Looking for a Linux friendly WiFi for a desktop with Intel 8th generation mobo

ineuw · 08-20-2018, 05:30 AM

I am looking for Linux friendly WiFi hardware & driver which is not a USB dongle! The mobo is an 8th generation Intel, which until it becomes in wider use, limits the choice of the Linux kernels to 4.15 and greater, and I must use Linux Mint 19.

Already bought two different USB WiFi dongles but was unaware that both have a Realtek RTL8xxx family of chips, and neither of them have working drivers for the kernels.

I have the choice of using a PCI or an M.2 card for WiFi, but I don't know what is available with a reliable driver for Linux.

jsbjsb001 · 08-20-2018, 05:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ineuw

I am looking for Linux friendly WiFi hardware & driver which is not a USB dongle! The mobo is an 8th generation Intel, which until it becomes in wider use, limits the choice of the Linux kernels to 4.15 and greater, and I must use Linux Mint 19.

Already bought two different USB WiFi dongles but was unaware that both have a Realtek RTL8xxx family of chips, and neither of them have working drivers for the kernels.

I have the choice of using a PCI or an M.2 card for WiFi, but I don't know what is available with a reliable driver for Linux.

This one should work out-of-the-box for you. I've got the PCI version of it myself (the TP-LINK TL-WN851ND one) and it works like a charm.

https://wikidevi.com/wiki/TP-LINK_TL-WN881ND

jefro · 08-20-2018, 01:30 PM

Shouldn't be too hard to get most realtek chips running.

Intel pci-e stuff tends to have support in kernels.

ineuw · 08-20-2018, 01:38 PM

jsbjsb001, thanks for the reply. This model has been around for quite awhile and I am concerned that it may not work with Linux Mint 19 kernels.

jsbjsb001 · 08-20-2018, 02:05 PM

I would say that it's very likely to work, if not almost certainly would work. I have almost the latest kernel version installed and it works no problems.

kilgoretrout · 08-20-2018, 09:53 PM

These guys guarantee their hardware for linux but they are pricey:

https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-lin...profile-bracke

ineuw · 08-20-2018, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kilgoretrout

These guys guarantee their hardware for linux but they are pricey:

https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-lin...profile-bracke

Thanks kilgoretrout. Unfortunately, this is only up to 802.11g which is 56mbps max. Also, they only mention Linux kernels 3+ but I need more specific info.

jsbjsb001 · 08-20-2018, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ineuw

Thanks kilgoretrout. Unfortunately, this is only up to 802.11g which is 56mbps max. Also, they only mention Linux kernels 3+ but I need more specific info.

This is my kernel version below and once again the wifi card I've suggested works no problems. It uses the ath9k driver which you should find in any modern kernel I know of. If it's been around for a while, that's all the more reason why it should work for you too.

That wifi card also was very cheap and no more than $20 from memory.

Code:

[james@jamespc ~]$ uname -a
Linux jamespc 4.15.9-1.el7.elrepo.x86_64 #1 SMP Sun Mar 11 16:19:17 EDT 2018 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Honest Abe · 08-21-2018, 12:25 AM

A few models of TP-link PCI doesn't play well with Windows 10.
They use Qualcomm Atheros chipset which is widely supported in Linux,but TP Link didn't publish driver for win10 ( and win7 driver doesn't work). Something to keep in mind if you ever want to go the dual boot way.

ineuw · 08-21-2018, 02:38 AM

Thanks to both of you for the info. This is a dual boot Windows 10/Linux Mint 19 desktop. jsbjsb001, thanks for the pasted info and the card is available on Amazon Canada (where I am) and it's about $25 CDN.... and ath9k is built into the 5.15.30-32 kernel

Code:

ineuw@lm190dt $ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0bda:8178 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8192CU 802.11n WLAN Adapter
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 25a7:fa67
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

I will take everything written into consideration and thanks again.