USB Wifi Adapter

Srenz209 · Mar 13, 2024

Hi All,

My laptop onboard wifi stop working. I'm thinking of getting a usb wifi adapter.
Have any of you use one before? How's the performance like?

I'm thinking of getting this wifi adapter from Shopee.

https://shopee.sg/Prolink-1300Mbps-...e2&xptdk=a7521220-6f85-4797-93d4-560b25cbfce2

hwzlite · Mar 13, 2024

Srenz209 said:
...
I'm thinking of getting this wifi adapter from Shopee.

https://shopee.sg/Prolink-1300Mbps-...e2&xptdk=a7521220-6f85-4797-93d4-560b25cbfce2

Or go for better one that based on WIFI6 (802.11ax) instead, like the Comfast 972AX (Realtek RTL8832cu)
or the 952AX (Mediatek MT7921au) for Bestest linux support.

I actually got myself a FENVI AX1800 (Mediatek MT7921au) from taobao , yet to torture-stress test it :grin:

limcc · Mar 13, 2024

If the laptop has removable wifi card, just replaced the wifi card yourself. AX210 pcie card is as cheap as USB AC wifi adapter.

https://www.lazada.sg/tag/intel-ax210-wifi-card/?q=intel ax210 wifi card&catalog_redirect_tag=true

xiaofan · Mar 24, 2024

I am getting from Taobao Fenvi flagship store the following two items.
1) Fenvi Intel BE200 laptop WiFi 7 adpater (RMB141)
https://www.fenvi.com/product_detail_50.html

2) Fenvi WiFi 6E AXE5400 USB adapter with USB extension (RMB118), not so sure how good it is.
https://www.fenvi.com/product_detail_47.html

I will carry out the test once they are arrived, probably in three to four weeks (Taobao 3rd party sea shipping). I will most likely test the USB adapter first.

alex22 · Mar 24, 2024

I bypassed the whole cnvio and cnvio2 subject and opted for m2 qualcomm 6e at SGD$12 instead.
Older equipment, Gen 9 intel chipset.
Taobao, 1 week, air included in price.

For usb adapter, comfast 972ax.
Shopee have. $29.90
Taobao have. Rmb138

Own a couple of comfast units since N300 and they have worked well, some managed to do AP mode support even.

TS, how you determine your wifi card spoil and not just driver issue or hard\software switch control issue?

Srenz209 · Mar 25, 2024

alex22 said:
I bypassed the whole cnvio and cnvio2 subject and opted for m2 qualcomm 6e at SGD$12 instead.
Older equipment, Gen 9 intel chipset.
Taobao, 1 week, air included in price.

For usb adapter, comfast 972ax.
Shopee have. $29.90
Taobao have. Rmb138

Own a couple of comfast units since N300 and they have worked well, some managed to do AP mode support even.

TS, how you determine your wifi card spoil and not just driver issue or hard\software switch control issue?

When I tried to select the globe icon on the bottom right, no connection shows up. I tried to uninstall then re-install the driver as well, didn't help.

alex22 · Mar 25, 2024

Srenz209 said:
When I tried to select the globe icon on the bottom right, no connection shows up. I tried to uninstall then re-install the driver as well, didn't help.

Control panel, device manager, networking devices, can see if the wifi device shows up or shows up with a ! or ? on it ma?

Srenz209 · Mar 27, 2024

alex22 said:
Control panel, device manager, networking devices, can see if the wifi device shows up or shows up with a ! or ? on it ma?

Yes, it does shows up with a ! marking.

hwzlite · Mar 27, 2024

Srenz209 said:
Yes, it does shows up with a ! marking.

Did u try Network Adapter Troubleshooter?

alex22 · Mar 27, 2024

Try remove device thru the device manager, reboot n return there, see if it gets picked up with default picked driver.

In the meantime can buy the usb adapter liao on Shopee lol

Srenz209 · Mar 28, 2024

alex22 said:
Try remove device thru the device manager, reboot n return there, see if it gets picked up with default picked driver.

