[PLUG] Hardware compatibility help - USB long range Wifi adapter

Diane Petersen didi99603 at gmail.com
Sat Feb 2 18:51:08 UTC 2013


I have an Acer Aspire netbook running Ubuntu 12.04-32 bit, and the
internal wireless network adapter has gone intermittent.  I will be
traveling soon and decided to go ahead and get a USB adapter with long
range capabilities instead of replacing the internal one.  I have done
research, primarily on the Alfa units.  It seems I should be looking
at chipset and compatibility with my kernel version.  It looks like
these units are using a variety of Realtek, Ralink, and Atheros sets.
Linux drivers are incredibly hard to find.  I'm coming up on Google
with vague "it sort of works but your have to…" over things I cannot
understand.

I'd like to see if anyone is using a unit that works under the Ubuntu
12.04 kernel.  Brand is unimportant, but it has to be available in the
marketplace.  A recommendation would save me headaches of buying
something that does not work.  I don't need full monitoring capability
or the ability to use tools to hack networks.  I just want to find
available weak/distant free open wifi any hour of every day, and not
just when my internal unit decides to function.  802.11n would be
really nice but I will take what I can get.  Selling one?  Even
better.



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