Ubuntu – Realtek RTL8811CU Wifi Dongle

driversnetworkingrealtekusb

How may I get the USB Wifi recognized and operational when I plug it in?

When I use the lsusb command it shows:
Realtek Semiconductor Corp.

For the manufacturer I know the driver is RTL8811CU

On the package I can read: 

Dual band USB Adapter;
600 mbps;
2.4 GHz + 5 GHz;
USB 2.0 High-Speed;
IEEE: 802.11 ac;
Supported OS: Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10/Mac/Linux;

My Ubuntu OS is:

Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS;
Release: 18.04;
Codename: bionic;

My linux kernel version is: 

4.15.0-88-generic

Best Answer

It should work. Just open your network configuration manager and connect to your wi-fi hotspot.

In my case it is in Main menu -> Preferences -> Settings -> Wi-Fi: enter image description here

If your adapter does not work, you could try:

  • sudo apt install dkms -y

  • sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall

  • then

    Plug your USB-wifi-adapter into your PC
    If wifi can be detected, congratulations. If not, maybe you need to switch your device usb mode by the following steps in terminal:

    find your usb-wifi-adapter device ID, like 0bda:1a2b, by type:
    lsusb
    switch the mode by type: (the device ID must be yours.) Need install usb_modeswitch

    sudo usb_modeswitch -KW -v 0bda -p 1a2b
    It should work.

  • or, if previous did not help:

    sudo apt install build-essential -y
mkdir -p ~/build
cd ~/build
sudo apt install git
git clone https://github.com/brektrou/rtl8821CU.git
cd rtl8821CU
make
sudo make install
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