USB Wifi Adapter

xiaofan · Jan 19, 2025

If you have a pretty old but still usable laptop, say 7 year old+ Intel 8th Gen CPU based laptop, you may want to upgrade the built-in AC adapter (often Intel AC72600 AC1200 adapter) with Intel AX200 WiFi 6 adapter or Intel AX210 WiFi 6E adapter. That will give a pretty good boost when connected to a WiFi 6/6E/7 router.

But some people do not want to open the laptop -- in that case, a USB WiFi 6 adapter like those based on MT7921AU chipse (AX1800 rated) USB adapter will be good, like the previously mentioned Fenvi FU-AX1800 adapter. Based on my testing, MT7921AU chipset has the best compatibility compared to those based on RealTek (RTL8832AU/BU/CU and RTL8852AU/BU/CU, RTL8912AU), even under Windows. RealTek USB WiFi Adapters (usually mentioned as Driverless, enumerated as a USB CD drive iniitally with the driver installer included) tend to have some compatiility issues -- maybe because they consume higher current.

USB WiFi Chipset info: I am waiting for MT7925/MT7927 based USB WiFi 7 adapters
https://github.com/morrownr/USB-WiFi/blob/main/home/USB_WiFi_Chipsets.md

xiaofan · Jan 19, 2025

Testing results with an 7+ year old Acer Swift 3 laptop (bought in Dec 2017) with Intel Core i5-8250U CPU, 8GB/256GB configuration, upgraded with Intel AX200 WiFi 6 laptop adapter.

Wireless router -- Asus TUF-BE6500 dual band BE6500 router (no 6GHz band). 4m away.

1) Built-in Intel AX200 WiFi 6 adapter: 2402 Mbps PHY Link Speed

2) Fenvi FU-AX1800 AX1800 USB WiFi 6 adapter: 1201 Mbps PHY Link Speed
https://www.fenvi.com/product_detail_44.html

3) Comfast CF983BE BE6500 USB WiFi 7 adapter (sometimes may drop out), 2882 Mbps PHY Link speed
https://en.comfast.com.cn/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=show&catid=13&id=258

xiaofan · Jan 23, 2025

I have an old TP-Link T9UH AC1900 (3x3 AC 80MHz on 5GHz band, PHY Speed 1300 Mbps) USB 3.0 WiFi 5 adapter. I used it with a very old desktop and never really achieve faster speed than AC1200 adapters (2x2 AC 80MHz on 5GHz band, PHY speed 866Mbps).

Today I tried it with my Acer Swift 3 2021 model and after a bit of struggling and get it to work under USB SuperSpeed mode. The speed becomes quite good when connected to Asus TUF-BE6500 (up to 4x4 AC 80MHz on 5GHz band when connecting to WiFi 5 clients). 4m away from the router.

https://www.speedtest.net/result/d/e16d5964-b81c-498b-ae9d-0079fee14229

pangkh · Feb 4, 2025

xiaofan said:
Comfast CF-983BE BE6500 WiFi 7 adapter

xiaofan said:
When it works, then speed is not bad.

3m away from Asus TUF-BE6500 router, CH60, 160MHz channel bandwidth.

Acer Swift 3 early 2021 model, Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU, 16GB/512GB, Windows 11 24H2.

PHY Link Speed 2882Mbps.

Stumbled across an updated driver from another manufacturer: htt_p://www.edup.cn/rtl8912au/

Version 5002.24.126.0 dated 31/12//2024

Not sure if there is an improvement and still no MLO yet, but at least have not encountered any random disconnections yet.

xiaofan · Feb 4, 2025

pangkh said:
Stumbled across an updated driver from another manufacturer: htt_p://www.edup.cn/rtl8912au/

Version 5002.24.126.0 dated 31/12//2024

Not sure if there is an improvement and still no MLO yet, but at least have not encountered any random disconnections yet.

