USB WiFi dongles with RPi4 and DietPi - which models work out of the box?

Hi all

Which USB WiFi dongles work with DietPi on RPi4 ?

Can you list the exact models that you have working?

Looking for better wireless than the built-in one of RPi4.

Thanks!

cc @MichaIng

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Generally on RPi with DietPi, the same adapters work as with Raspberry Pi OS, since it is the same kernel and firmware. I’m asking the question myself, need WiFi 5 adapters, which work on RPi but also on other SBCs. Those two caught my eyes so far, but I didn’t verify yet whether they work on RPi or RPi 4 explicitly:

  • Archer T2U Nano (RTL8811AU)
  • EDUP Dual Band 650Mbps AC WiFi Dongle (RTL8811CU-CG)

Both WiFi 5 and nano variants, the first since this is what I need for development and the nano for comfort, also since distance to the AP is very close.

If WiFi 4 is sufficient, then I can recommend the Edimax EW-7611ULB which does its job here since years without issues.

I see they have a WiFi 5 variant now as well, the Edimax EW-7822ULC but it is significantly more expensive than the above two.

Generally this question is best answered on the RPi forum, I guess: https://forums.raspberrypi.com/

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I use the Archer T2U plus and it works great, never had any WiFi issues. I had to follow this though to have the dongle detected: GitHub - nlkguy/archer-t2u-plus-linux: TP-Link Archer T2U Plus / AC600 High Gain USB Wifi Adapter Review & Driver installation Guide for various platforms..

So if the nano works out-of-the-box, might be a slightly easier choice.

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Ah nice, the larger version of Archer T2U Nano with dedicated antenna for better distance connectivity. Both share the same Realtek RTL8811AU chip, i.e. if Archer T2U Plus runs well on RPi 4, then Archer T2U Nano does as well :slightly_smiling_face:.

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Hi @MichaIng is there any way to get the Archer T2U Plus to work ‘out of the box’ with DietPi?

I see Markus above, had to do some fiddling to get it to work.

Ah right, the driver is not shipped with the Raspberry Pi kernel, so needs to be compiled. Agreed that it would be great to have it supported OOTB. We could try to find out whether it is available in upstream Linux, and if so, request the module to be added to the RPi kernel. I’ll have a look.

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@MichaIng , if you have a Amazon wishlist, feel free to put some dongles on it and I’m happy to donate some. I think I read that Mediatek dongles are supported directly in the kernel.

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Many thanks for the offer. Coincidentally I ordered two Aplic (moreless noname, I’d say) WiFi 5 nano adapters. The brand is quite new, website is WIP: http://aplic-tech.com/ (with HTTPS one lands on a completely different website with invalid certificate, wt*…)

Sold on Amazon Germany via CSL computer shop. It uses RTL8811CU, same as the EDUP dongle listed above, slightly more capable than the RTL8811AU from what I read. However, both are not supported OOTB on Raspberry Pi, for both driver sources are available and need to be compiled at time of writing. But I can report back how it goes.

Took that one as of ~half price compared to the others, while using the same WiFi chip, and to give that new brand a chance. CLS computer served me well in the past, but we’ll see whether partnership with Aplic works out :smile:.

If it works well, I’ll add a product or shop link, but currently I do not want to promote Amazon with a link until necessary (as long as I do not find a product page from manufacturer itself).

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These dongles generally work very well and they do run on Armbian kernel OOTB, but RPi shops with drivers merged into upstream Linux only (no 3rd party drivers), which is not true for RTL8811AU yet. The driver can however be compiled using these sources: GitHub - aircrack-ng/rtl8812au: RTL8812AU/21AU and RTL8814AU driver with monitor mode and frame injection

The same driver may work for RTL8811 chips as well.

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Here is a pretty good list of supported dongles somebody posted recently:

Happy with my Archer though, never had any issues. Didn’t manage to make it automatically recompile and load after kernel update, but that only takes a minute every couple of weeks.

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Many thanks for sharing, that is very helpful. Take care the kernel version notes in the list, as currently RPi OS (and DietPi RPi images) are on Linux 5.15.

Dongles work until they don’t. Lost count how many I bought through the years. Switched to wifi extenders with an ethernet port and have been rock solid. Helps me to get better wifi in the garage, as a plus!

After days of testing streaming DSD512 to RPi4 + DietPi (HQPlayer NAA) I can confirm MT7612U chipset USB3 to gigabit ethernet adapters work really well

The driver is part of mainline kernel 5.15.

Some adapters may need usb-modeswitch installed, if they behave more like a CD-ROM.

Maybe this could be added to DietPi so don’t need to manually install via ssh ?

I’ve tested both RPi4 and NanoPi R4S

Good to be reminded that usb-modeswitch seems to switch a number of known such USB network adapters automatically via udev rules. It is still a very rare case, but as network is often necessary at first boot, e.g. for setting up headless systems via SSH, probably worth to have this simply pre-installed.

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