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faq [2018/10/16 03:38] – How do I deal with rfkill hard blocks? mister_x | faq [2019/03/28 18:36] – [What is the best wireless card to buy ?] Updated mister_x |
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Which card to purchase is a hard question to answer. Each person's criteria is somewhat different, such as one may require 802.11n capability, or may require it to work via virtualization. However, having said that, if money is not a constraint then the following cards are considered the best in class: | Which card to purchase is a hard question to answer. Each person's criteria is somewhat different, such as one may require 802.11n capability, or may require it to work via virtualization. However, having said that, if money is not a constraint then the following cards are considered the best in class: |
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| * Alfa AWUS036ACH (a/b/g/n/ac) is the best performing card, but the driver can be unstable enough to crash your kernel |
| * Alfa AWUS036ACM (a/b/g/n/ac) is the highest performing of the STABLE devices, but it requires kernel 4.19.5 or higher, and the driver doesn't work on the Raspberry Pi yet |
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| Runner ups: |
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* Alfa AWUS036H [b/g USB] | * Alfa AWUS036H [b/g USB] |
* MiniPCIe: anything that uses [[https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Ath9k|ath9k]], especially AR92xx and AR93xx (ability to do [[https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers/ath9k/spectral_scan|spectral scan]]) | * MiniPCIe: anything that uses [[https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Ath9k|ath9k]], especially AR92xx and AR93xx (ability to do [[https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers/ath9k/spectral_scan|spectral scan]]) |
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If money is a constraint then consider purchasing a card with a RTL8187L or Atheros chipset, also read [[compatibility_drivers#which_is_the_best_card_to_buy|this]] first before purchasing. There are many available on the market for fairly low prices. You are simply trading off distance, sensitivity and performance for cost. | Also read [[compatibility_drivers#which_is_the_best_card_to_buy|this]] first before purchasing. There are many available on the market for fairly low prices. You are simply trading off distance, sensitivity and performance for cost. |
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If you want to know if your existing card is compatible then use this page: [[compatible_cards|Tutorial: Is My Wireless Card Compatible?]] | If you want to know if your existing card is compatible then use this page: [[compatible_cards|Tutorial: Is My Wireless Card Compatible?]] |