Thanks a lot. This newer driver version seems to be much more stable with my Acer Swift 3 early 2021 model and Comfast CF-983BE BE6500 USB WiFi 7 adpter, as long as I do not switch to 2.4GHz band and then switch back to other bands. If I do that, it seems to be a bit unstable.
https://en.comfast.com.cn/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=show&catid=13&id=258

3m distance to TP-Link HB710 router (triband BE18000, from Starhub).

1) 6GHz band (CH69, 160MHz channel bandwidth), PHY speed 2882Mbps

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:     4.10 ms   (jitter: 0.53ms, low: 3.98ms, high: 6.03ms)
    Download:  1714.48 Mbps (data used: 2.0 GB)
                 16.20 ms   (jitter: 5.57ms, low: 4.89ms, high: 35.81ms)
      Upload:  1351.33 Mbps (data used: 942.8 MB)
                 23.38 ms   (jitter: 6.10ms, low: 9.20ms, high: 38.91ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/2bea0c59-cc62-42b0-b290-3f702f91144c

2) 5GHz band (CH60, 160Mhz channel bandwidth), PHY Speed 2882 Mbps.

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:     5.42 ms   (jitter: 0.70ms, low: 5.11ms, high: 7.43ms)
    Download:  1643.30 Mbps (data used: 1.4 GB)
                 19.31 ms   (jitter: 7.62ms, low: 4.14ms, high: 39.74ms)
      Upload:  1240.81 Mbps (data used: 2.3 GB)
                 25.03 ms   (jitter: 8.58ms, low: 8.26ms, high: 70.68ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/a78ad5c9-ea9e-4ffc-a2d9-5770266ca0e5

3) 2.4GHz band (20MHz channel bandwidth), PHY speed 344 Mbps

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:     5.96 ms   (jitter: 2.53ms, low: 5.08ms, high: 10.07ms)
    Download:    98.32 Mbps (data used: 49.0 MB)
                 34.70 ms   (jitter: 18.08ms, low: 5.39ms, high: 163.54ms)
      Upload:    89.89 Mbps (data used: 102.5 MB)
                 70.49 ms   (jitter: 38.10ms, low: 6.53ms, high: 1891.41ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/20fe8d4f-392d-4d11-b60d-1d49c15ad11d

4) MLO SSID --> connected as 6GHz band as the adapter does not support MLO, 2882Mbps PHY speed

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:     4.34 ms   (jitter: 0.66ms, low: 4.03ms, high: 6.17ms)
    Download:  1623.76 Mbps (data used: 2.4 GB)
                 15.61 ms   (jitter: 6.89ms, low: 4.54ms, high: 44.24ms)
      Upload:  1457.49 Mbps (data used: 2.5 GB)
                 20.35 ms   (jitter: 11.05ms, low: 4.84ms, high: 574.83ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/75e725b3-ceef-48aa-9a5e-c63fe615d34c

xiaofan · Feb 4, 2025

Similar performance for Fenvi FU-BE6500 USB WiFi 7 adapter with my Acer Swift 3 early 2021 model. This one is better to be used with a USB Dock as the antenna direction cannot be adjusted upwards.
https://www.fenvi.com/product_detail_55.html

3m distance to TP-Link HB710 router (triband BE18000, from Starhub), without using a dock.

1) 6GHz band (CH69, 160MHz channel bandwidth), PHY speed 2882Mbps

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:     4.41 ms   (jitter: 0.90ms, low: 4.04ms, high: 6.63ms)
    Download:  1492.77 Mbps (data used: 1.8 GB)
                 15.77 ms   (jitter: 6.41ms, low: 4.48ms, high: 30.23ms)
      Upload:  1509.68 Mbps (data used: 1.8 GB)
                 21.45 ms   (jitter: 5.53ms, low: 5.64ms, high: 37.99ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/6cfca4c2-e2c6-46d1-96eb-4397333b71ab

2) 5GHz band (CH60, 160Mhz channel bandwidth), PHY Speed 2882 Mbps.

