ALFA AC1900 WiFi Adapter - 1900 Mbps 802.11ac Long-Range Dual Band USB 3.0 Wi-Fi Network Adapter w/4x 5dBi External Dual-Band Antennas, TAA Compliant

I run this WiFi adapter with Linux Mint 18, and it's excellent. If you buy this for Linux, be sure to install the drivers. I'm using the drivers from zebulon2/rtl8814au on GitHub. I suspect some Linux users gave negative reviews because they had driver issues. The drivers are easy enough to install for most Linux users, but if the terminal scares you, I recommend you take a look at that GitHub repo before you buy this. With that out of the way, here's my review: The range is excellent. This adapter picks up WiFi networks I've never seen before and with surprisingly strong signals. The range is especially good when I stick the adapter to my window with the included suction cup. But I get 100% signal strength connecting to my home's WiFi even when the adapter is clamped above my monitor. The adapter is fast! It's faster than my access point. I tested the speed with iperf3. The other computer was connected via Ethernet. I measured 250 Mbps, which is the best my access point can do. I saw someone else measure 940+ Mbps. It's not perfect, however. The specs aren't detailed enough; they don't say whether this adapter supports MIMO or MU-MIMO. It's sorta big and bulky, though its size might be needed to achieve its excellent speed and range. Also, if you're a Linux user, the driver's likely aren't included in your distro. The drivers are easy to install, and they work well, but the quick-start instructions don't tell you that you need to go to GitHub to get them. Also, if you're a Linux user, you need to know your way around the terminal (a little bit) to install the drivers. Beyond that, the included quick-start guide is terrible. It explains how to install the drivers on Windows XP. I suspect most people are buying this to use with either Linux or Windows 10. It's a bit eyebrow-raising that their quick-start directions are so out of touch. Also, it uses blue LEDs. I don't like blue LEDs, because they can interfere with sleep. This adapter isn't for everyone. But this is a good pick if 1) you're a computer professional or power user. Or 2) you need its range or speed, and you don't mind its size. Or 3) You're a Linux user looking for something high-quality, and you don't mind using the terminal a little to install the drivers. If you're the right kind of customer, then you're gonna like this WiFi adapter.

Works with Windows 11 home 64bit, but you have to find windows 11 drivers online. at first it didn't work on windows 11, but after locating the correct drivers it works. I now have both WIFI utility applications installed on my pc, so not sure if the older one can be deleted. I did not find the correct driver on the official Alfa site, which is weird. do some googling and you'll find it. it has increased the signal strength and the download speed literally tripled! didn't think it would make much difference but it did. the comparison is from a high end Lenovo laptop that cost about $1900 2 years ago. so it has the latest wifi standards. this antenna is just a beast. using it outside in my semi truck so the router is located pretty far away. was getting 20 Mbps down and after this antenna got 60-67 Mbps download speed, also doubled the upload speed, its crazy!

I love this thing for daily use where needed for the range and speed, as well as the chipsets capabilities for less common wireless modes/tasks. However, and I blame some distributions as much as the chipset manufacturer, the drivers can sometimes be a beast to get built/installed and configured. It's heavily dependent on your kernel, but I've had experiences where it was as simple as running an install script and others where I've downloaded several versions before getting one that would load. It doesn't help that there is no reliable place to get all the different versions (that's the part I hold against the chipset manufacturer). Overall though, as much of a rant as that sounds like, it's a great adapter. It is highly regarded in wireless security circles, and it's a pretty great adapter for someone who just wants a good strong wireless adapter for daily use. Would be 5 stars if Alfa or Realtek had a driver repository that stayed put and kept older versions. Or better yet, open sourced the drivers so that they would be included in more distros!

A good adapter with the realtrk 8814au chipset that is getting a little long in the tooth specs wise. It has good reception and good range and speeds. It has three spatial streams, 3x3 mimo, with the fourth antenna for increasing reception. Up to 1300mbps on 80mhz wide 5ghz channels and up to 600mbps on the 2.4ghz channel with 40mhz channels and 288mbps for 20mhz wide channels. Most routers are greenfield enabled so you'll only ever see 288mbps at 2.4ghz unless you force your router to 40mhz wide only or live somewhere desolate. At 2.4ghz it doesn't support mcs 9 when on one or two spatial streams on 20mhz 2.4ghz channels so you'll see 86mbps/173mbps. The RP-SMA connectors allow you to connect external antennas. I use a pair of the Alfa m26e directional antennas on both my Alfa AC1900 adapters for more signal strength and a better signal to noise ratio which yields higher connection speeds. The present version doesn't include a drivers CD but since windows 10/11 support it natively thats not an issue. I would recommend getting a longer 9 foot cord for it so that it can be positioned better. It will work on a 2.5 watt usb 2.0 port and even standard micro usb cord but you'll get slower speeds and it will run at reduced transmit power. I bought a Micro B USB 3.0 to USB-C cord for use with it and its been running flawlessly for me. I do wish the seller sold an elevated cradle stand for it that enables it to stand upright for more optimal antenna positioning and reception. The included clip and suction cup leave much to be desired. The antenna gain is 4dbm/5dbm for 2.4ghz/5ghz. If your adapter turns off or gives sub par performance I'd recommend going into your windows settings and control panel and disabling power saving features for USB and wifi. Having MU-MIMO enabled on your router will decrease its indicated speed to 433mbps but it should ramp to 1300mbps when doing heavy downloads or file transfers. Your actual connection speeds and throughput will vary depending on signal strength and SNR, the farther you're away from your router and more neighbors/interference you have the lower the speeds however its noticeably better than the majority of integrated wireless adapters. I wish Alfa would release a 4x4 mimo wifi 6e or 7 version of this venerable workhorse of an adapter.

Works perfect plug and play with kali linux

Overall awesome product. Plug and play as far as my Kali and parrot instances were concerned. I believe the chip is supported in the Linux kernel. Only downside was I think my unit became fault after a week of use, it had high ping spikes and/ or total loss of packets every 10 seconds. I sent mine into the manufacturer and the support I received really helped me out to try to get a new one. I will buy more in the future when needed for future products. I've heard of driver issues with other friends who have purchased it, but it seems like I lucked out. Just had to update my desktop

Does NOT work with Linux. Two days of nonstop troubleshooting. Horrible Realtek driver support (lack thereof). It struggles to work with Parrot OS, but completely fails on Kali. Why would they care to keep driver support going for the world's most popular penetration testing OSes? Of course, that seems silly!

good quality works fine