In the meantime can buy the usb adapter liao on Shopee lol

Tried your method, also didn't help. Still got the same issue.

zerodddd · Mar 31, 2024

I got one from sim lim square.
no brand adaptor, nano size, 633mbps 2.4ghz+5ghz combined
tested with 5ghz connection at home, the actual speed was about 250mbps

xiaofan · Apr 13, 2024

xiaofan said:
2) Fenvi WiFi 6E AXE5400 USB adapter with USB extension (RMB118), not so sure how good it is.
https://www.fenvi.com/product_detail_47.html

hwzlite said:
Or go for better one that based on WIFI6 (802.11ax) instead, like the Comfast 972AX (Realtek RTL8832cu)
or the 952AX (Mediatek MT7921au) for Bestest linux support.

I actually got myself a FENVI AX1800 (Mediatek MT7921au) from taobao , yet to torture-stress test it

Fenvi WiFi 6E AXE5400 USB adapter is based on Realtek RTL8832CU.

I find it has compatibility issues with my Asus RT-AX86U (packet loss, Broadcom BCM4908 CPU + BCM43684 5GHz WiFi chipset) but no issues with my ZTE BE7200 Pro+ (ZTE CPU + MediaTek WiFi chipset). Tested with my Acer Windows 11 laptop for multiple times (close range).

1) Packet loss with Asus RT-AX86U router (CH60, DFS, 80MHz channel width)

Bash:

PS C:\work\speedtest\ookla-speedtest-1.2.0-win64> .\speedtest.exe -s 13623

   Speedtest by Ookla

      Server: Singtel - Singapore (id: 13623)
         ISP: Singtel Fibre
Idle Latency:     3.45 ms   (jitter: 2.84ms, low: 3.29ms, high: 9.00ms)
    Download:   732.01 Mbps (data used: 735.0 MB)
                 11.31 ms   (jitter: 21.84ms, low: 5.46ms, high: 233.05ms)
      Upload:   598.15 Mbps (data used: 1.0 GB)
                 25.87 ms   (jitter: 8.74ms, low: 3.10ms, high: 64.87ms)
 Packet Loss:     5.1%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/68e66e1c-35e7-436c-983b-2a16b6d15a17
PS C:\work\speedtest\ookla-speedtest-1.2.0-win64> .\speedtest.exe -s 13623

   Speedtest by Ookla

      Server: Singtel - Singapore (id: 13623)
         ISP: Singtel Fibre
Idle Latency:     3.80 ms   (jitter: 1.81ms, low: 3.07ms, high: 6.59ms)
    Download:   740.11 Mbps (data used: 619.6 MB)
                 11.27 ms   (jitter: 20.97ms, low: 4.02ms, high: 526.55ms)
      Upload:   593.41 Mbps (data used: 851.3 MB)
                 24.25 ms   (jitter: 8.66ms, low: 6.07ms, high: 50.56ms)
 Packet Loss:     3.1%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/a688dabe-eea7-42ba-bf69-8a4851e94a37

2) No packet loss with ZTE BE7200 Pro+

Bash:

PS C:\work\speedtest\ookla-speedtest-1.2.0-win64> .\speedtest.exe -s 13623

   Speedtest by Ookla

      Server: Singtel - Singapore (id: 13623)
         ISP: Singtel Fibre
Idle Latency:     3.34 ms   (jitter: 2.02ms, low: 3.01ms, high: 7.00ms)
    Download:   731.49 Mbps (data used: 1.2 GB)
                 12.46 ms   (jitter: 13.11ms, low: 4.53ms, high: 131.31ms)
      Upload:   484.79 Mbps (data used: 826.0 MB)
                 23.86 ms   (jitter: 13.03ms, low: 5.24ms, high: 245.59ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/3f53eacf-e96d-4f35-bb35-65da31af1e2a
PS C:\work\speedtest\ookla-speedtest-1.2.0-win64> ipconfig /flushdns

Windows IP Configuration

Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.
PS C:\work\speedtest\ookla-speedtest-1.2.0-win64> .\speedtest.exe -s 13623

   Speedtest by Ookla

      Server: Singtel - Singapore (id: 13623)
         ISP: Singtel Fibre
Idle Latency:     3.62 ms   (jitter: 0.46ms, low: 3.18ms, high: 4.12ms)
    Download:   738.36 Mbps (data used: 471.6 MB)
                 12.32 ms   (jitter: 2.94ms, low: 6.62ms, high: 24.44ms)
      Upload:   507.03 Mbps (data used: 839.8 MB)
                 25.06 ms   (jitter: 14.57ms, low: 4.43ms, high: 246.31ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/864919ff-bb94-4c4e-a7f3-653a450deae1

xiaofan · Apr 13, 2024

hwzlite said:
Or go for better one that based on WIFI6 (802.11ax) instead, like the Comfast 972AX (Realtek RTL8832cu)
or the 952AX (Mediatek MT7921au) for Bestest linux support.