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:     4.83 ms   (jitter: 0.73ms, low: 4.36ms, high: 6.90ms)
    Download:  1571.75 Mbps (data used: 1.6 GB)
                 16.43 ms   (jitter: 6.64ms, low: 4.40ms, high: 50.10ms)
      Upload:  1287.44 Mbps (data used: 1.4 GB)
                 25.18 ms   (jitter: 10.35ms, low: 6.20ms, high: 74.11ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/59fb4d08-7b5c-4bbe-99b5-46189f6efaa0

3) 2.4GHz band

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:     5.31 ms   (jitter: 0.54ms, low: 4.58ms, high: 5.51ms)
    Download:   141.94 Mbps (data used: 127.9 MB)
                 30.06 ms   (jitter: 12.07ms, low: 5.19ms, high: 85.33ms)
      Upload:    89.81 Mbps (data used: 124.1 MB)
                331.14 ms   (jitter: 75.86ms, low: 8.28ms, high: 2332.25ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/e6a764e8-126c-4500-bdf6-ab0dd1144b27

4) MLO band --> connected as 6GHz band.

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:     4.46 ms   (jitter: 0.75ms, low: 4.27ms, high: 6.64ms)
    Download:  1514.53 Mbps (data used: 1.9 GB)
                 16.71 ms   (jitter: 5.63ms, low: 4.42ms, high: 31.89ms)
      Upload:  1488.06 Mbps (data used: 1.6 GB)
                 21.58 ms   (jitter: 5.92ms, low: 5.22ms, high: 37.74ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/0c447c94-6efe-4f33-9076-e760d0915a0e

pangkh · Feb 6, 2025

Came across yet another newer driver for the Realtek 8912AU USB chipset from Elecom. This time, Windows 11 24H2 recognises my Comfast adaptor as WiFi 7 and MLO finally works!

http_s://www.elecom.co.jp/support/download/network/wireless_lan/adapter/wdc-be28tu3/win/

Other things to note:

The driver is not automatically recognised by Windows. After running the setup and restarting, force update through Device Manager.
MLO speeds are a bit flakey. Hopefully this will improve.

pangkh · Feb 7, 2025

pangkh said:
Came across yet another newer driver for the Realtek 8912AU USB chipset from Elecom. This time, Windows 11 24H2 recognises my Comfast adaptor as WiFi 7 and MLO finally works!

http_s://www.elecom.co.jp/support/download/network/wireless_lan/adapter/wdc-be28tu3/win/

Other things to note:

The driver is not automatically recognised by Windows. After running the setup and restarting, force update through Device Manager.

MLO speeds are a bit flakey. Hopefully this will improve.

Looking at the specification of the Elecom WDC-BE28TU3-B adaptor more closely, it seems that only EMLSR mode is supported in MLO, which is disappointing....

http_s://www.elecom.co.jp/products/WDC-BE28TU3-B.html

xiaofan · Feb 7, 2025

pangkh said:
Came across yet another newer driver for the Realtek 8912AU USB chipset from Elecom. This time, Windows 11 24H2 recognises my Comfast adaptor as WiFi 7 and MLO finally works!

http_s://www.elecom.co.jp/support/download/network/wireless_lan/adapter/wdc-be28tu3/win/

Other things to note:

The driver is not automatically recognised by Windows. After running the setup and restarting, force update through Device Manager.

MLO speeds are a bit flakey. Hopefully this will improve.

Thanks.

Indeed with the force update of the driver, Windows recognizes the device as WiFi 7 device.

1) For Asus TUF-BE6500 (dual band WiFi 7 router without 6GHz band), it is connected as 2.4GHz+5GHz MLO, speed seems to be slower than just 5GHz though.

2) For TP-Link Archer BE805 MLO SSID, one time it is connected as 2.4GHz+5GHz MLO, after that it can only connect as 6GHz band. Strange.

