Best WiFi USB adapter

[eblot]

Hi,

I'm (desperately) looking for a good USB WiFi n adapter that works **seamlessly** and without system hacks with OPNSense. It's definitely NOT for creating an access point, but as a simple WiFi client to access a remote 4G gateway. A 150 Mbps or 300 MBps would be fine, as long as it runs on 5GHz channel.

I have tried a couple of adaptors I already owned, but they are either not recognized by the Kernel, or have proved to be very unstable (the interface goes UP and DOWN with one of them, or half the packets are lost with the other).

A perfect match would be a mini PCIe card so I can replace the (crappy) Realtek-based integrated card within my Qotom box, while still relying on the integrated WiFi antennas. A regular external USB-A adapter could fit as a second choice.

Unfortunately Qotom has not routed the PCIe express lane to the mini PCIe card connector, so WiFi adapter that uses PCIe cannot work  :-( Only the USB bus signal is available on the card slot.
 
I've looked at the various pages that document which versions of which WiFi chips are supported on whatever BSD kernel, but it's quite difficult to figure out if it actually works seamlessly and which WiFi adapter manufacturer/product actually uses the selected chip.

Any advice / feedback would be great!

[bartjsmit]

If your Qotom has enough ethernet adapters, you could try a WiFi access point in client mode.

The TP-Link TL-WR802N device is capable of this, and around the same price as a PCIe card, with the added bonus of allowing you to place it in the best position for radio signals. http://www.tp-link.com/us/faq-1323.html

Bart...

[eblot]

There are 4 Ethernet ports on the Qotom box, so this could be a nice solution actually, as it would not rely on any WiFi support from the kernel...

I cannot find the power requirement on their specification page though. I would like to avoid just-another power DC supply and use one of the USB port of the box if possible, but it seems their DC adaptor is 1A, not 500mA, which may suggest a regular USB port would not make it.

Thanks Bart.

[bartjsmit]

You can always opt for a passive PoE injector. There are a few of those for Raspberry Pi projects which has a similar power requirement and the same connector.

Bart...

[monstermania]

Unfortunately Qotom has not routed the PCIe express lane to the mini PCIe card connector, so WiFi adapter that uses PCIe cannot work  :-( Only the USB bus signal is available on the card slot.
 
I've looked at the various pages that document which versions of which WiFi chips are supported on whatever BSD kernel, but it's quite difficult to figure out if it actually works seamlessly and which WiFi adapter

Hi,
in short words. Forget USB Wifi N!
My Lexcom HW also has an mPCI-Slot that only supports USB devices. After some weeks testing i found some usb devices that are running fine (AP-Mode). All of them use a ralink chipset (RT5370/RT2800). But because the bad driver support of freebsd they only work with 54Mbit-Speed.
So, looking for a solution with an external device if you need wireless N-speed or 5 Ghz.