?

The Realtek RTL8712 (aka RTL8192U) and found in the D-Link DWA 130, has a driver
in 2.6.37 (r8712u). Although not based on mac80211, thus found in staging, the
driver is extremely stable - my connection never drops out. With an 802.11n
router, I get transmission throughput of up to 70 Mb/s. The D-Link site has
these available for about $55, although I bought mine new on E-bay for a lot
less than that.

Realtek has recently supplied me with a mac80211-based driver for the RTL8192CE,
which has the same wireless chip with a PCIe interface. As soon as I receive my
sample cards, that driver will be submitted to wireless testing, and it will be
the template for conversion of r8712u. As a result, the current staging driver
should be converted into mainline within the next few months.

Larry