WiFi Speed (3m distance) is pretty decent though since it is connected to the 6GHz band with 2882Mbps PHY connection speed.

Acer Swift 3 early 2021 model (Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU, 16G/512G configuration) + Comfast CF-983BE USB BE6500 WiFi 7 adapter.

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: 0.35ms, low: 3.77ms, high: 4.82ms)
    Download:  1877.29 Mbps (data used: 2.5 GB)
                 14.13 ms   (jitter: 5.78ms, low: 3.52ms, high: 26.58ms)
      Upload:  1427.00 Mbps (data used: 2.2 GB)
                 23.60 ms   (jitter: 7.17ms, low: 4.45ms, high: 43.92ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/aec032a2-8d18-496a-b256-f50f05477f8e

3) For TP-Link HB710 MLO SSID, it is the same --> only connected as 6GHz band.

WiFi 7 speed at 3m distance is still very good.

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:     5.58 ms   (jitter: 0.37ms, low: 5.24ms, high: 6.27ms)
    Download:  1849.97 Mbps (data used: 2.2 GB)
                 20.03 ms   (jitter: 5.40ms, low: 5.00ms, high: 38.14ms)
      Upload:  1460.69 Mbps (data used: 895.6 MB)
                 21.69 ms   (jitter: 6.90ms, low: 6.80ms, high: 35.19ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/6bb09a47-5381-4459-8e25-ff08d24c4dcd

xiaofan · Feb 8, 2025

1. This morning Comfast CF-983BE USB WIFi 7 adapter (triband BE6500, no 320MHz channel bandwidth support for the 6GHz band) is able to connect to TP-Link HB710 MLO SSID with 5GHz+6GHz MLO.

WiFi speed at 3m distance.

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:     5.31 ms   (jitter: 0.94ms, low: 5.03ms, high: 8.38ms)
    Download:  1368.90 Mbps (data used: 1.2 GB)
                 19.66 ms   (jitter: 2.77ms, low: 5.42ms, high: 28.36ms)
      Upload:  1579.82 Mbps (data used: 1.8 GB)
                 18.33 ms   (jitter: 6.10ms, low: 6.00ms, high: 36.51ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/fb1aa79f-d53f-435f-a0a1-3fdfead19e01

2. WiFi Speed at 3m distance is faster when connected to 6GHz SSID (without MLO). Basically 6GHz SSID is faster than 5GHz+6GHz MLO for many of my test cases, either using Intel BE200 based Killer BE1750x WiFI 7 adapter or this Comfast USB WiFi 7 adapter.

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:     4.62 ms   (jitter: 0.88ms, low: 4.06ms, high: 6.92ms)
    Download:  1874.08 Mbps (data used: 2.4 GB)
                 15.89 ms   (jitter: 5.43ms, low: 3.28ms, high: 34.89ms)
      Upload:  1584.84 Mbps (data used: 1.7 GB)
                 18.90 ms   (jitter: 5.63ms, low: 5.86ms, high: 30.90ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/0df246da-a89c-45c7-acdc-a9ea845a30e1

3. WiFi speed at 3m distance for the 5GHz is not so consistent as compared to 6GHz SSID, probbaly due to more interferences from neighbours (no 6GHz interferences yet). But the speed is also usually higher than the 5GHz+6GHz MLO SSID.

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:     4.63 ms   (jitter: 0.66ms, low: 4.41ms, high: 7.07ms)
    Download:  1798.25 Mbps (data used: 2.2 GB)
                 16.89 ms   (jitter: 6.71ms, low: 3.81ms, high: 35.08ms)
      Upload:  1402.24 Mbps (data used: 1.8 GB)
                 22.44 ms   (jitter: 8.35ms, low: 4.27ms, high: 73.96ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/484d20b2-2700-4b21-9ab3-28b507f132fe

xiaofan · Feb 8, 2025

At far distance, MLO SSID (5GHz+6GHz MLO) seems to be a bit faster than 6GHz SSID and 5GHz SSID.