I actually got myself a FENVI AX1800 (Mediatek MT7921au) from taobao , yet to torture-stress test it

@hwzlite

Maybe you want to edit your post, Realtek RTL8832CU (along with RTL8852CU) USB WiFi 6E chipset is not supported by Linux as per the link you mentioned. RTL8832BU and RTL8854BU WiFi 6 chipsets are also not supported. For USB WiFi 6/6E/7, the link only recommends MT925 WiFi 7 and MT7921AU WiFi 6E chipset.
https://github.com/morrownr/USB-WiFi/blob/main/home/USB_WiFi_Chipsets.md

Interface	Standard	Maximum Channel Width	Linux In-Kernel Driver	AP Mode	Monitor Mode	Recommended For Linux
Mediatek MT7925	USB3	WiFi 7	160	6.7+			Yes [4]
Realtek RTL8852cu	USB2	WiFi 6E	160	[6]			No
Realtek RTL8832cu	USB3	WiFi 6E	160				No
Mediatek MT7921au	USB3	WiFi 6E	80	5.18+			Yes
Realtek RTL8852bu	USB	WiFi 6	80	[6]			No
Realtek RTL8832bu	USB3	WiFi 6	80				No
Realtek RTL8852au	USB2	WiFi 6	80	- avoid [2]	bad driver	bad driver	No
Realtek RTL8832au	USB3	WiFi 6	80	- avoid	bad driver	bad driver	No

hwzlite · Apr 13, 2024

xiaofan said:
Maybe you want to edit your post, Realtek RTL8832CU (along with RTL8852CU) USB WiFi 6E chipset is not supported by Linux as per the link you mentioned.

Sorry for my bad england, I should have proper sentencing to mean "the 952AX (Mediatek MT7921au) for Bestest linux support.".

Realtek is well known for.....

Realtek does not support their modern USB Wifi chipsets with in-kernel drivers (this statement is true even though we saw in-kernel support for some Realtek WiFi 5 chipsets in 2023. The support for USB was not added by Realtek but by a Linux community developer). Realtek does make non-standards compliant Linux drivers for many USB chipsets but does not publicly release them or take problem reports from the public. A very limited number of vendors post Realtek USB WiFi drivers at very irregular intervals. These drivers are released in source code format and must be compiled to be used. The Realtek drivers do not keep up with the needed changes as new kernels are released. This job seems to rest with folks like myself in the community. Am I a fan of how the Realtek USB team supports the Linux community? No. What do I recommend? Buy adapters based on chipsets from the company that is doing it right - Mediatek

xiaofan · Apr 13, 2024

Looks like Fenvi WiFi 6E AXE5400 USB adapter (based on Realtek RTL8832CU chipset) also increases latency judging from the Waveform.com bufferbloat test results compared to my Intel AX201 WiFi 6 adpater.

1) Fenvi WiFi 6E AXE5400 USB adpater with Asus RT-AX86U router -- C
https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=e1f36312-c6b4-4c49-8471-4352d677b558
2) Fenvi WiFi 6E AXE5400 USB adpater with ZTE BE7200 Pro+ router (Double NAT) -- C
https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=03c6c0b3-c109-4d26-995d-ef4c60dea13b

3) Intel AX201 built-in WiFi 6 adpater with Asus RT-AX86U router -- A
https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=6add5d77-cf4d-4755-a7cd-08cf666ce705
4) Intel AX201 built-in WiFi 6 adpater with ZTE BE7200 Pro+ router (Double NAT) -- B
https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=e84589c2-67c1-4202-a976-06716cec32fe

Conclusions -- not worth buying the Realtek RTL8832CU chipset based WiFi 6E USB adapter.

xiaofan · Apr 13, 2024

BTW, I also have the old TP-Link T9UH AC1900 adapter. It has never been able to perform like an AC1900 adapter. Even though the PHY link speed is at 1300Mbps (3x3 AC WiFi 80MHz) but the real WiFi speed is worse than those built-in 2x2 AC 80MHz Adapter (867Mbps PHY speed). It is also based Realtek RTL8814AU USB WiFi 5 chipset.
https://www.tp-link.com/sg/home-networking/adapter/archer-t9uh/

Tested with both my Asus RT-AX86U router and ZTE BE7200 Pro+ router.

