Recommendations for an 802.11N USB device please.

[Dapper Dan]

I have a situation where the present 802.11G wireless device isn't reliable. If you are running an 802.11N USB device and are pleased with its reliability and range, I would appreciate a recommendation.

Thanks!

Dapper

[Etna]

Do you have any aversion to installing proprietary drivers and firmware?

If you don't i would recommend anything which uses Ralink or Realtek chipsets. They are usually a little tough to get working, but Ralink and Realtek have downloadable vendor drivers for Linux which usually works fine. I myself have an Aztech WL-552 USB N-capable adaptor which works rather fine on Fedora after installing the proprietary blobs from Ralink's webby. Not to mention that my past 2 Ralink adaptors had never failed to work in Linux. Setting up the drivers and stuff was a real PITA, but in the end it turned out well.

Oh, and if you do get a Ralink-based chipset which is either a ra2870 or ra3070, do head down to Waterhead's posting (3070sta-module-license-unspecified-taints-kernel-solved) on how to fix the driver bug.

[Dapper Dan]

Thank you Etna. I considered a Ralink chipset device but I think I'm going to try the TP-Link USB adapter. It's 802.11G/N and is supposed to get along with ath9k. Historically I've had good results between Atheros and Linux. The price is attractive too. If anyone knows of a good reason not to use this device, please let me know!

[Etna]

Thank you Etna. I considered a Ralink chipset device but I think I'm going to try the TP-Link USB adapter. It's 802.11G/N and is supposed to get along with ath9k. Historically I've had good results between Atheros and Linux. The price is attractive too. If anyone knows of a good reason not to use this device, please let me know!

actually, i was thinking about that TP-Link and i chose not to get it precisely because of the Atheros chipset.

The Atheros USB chipset is a completely different chipset from the PCI/PCI-e card version and has not been merged into the mainline kernel yet. And if you do a quick google search, it seems that there is no easy way of getting it to play nice. Atheros' 802.11G/N USB devices require the experimental ath9k_htc (completely different from the usual ath9k) which supports very few devices, and its really quite WIP quality. And i believe the TP-Link usb adaptors require that ath9k_htc driver.

[Dapper Dan]

I did Google and found links saying the previous two versions of the TP-Link used ath9k and assumed the chipset would have to be the same. A faulty conclusion on my part. Thanks for pointing that out! I think I'll consider the one elija said he uses in the other post. I might even consider the Ralink again on your recommendation but my stomach is feeling a little queasy at the thought. lol...