BTW, the two external antenna help the Comfast to get relatively stable and fast WiFi speed even with two walls in-between the laptop and the TP-Link HB710 router.

Floor plan: 1998 HDB 4-room flat, 106 sqm, no LAN ports in the rooms.

Router 2 is HB710. Test point A in the service yard area (on top of the washing machine) usually has the weakest signal among all test points. Previous 3m tests are conducted at Point F (fastest among all test points).

Upload latency is worse than download latency --> that is becasuse the WiFi adapter on the device side will still have lower Tx power than the router.

At far range, Router --> Device (Download) is usually better than Device --> Router (Upload), both in terms of faster speed and lower latency.

And this is also why it is important to have LAN ports in the rooms if you want fast and stable speed across the flat, since you can deploy mesh nodes (with Ethernet backhaul) or APs.

1. MLO SSID (5GHz+6GHz MLO).

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:     4.80 ms   (jitter: 0.76ms, low: 4.41ms, high: 6.99ms)
    Download:   477.59 Mbps (data used: 501.5 MB)
                 23.25 ms   (jitter: 6.96ms, low: 5.14ms, high: 46.53ms)
      Upload:   301.08 Mbps (data used: 271.6 MB)
                136.88 ms   (jitter: 46.07ms, low: 7.33ms, high: 257.19ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/b4a54f83-92fc-457a-a30e-d9f22a9ecba7

2. 6GHz SSID

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:     4.97 ms   (jitter: 0.69ms, low: 4.73ms, high: 7.12ms)
    Download:   405.59 Mbps (data used: 514.6 MB)
                 39.13 ms   (jitter: 41.26ms, low: 4.06ms, high: 1178.14ms)
      Upload:   260.95 Mbps (data used: 439.9 MB)
                171.67 ms   (jitter: 59.17ms, low: 6.05ms, high: 703.70ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/8d6232f3-69d5-41f5-bc89-4329bd6cce01

3. 5GHz SSID

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:     4.52 ms   (jitter: 0.93ms, low: 4.13ms, high: 6.93ms)
    Download:   413.72 Mbps (data used: 440.4 MB)
                 29.50 ms   (jitter: 11.18ms, low: 5.16ms, high: 56.97ms)
      Upload:   131.77 Mbps (data used: 171.6 MB)
                335.86 ms   (jitter: 79.83ms, low: 6.60ms, high: 513.73ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/abd97cfd-6a8e-4601-80c5-c7d5c2903e21

xiaofan · Feb 10, 2025

Test using XIaomi BE5000, 3m away.

No much differences between 2.4GHz+5GHz MLO and and 5GHz only.

1) When MLO is enabled

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:     4.67 ms   (jitter: 12.91ms, low: 3.90ms, high: 53.91ms)
    Download:  1429.20 Mbps (data used: 2.3 GB)
                 14.45 ms   (jitter: 13.46ms, low: 4.06ms, high: 240.12ms)
      Upload:  1376.69 Mbps (data used: 2.5 GB)
                 23.42 ms   (jitter: 13.77ms, low: 3.77ms, high: 164.60ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/987146b7-c736-4632-b707-403e37623376

2) When MLO is disabled

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:     4.31 ms   (jitter: 1.45ms, low: 3.93ms, high: 6.10ms)
    Download:  1471.00 Mbps (data used: 1.6 GB)
                 15.93 ms   (jitter: 6.39ms, low: 4.34ms, high: 73.82ms)
      Upload:  1324.88 Mbps (data used: 1.3 GB)
                 24.56 ms   (jitter: 6.39ms, low: 5.36ms, high: 77.47ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/07eede29-a0df-49e0-bc70-4fd14b215c28

xiaofan · Feb 12, 2025

Alternative to a USB WiFi Adapter: to use a old router in Media Bridge mode or Wireless Repeater mode. Connect your wired device to the LAN port of the old router.