Bash:

PS C:\work\speedtest\ookla-speedtest-1.2.0-win64> .\speedtest.exe -s 13623

   Speedtest by Ookla

      Server: Singtel - Singapore (id: 13623)
         ISP: Singtel Fibre
Idle Latency:     4.57 ms   (jitter: 0.20ms, low: 4.36ms, high: 5.01ms)
    Download:   248.62 Mbps (data used: 121.8 MB)
                 20.80 ms   (jitter: 7.77ms, low: 3.97ms, high: 32.50ms)
      Upload:   243.95 Mbps (data used: 249.2 MB)
                 45.20 ms   (jitter: 7.98ms, low: 7.63ms, high: 112.04ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/b6bf1e1d-5292-4556-bc7e-4531fd97656d
PS C:\work\speedtest\ookla-speedtest-1.2.0-win64> .\speedtest.exe -s 13623

   Speedtest by Ookla

      Server: Singtel - Singapore (id: 13623)
         ISP: Singtel Fibre
Idle Latency:     4.65 ms   (jitter: 0.25ms, low: 4.18ms, high: 4.78ms)
    Download:   257.35 Mbps (data used: 125.9 MB)
                 17.83 ms   (jitter: 8.29ms, low: 5.08ms, high: 34.59ms)
      Upload:   241.42 Mbps (data used: 219.9 MB)
                 83.72 ms   (jitter: 12.70ms, low: 6.90ms, high: 143.53ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/a6cf93b8-6513-4974-93cc-c9637249a63f

Waveform.com bufferbloat test results:

1) TP-Link T9UH WiFi 5 AC1900 USB adpater with Asus RT-AX86U router -- C
https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=eba156ee-7d0b-4344-9f30-e2ac71199c96
2) TP-Link T9UH WiFi 5 AC1900 USB adpater with ZTE BE7200 Pro+ router (Double NAT) -- F
https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=ebeb3ec6-f4a0-42ed-8a26-695ca9d90ef2

xiaofan · May 1, 2024

xiaofan said:
Fenvi WiFi 6E AXE5400 USB adapter is based on Realtek RTL8832CU.

I find it has compatibility issues with my Asus RT-AX86U (packet loss, Broadcom BCM4908 CPU + BCM43684 5GHz WiFi chipset) but no issues with my ZTE BE7200 Pro+ (ZTE CPU + MediaTek WiFi chipset). Tested with my Acer Windows 11 laptop for multiple times (close range).

1) Packet loss with Asus RT-AX86U router (CH60, DFS, 80MHz channel width)

2) No packet loss with ZTE BE7200 Pro+

Same issue on a low end Intel N100 Mini PC (Chuwi HeroBox, Intel N100 CPU, 8GB/256GB, below S$200 from Shopee), one wall in between the mini PC and the router.

1) Packet loss with Asus RT-AX86U

Bash:

PS C:\work\speedtest\ookla\ookla-speedtest-1.2.0-win64> .\speedtest.exe -s 13623

   Speedtest by Ookla

      Server: Singtel - Singapore (id: 13623)
         ISP: Singtel Fibre
Idle Latency:     2.54 ms   (jitter: 0.15ms, low: 2.51ms, high: 2.82ms)
    Download:   635.24 Mbps (data used: 746.1 MB)
                 13.96 ms   (jitter: 28.52ms, low: 4.75ms, high: 548.67ms)
      Upload:   442.38 Mbps (data used: 545.3 MB)
                 34.17 ms   (jitter: 12.97ms, low: 10.65ms, high: 135.41ms)
 Packet Loss:     4.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/feccb501-bd06-4ceb-8af8-9d2e8830a728

2) No packet loss with ZTE BE7200 Pro+

Bash:

PS C:\work\speedtest\ookla\ookla-speedtest-1.2.0-win64> .\speedtest.exe -s 13623

   Speedtest by Ookla

      Server: Singtel - Singapore (id: 13623)
         ISP: Singtel Fibre
Idle Latency:     2.33 ms   (jitter: 0.36ms, low: 2.05ms, high: 2.74ms)
    Download:   620.95 Mbps (data used: 677.3 MB)
                 12.88 ms   (jitter: 4.22ms, low: 4.88ms, high: 24.25ms)
      Upload:   426.86 Mbps (data used: 723.1 MB)
                 28.53 ms   (jitter: 11.80ms, low: 8.98ms, high: 67.09ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/ee58dd0b-3285-4365-8fe8-07d23c41fdff

xiaofan · May 1, 2024

Fenvi got multiple version of AX1800 USB WiFi adapter
One of them is based on Realtek 8832AU -- (without two antennas sticking out), the driver is built-in the adapter (emulated as a CD-ROM by Windows).

No packet loss with my Asus RT-AX86U, tested with Acer Windows 11 laptop, 3m away.

Bash:

PS C:\work\speedtest\ookla-speedtest-1.2.0-win64> .\speedtest.exe -s 13623

   Speedtest by Ookla

      Server: Singtel - Singapore (id: 13623)
         ISP: Singtel Fibre
Idle Latency:     3.79 ms   (jitter: 0.61ms, low: 3.37ms, high: 4.54ms)
    Download:   669.36 Mbps (data used: 1.2 GB)
                 12.59 ms   (jitter: 6.82ms, low: 5.09ms, high: 231.74ms)
      Upload:   347.65 Mbps (data used: 454.2 MB)
                 45.20 ms   (jitter: 16.86ms, low: 8.90ms, high: 190.97ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.4%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/00bf1ae2-7dc9-404d-9863-40031addc8ef

No packet loss with ZTE BE7200 Pro+ either, tested with Acer Windows 11 laptop, 4m away.

Bash:

PS C:\work\speedtest\ookla-speedtest-1.2.0-win64> .\speedtest.exe -s 13623

   Speedtest by Ookla

      Server: Singtel - Singapore (id: 13623)
         ISP: Singtel Fibre
Idle Latency:     3.92 ms   (jitter: 0.05ms, low: 3.87ms, high: 3.98ms)
    Download:   526.75 Mbps (data used: 940.6 MB)
                 16.68 ms   (jitter: 6.65ms, low: 4.59ms, high: 40.04ms)
      Upload:   293.48 Mbps (data used: 262.4 MB)
                 40.59 ms   (jitter: 18.61ms, low: 9.47ms, high: 205.56ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/5d16244d-a55a-49a5-94a1-5ee42185a1f4

xiaofan · May 1, 2024

The other Fenvi AX1800 WiFi adapter is based on MT7921AU.

No packet loss with my Asus RT-AX86U, tested with Acer Windows 11 laptop, 3m away.

Bash:

PS C:\work\speedtest\ookla-speedtest-1.2.0-win64> .\speedtest.exe -s 13623

   Speedtest by Ookla

      Server: Singtel - Singapore (id: 13623)
         ISP: Singtel Fibre
Idle Latency:     3.17 ms   (jitter: 0.17ms, low: 3.15ms, high: 3.49ms)
    Download:   574.77 Mbps (data used: 637.7 MB)
                 12.51 ms   (jitter: 7.96ms, low: 5.03ms, high: 238.19ms)
      Upload:   455.66 Mbps (data used: 606.6 MB)
                 17.77 ms   (jitter: 29.64ms, low: 4.00ms, high: 255.07ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.6%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/85edd181-c9e1-464f-b20a-23062c081d46

No packet loss with ZTE BE7200 Pro+ either, tested with Acer Windows 11 laptop, 4m away.

Bash:

PS C:\work\speedtest\ookla-speedtest-1.2.0-win64> .\speedtest.exe -s 13623

   Speedtest by Ookla

      Server: Singtel - Singapore (id: 13623)
         ISP: Singtel Fibre
Idle Latency:     4.09 ms   (jitter: 0.65ms, low: 2.94ms, high: 4.66ms)
    Download:   660.51 Mbps (data used: 686.9 MB)
                 11.67 ms   (jitter: 7.86ms, low: 4.11ms, high: 231.63ms)
      Upload:   447.93 Mbps (data used: 728.4 MB)
                 28.26 ms   (jitter: 39.94ms, low: 2.71ms, high: 1920.38ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/41ae6088-7d16-457c-b98d-5d6b10d063c8

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