Setup USB Wi-Fi Adapter on Ubuntu 24.0 LTS

README.md

Setup USB Wi-Fi Adapter on Ubuntu 24 LTS

Environment

• Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS (Linux kernal 6.8.0-71-generic)
• Buffalo WI-U2-433DMS (RTL8821AU)

In this tutorial, the following driver shared on GitHub is used.

• https://github.com/lwfinger/rtw88

Before Setup

Check if the the Wi-Fi adapter is recognized as a USB device.

$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID ....:.... Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID ....:.... BUFFALO INC. (formerly MelCo., Inc.) 802.11ac WLAN Adapter
Bus 002 Device 001: ID ....:.... Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
...

If the expected adapter is not found in the list, it may not be properly connected to a USB port, or the device has been broken.

Install Build Tools

$ sudo apt install linux-headers-generic build-essential dkms
...

Build and Install Module

Build and install the module rtw88 with DKMS.

$ sudo su -

# cd /usr/local/src

# git clone https://github.com/lwfinger/rtw88.git

# cd rtw88/

# dkms install $PWD
...
Building module:
Cleaning build area...
KVER=6.8.0-71-generic 'make' all...................................................
Cleaning build area...
...
depmod......

# make install_fw
...

# cp rtw88.conf /etc/modprobe.d/

# exit

And then, reboot the OS to load the installed modules.

$ sudo reboot

Now, the modules starting with rtw_ are found in the module list.

$ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
...
rtw_8821au             12288  0
rtw_8821a              45056  1 rtw_8821au
rtw_88xxa              45056  1 rtw_8821a
rtw_usb                28672  1 rtw_8821au
rtw_core              352256  3 rtw_88xxa,rtw_usb,rtw_8821a
...

The modules have been installed and recognized as a wireless network interface, but it's not connected yet to any access points.

$ sudo lshw -C network
...
  *-network DISABLED
       description: Wireless interface
       physical id: 4
       bus info: usb@1:2
       logical name: ... 
       serial: ... 
       capabilities: ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rtw_8821au driverversion=6.8.0-71-generic firmware=N/A link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11

Connect to Wi-Fi Access Points

If the nmcli command is not installed, install the package network-manager.

$ sudo apt install network-manager

Show available Wi-Fi access points using nmcli.

$ sudo nmcli device wifi list
IN-USE  BSSID              SSID                  MODE   CHAN  RATE        SIGNAL  BARS  SECURITY
...

Connect one of the access points by its SSID and password.

$ sudo nmcli device wifi connect ${SSID} password ${PASSWORD}

# (Optional) Enabling autoconnect.
$ sudo nmcli connection modify ${SSID} connection.autoconnect yes

$ sudo nmcli connection show --active
NAME            UUID                                  TYPE  DEVICE
...

Now, the Wi-Fi adapter has been connected as you can see ip=... link=yes at the configuration field.

$ sudo lshw -C network
...
  *-network
       description: Wireless interface
       physical id: 4
       bus info: usb@1:2
       logical name: ...
       serial: ...
       capabilities: ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rtw_8821au driverversion=6.8.0-71-generic firmware=N/A ip=... link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11