[News] Report on the State of USB WiFi on Linux (February 2026) #696
Description
Hello Everyone,
USB Wireless support for Linux continues to improve with the addition of in-kernel, mac80211, drivers for the rtl8852cu and rtl8852au chips. The drivers were added with kernel 6.19 as part of the rtw89 series of drivers. Use caution with Realtek WiFi 6 USB WiFi adapters as almost all that are on the market are multi-state, Windows driver onboard, and that can cause problems. To avoid multi-state adapters, use The Plug and Play List.
At this point, all readily available USB WiFi 5, 6 and 7 chips are supported with in-kernel, mac80211, drivers with the exception of the rtl8922/12au chip. The driver is available here in the rtw89 repo and should go into the kernel soon. However, once again, Realtek WiFi 6 and 7 USB WiFi adapters are almost all multi-state, Windows driver onboard, and that can cause problems. To avoid multi-state adapters, use The Plug and Play List.
A discussion in one of the issues recently seems to indicate that the new Netgear A8500 USB WiFi adapter is powered by the mt7925 chip which means the driver is in the kernel. If someone buys this adapter, please contact me so we can confirm the chip and the VID/PID. Netgear normally uses their own VID/PID so I may need to submit a patch to linux-wireless so that the adapter can be plug and play. Here is the adapter:
https://www.netgear.com/home/wifi/adapters/a8500/
https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Nighthawk-WiFi-Adapter-A8500/dp/B0FRNFR6H1?th=1
I noticed a series of patches going into linux-wireless yesterday that indicates that the new mt7902 driver should be in the kernel and active soon, probably with kernel 7.1. The mt7902 based cards seen to be included in several laptops and mini PC's these days.
Edit: Link to article about the driver: https://www.phoronix.com/news/Mediatek-MT7902-Linux-Patches
I recently added a pinned issue for monitor mode support:
I am going to attempt to increase the information available regarding drivers and adapters as far as monitor mode goes. If you use or are interested in monitor mode, please check out the pinned issue. Hopefully we can improve monitor mode documentation and support over this coming year.
I have recently been updating The Plug and Play List. Right now we only have one mt7925 based adapter, WiFi 7, and it is the Netgear A9000 which is rather expensive. I am aware of at least 2 additional WiFi 7 USB WiFi adapters that should come to market soon and provide some help regarding price. If you have adapters that you think should be listed in The Plug and Play List, let me know.
Let me know what other issues you are interested in and I'll try to add information.
Cheers,