My old tests done in Feb 2021. Old routers like Linksys EA8100 v1 or Linksys EA7500 v2 is like S$10 from Carousell (one recent report even says free). They even support OpenWRT if you worry about security. The size is of course big.

xiaofan said:
Indeed this may work well if there is only one wall between and the distance is not too far.

I have never got good speed with 2.4GHz so I just ignore it. But with 5GHz band I got pretty decent speed from various routers in media bridge or repeater mode.

Main router and AP in the living room: RT-AX82U 4*4 AX (AX5400)

Power line adapter, repeater or wireless media bridge in the study room (about 5m away from the main router, one wall in between).

D-Link AV2000 power line adapter: about 200-250Mbps

TP-Link RE350 AC1200 repeater: 300-350Mbps

Linksys EA7500 V2 4*4 AC2600: 400-600Mbps

Huawei AX3 Pro 2*2 AX AX3000: 500-800Mbps

xiaofan · Mar 1, 2025

From Starhub 5Gbps thread.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/starhub-ultraspeed-5gbps-plan-launched.7024290/page-247

Henry Ng said:
May be buying a usb wifi 7/6 adapter with 160 Mhz can help for his Macbook?

xiaofan said:
None of the USB WiFi 7 adapters work for Mac computers as of now.

No idea about USB WiFi 6 adapters. I will check on my Mac Mini M1 over the weekend.

So I carried out the test yesterday evenning. None of my USB adapters (one AC1900, three AX1800, one AXE5400, two BE6500, WiFi 5/6/6E/7) works with my Mac Mini M1 running the latest macOS Sequoia 15.3.1.

Turns out that Apple does not support any USB WiFi adapters in later macOS versions and Apple Silicon Mac computers. USB/TB to Ethernet adapters are supported.

Reference:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254869374?sortBy=rank

Apple no longer allows the operating system drivers for USB wifi adapters.

What's guaranteed to work is the following combination:

A Wifi range extender or travel router or pocket router that has an Ethernet port.
A USB-C Ethernet adapter or USB-C hub with Ethernet port and USB-C power provider.
An Ethernet cable to connect the two.

xiaofan · Mar 1, 2025

Hackers do provide driver for older WiFi 4/5 USB adapter drivers for older Intel Mac computers but you need to disable some macOS built-in security features. NOT recommended.
https://github.com/chris1111/Wireless-USB-Big-Sur-Adapter

Apple Silicon Mac computers are not supported by this hacked driver and they anyway come with better built-in WiFi adapters.
https://support.apple.com/en-sg/guide/deployment/dep268652e6c/web

Wi-Fi specification details for MacBook Pro models

Wi-Fi specifications for the following MacBook Pro models are detailed in the table below.

MacBook Pro 16-inch, M4, 2024
MacBook Pro 14-inch, M4, 2024
MacBook Pro 16-inch, M2, 2023
MacBook Pro 14-inch, M2, 2023

802.11 standard, name, frequency	Maximum PHY data rate	Maximum channel bandwidth	Maximum MCS index	Maximum spatial streams / Type
ax@6 GHz	2400 Mbps	160MHz	11 (HE)	2/MIMO
ax@5GHz	1200 Mbps	80MHz	11 (HE)	2/MIMO
ac@5GHz	866 Mbps	80MHz	9 (VHT)	2/MIMO

Wi-Fi specifications for the following MacBook Pro models are detailed in the table below.

MacBook Pro (13-inch, M2, 2022)
MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021)
MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020)

802.11 standard, name, frequency	Maximum PHY data rate	Maximum channel bandwidth	Maximum MCS index	Maximum spatial streams / Type
ax@5GHz	1200 Mbps	80MHz	11 (HE)	2/MIMO
ac@5GHz	866 Mbps	80MHz	9 (VHT)	2/MIMO

Wi-Fi specification details for MacBook Air models

Wi-Fi specifications for the following MacBook Air models are detailed in the table below.

