Realtek Semiconductor Reviews 8

I love to play online games, and when my wifi is THIS ASS, i literally cannot do shit in online games, thus making this wifi semiconductor ass

Rubbish on Ubuntu -
Hardware: TP-Link USB 802.11ac Wi-Fi adapter (USB ID 2357:0138)
Chipset: Realtek RTL8812BU / RTL8822BU
Linux driver: 88x2bu

This adapter works fine on Windows, but on Linux it relies on an out-of-tree Realtek driver (88x2bu) that must be compiled via DKMS.

Initially it worked on Ubuntu with kernel 6.14, but when Ubuntu upgraded to kernel 6.17 the driver failed to build and Wi-Fi stopped working. This required manual troubleshooting and kernel pinning just to keep networking alive.

The issue isn’t TP-Link’s hardware per se — it’s that the Realtek chipset does not have a fully maintained upstream Linux driver. Every kernel update risks breaking the DKMS module.

If you run Linux and want reliable networking, I would strongly recommend choosing a USB Wi-Fi adapter based on:
• Intel chipsets (iwlwifi)
• MediaTek chipsets (mt7921u)
• Atheros chipsets (ath9k)

Those drivers are built directly into the Linux kernel and survive upgrades without drama.

Summary

✔ Works on Windows
✔ Works on Linux with manual driver installs
✘ Breaks on kernel upgrades
✘ Requires DKMS driver maintenance

For Linux users who rely on stable networking, this adapter is not a good long-term choice.

It is bullish internet keeps disconnecting ive had 3 experiences with this clown company do not recommend absolute trash.

keeps dropping internet connection on my laptop . i have to restart my laptop every 10 mins in order to keep it connected to my lap top . how lame is that !

Absolute pile of garbage. bought two units from these terrible people. Systems are absolute rubbish, continually breaking down in one way or another. Rattling and loose casing for their amplifier. Intermittent connection. The list is endless, just avoid.

Had many desktop PC's and laptop's with Realtek WiFi and Bluetooth. All of them have caused some sort of connection problems. Currently, I have a Mini PC with a Realtek RTL8821CE which unfortunately is soldered to the board. This WiFi/Bluetooth chip is living up to Realtek terrible history of chips. Frankly, their audio chips are not that good either and in this mini PC the audio is Realtek and so in the LAN chip which again isn't that great. Not sure why Realtek cannot make a good reliable wireless chip when Intel, Broadcom, and others seem to have much more success. In the past I could simply replace the Realtek WiFi card with a Intel one and problem solved. This is the first time I am dealing with a WiFi chip soldered to the board. I will probably end up junking this Mini PC and buying something with better WiFi. Ironically, I bought this Mini PC from Geekom which in their specs say it has a Intel wireless card? Coming from a Taiwan company I guess they chose to use Taiwan based Realtek chips instead. A bit of a bait and switch if you ask me but that's another complaint.

every PC i've owned/build had one issue.
that issue being, using realtek audio drivers.