Does RTL8811CU chip in wifi adapter work in Linux driver free?

[dotw]

I am planning on buying a wifi adapter that features a RTL8811CU chip (ugreen CM448). I previously bought a very cheap generic wifi adapter which did not work in linux out of the box and even after watching countless videos on YouTube on how to get it working I just could not get it to work although it worked flawlessly on Windows 10. Now I do not want the same hassle and that is why willing to buy a wifi adapter that works on linux out of the box and driver free.

[Charlie Brown]

On MX there is the rtl8821cu-dkms ootb and (alternatively) rtw88_8821cu in kernel , i.e. :

/usr/lib/modules/6.8.4-1-liquorix-amd64/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtw88/rtw88_8821cu.ko.zst


Though the description says: " ... builds up to 5.17 kernels. " :

Code: Select all

Package: rtl8821cu-dkms
Version: 5.12.0+git20230215-1~mx23+3
Priority: optional
Section: kernel
Maintainer: Steven Pusser <stevep@mxlinux.org>
Original-Maintainer: Gökhan Gökkaya <wirelessanten@gmail.com>
Installed-Size: 39.2 MB
Depends: bc, dkms (>= 2.1.0.0)

Homepage: https://github.com/morrownr/8821cu

Modaliases: 8821cu(usb:v2001p331Dd*dc*dsc*dp*icFFiscFFipFFin*, usb:v0BDApC80Cd*dc*dsc*dp*icFFiscFFipFFin*, usb:v0BDAp8731d*dc*dsc*dp*icFFiscFFipFFin*, usb:v0BDAp2006d*dc*dsc*dp*icFFiscFFipFFin*, usb:v0BDAp8811d*dc*dsc*dp*icFFiscFFipFFin*, usb:v0BDApC811d*dc*dsc*dp*icFFiscFFipFFin*, usb:v0BDApC82Cd*dc*dsc*dp*icFFiscFFipFFin*, usb:v0BDApC82Bd*dc*dsc*dp*icFFiscFFipFFin*, usb:v0BDApC82Ad*dc*dsc*dp*icFFiscFFipFFin*, usb:v0BDApC820d*dc*dsc*dp*icFFiscFFipFFin*, usb:v0BDApC821d*dc*dsc*dp*icFFiscFFipFFin*, usb:v0BDApB820d*dc*dsc*dp*icFFiscFFipFFin*, usb:v0BDApB82Bd*dc*dsc*dp*icFFiscFFipFFin*)
Download-Size: 12.0 MB

APT-Sources: http://mxrepo.com/mx/repo bookworm/main amd64 Packages

Description: rtl8821cu driver in DKMS format, builds up to 5.17 kernels.

... there is also the original source:

Linux Driver for USB WiFi Adapters that are based on the RTL8811CU, RTL8821CU, RTL8821CUH and RTL8731AU Chipsets

[siamhie]

I am planning on buying a wifi adapter that features a RTL8811CU chip (ugreen CM448).

From the reviews of that product.

This is a great little device. It worked flawlessly on Windows 10, but I could not get it to work on Ubuntu even after compiling (failed to compile).

I would suggest going to this github page and read the recommended (and tested) products available for USB dongles in Linux.


The mission of this site is to provide educational information, reviews of USB WiFi adapters
and links to specific adapters that are known to perform well with Linux ( see The Plug and Play List ).
https://github.com/morrownr/USB-WiFi

[timkb4cq]

The rtl8821cu-dkms driver in the AHS repo will build on kernels up to 6.1.x
Starting with the 6.2 kernel, an 8821cu driver is in the kernel by default so the rtl8821cu-dkms package is configured to not go through with installation on kernels >= 6.2

However, while some adapters worked OK with that driver there were problems with many 8811cu based adapters using that in-kernel driver. Patches have been introduced to the 6.9 kernels which fix most of the issues, but I still wouldn't recommend an 8811cu based dongle. Mediatek, Intel, & Atheros based adapters are usually good OOTB. I have had decent results with the Realtek 8812au and 8814au usb adapters using the dkms drivers in our AHS repo, as well as the 8821ce pci adapter that came in my desktop - but those do have to rebuild every time you add or update a kernel so I don't actually recommend them if you can find a natively supported adapter instead.

[Stevo]

Morrowind bought and tested this one recently; it works well, is well built, and was plug and play on Debian 12 (MX 23). So should also be fine on MX 21 AHS.

https://www.amazon.com/EDUP-Wireless-80 ... B0CVVWNSH2 Currently ~$27 for me, YMMV depending on what the pricing algorithm gives you...