MacBook Air (15-inch, M3, 2024)
MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024)

802.11 standard, name, frequency	Maximum PHY data rate	Maximum channel bandwidth	Maximum MCS index	Maximum spatial streams / Type
ax@6 GHz	2400 Mbps	160MHz	11 (HE)	2/MIMO
ax@5GHz	1200 Mbps	80MHz	11 (HE)	2/MIMO
ac@5GHz	866 Mbps	80MHz	9 (VHT)	2/MIMO

Wi-Fi specifications for the following MacBook Air models are detailed in the table below.

MacBook Air (15-inch, M2, 2023)
MacBook Air (M2, 2022)
MacBook Air (M1, 2020)

802.11 standard, name, frequency	Maximum PHY data rate	Maximum channel bandwidth	Maximum MCS index	Maximum spatial streams / Type
ax@5GHz	1200 Mbps	80MHz	11 (HE)	2/MIMO
ac@5GHz	866 Mbps	80MHz	9 (VHT)	2/MIMO

xiaofan · Mar 31, 2025

Today I can get good WiFi speed with the Comfast CF983 USB WiFi 7 adapter and Archer BE805 router, using 5GHz and 6GHz SSID, but MLO SSID is still broken.

Ryzen 5 5600G desktop, with Comfast CF-983BE USB WiFi 7 adapter (but with a driver from Elecom).
3m distance to Archer BE805 router.

1) 5GHz band

2) 6GHz band

3) MLO SSID

xiaofan · May 1, 2025

Driver for TP-Link TBE400UH
https://www.tp-link.com/sg/support/download/archer-tbe400uh/

Archer TBE400UH(US)_V1.6_MLO_5x02.24.126.2_Win10_Win11[Beta Driver]	Download
Published Date: 2025-04-30	Language: Multi-language	File Size: 7.98 MB
Operating System: win10x86x64、win11x64
1. Add support for MLO (MLSR 2G+5G, MLSR 2G+6G, MLSR 5G+6G, MLSR 5G-H+5G-L). Kindly note that MLO functionality is only supported on Windows 11 24H2 (build 26100) and later. 2. Beta Driver.

Archer TBE400UH(US)_V1.6_5002.24.117.4_Win10_Win11	Download
Published Date: 2025-02-14	Language: Multi-language	File Size: 7.78 MB
Operating System: win10x86x64、win11x64
For Windows 10 & 11.

xiaofan · May 1, 2025

Driver for Asus ROG USB-BE92

https://rog.asus.com/networking/rog-usb-be92/helpdesk_download/

ASUS ROG USB-BE92 Driver version 2.0.0.3 (For Europe/Asia-Pacific)

Version 2.0.0.3
7.73 MB 2025/04/12
SHA-256 :8BBDD2A715CAFFAC15102473EEEEE4E450C137BCFC2E32020B54C7EE98A8370B
*Please download the appropriate driver based on your country/region to ensure compatibility and compliance with local regulations.

This driver package is for Europe/Asia-Pacific only.
Windows 11 driver version : 5102.24.126.1
Windows 10 driver version : 5002.24.126.1

xiaofan · May 1, 2025

Comfast CF-983BE USB WIFi 7 adapter triband BE6500, using TP-Link beta driver mentioned above with MLO support.

MLO SSID is actually slower than 5GHz only SSID.

3m distance to Asus TUF-BE6500 dual band WiFi 7 router
Acer Swift Go 14 2024 model, Intel Core Ultra 5 125H CPU, 16GB/1TB configuration, disable the built-in Intel WiFi 7 adpater and use the external Comfast CF-983BE USB WiFi 7 adapter.

1) 2.4GHz+5GHz MLO.

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:     4.25 ms   (jitter: 0.17ms, low: 4.14ms, high: 4.56ms)
    Download:  1275.85 Mbps (data used: 822.6 MB)
                 27.27 ms   (jitter: 4.97ms, low: 4.13ms, high: 51.84ms)
      Upload:  1554.39 Mbps (data used: 2.0 GB)
                 26.10 ms   (jitter: 9.35ms, low: 4.37ms, high: 65.75ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/2d7d156d-9d99-4f2d-83c8-48773a0e6797

2) 5GHz WiFi 6 Asus IoT SSID, download speed is very fast for WiFi 6 connection (2401Mbps PHY speed).

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:     3.71 ms   (jitter: 0.20ms, low: 3.52ms, high: 3.93ms)
    Download:  1888.27 Mbps (data used: 3.3 GB)
                 20.07 ms   (jitter: 9.55ms, low: 3.08ms, high: 280.88ms)
      Upload:  1440.27 Mbps (data used: 1.6 GB)
                 22.53 ms   (jitter: 7.87ms, low: 4.07ms, high: 63.62ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/10a7d1f9-cf27-4665-b215-2b11eb0974da

xiaofan · May 1, 2025

Comfast CF-983BE USB WIFi 7 adapter triband BE6500, using TP-Link beta driver mentioned above with MLO support.

Unfortunately MLO SSID is still broken.

3m distance to TP-Link Archer BE805 triband WiFi 7 router

Acer Swift Go 14 2024 model, Intel Core Ultra 5 125H CPU, 16GB/1TB configuration, disable the built-in Intel WiFi 7 adpater and use the external Comfast CF-983BE USB WiFi 7 adapter.

1) 2.4GHz + 6GHz SSID is still broken.

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:     4.01 ms   (jitter: 0.42ms, low: 3.57ms, high: 4.24ms)
    Download:    44.83 Mbps (data used: 58.1 MB)
                248.91 ms   (jitter: 97.28ms, low: 3.58ms, high: 1187.81ms)
      Upload:  1099.51 Mbps (data used: 1.7 GB)
                217.00 ms   (jitter: 79.32ms, low: 6.48ms, high: 927.08ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/96bbe03d-fb9b-4145-9b0f-02bb08ec808e

2) 6GHz SSID, 2882Mbps PHY Link speed

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:     3.82 ms   (jitter: 0.08ms, low: 3.78ms, high: 3.96ms)
    Download:  1491.33 Mbps (data used: 2.6 GB)
                 28.82 ms   (jitter: 10.90ms, low: 3.90ms, high: 69.22ms)
      Upload:  1327.00 Mbps (data used: 2.4 GB)
                 26.61 ms   (jitter: 10.34ms, low: 3.67ms, high: 256.71ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/26725913-7516-4b3b-b6d7-9ce11731092b

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:     4.02 ms   (jitter: 0.22ms, low: 3.79ms, high: 4.13ms)
    Download:  1545.78 Mbps (data used: 1.8 GB)
                 32.59 ms   (jitter: 12.21ms, low: 3.99ms, high: 320.70ms)
      Upload:  1423.35 Mbps (data used: 2.5 GB)
                 41.05 ms   (jitter: 17.35ms, low: 4.23ms, high: 619.26ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/39cbcb96-0ce7-4d97-be85-bfc1098f3066

3) 5GHz SSID, 2882Mbps PHY Link speed

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:     3.87 ms   (jitter: 0.22ms, low: 3.56ms, high: 4.12ms)
    Download:  1548.50 Mbps (data used: 2.8 GB)
                 24.94 ms   (jitter: 8.09ms, low: 5.07ms, high: 50.05ms)
      Upload:  1306.92 Mbps (data used: 1.9 GB)
                 42.06 ms   (jitter: 9.65ms, low: 13.22ms, high: 93.38ms)
 Packet Loss:     0.0%
  Result URL: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/092a1ba6-04e2-47db-82e9-5376886c7272

USB Wifi Adapter

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Wi-Fi specification details for MacBook Pro models​

Wi-Fi specification details for MacBook Air models​

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Wi-Fi specification details for MacBook Pro models

Wi-Fi specification details for MacBook Air models