USB WiFi dongles with 4 detachable antennas?

[MR0000001]

Im searching for good usb dongles with 4 detachable antennas.
Can you help me?

[morrownr]

https://store.rokland.com/collections/802-11ac-wi-fi-clients-receivers/products/alfa-awus1900-802-11ac-1900-mbps-dual-band-2-4-5-ghz-wi-fi-usb-adapter-ac1900

[MR0000001]

@morrownr thanks for the reply.

Nice but is a Realtek RTL8814U, i was thinking to move to MTK.

My Edup AC1621 with Realtek RTL8814U is slowy burning even with a copper plate, 8814au is just too hot.
I found a Edup AV1621 at $45.99 (the product seems to be EOL) so will this Alfa be better at heating? (heating less)

[morrownr]

Hi @MR0000001

Nice but is a Realtek RTL8814U, i was thinking to move to MTK.

Yes, it is but that is the only chip for a usb wifi adapter that I am aware of that can actually make use of 4 antennas. I know you see a few others but 2 of those antennas are probably fake. If you want to move to MTK, that should work well for you but tell me what you really need as far as range, speed, features and the like.

8814au is just too hot.

Yes, it is a hot chip. The MTK chips run cool.

[MR0000001]

@morrownr my need is 4 antenna to have high gain on low signal.
More the antennas better the signal no?

I know you see a few others but 2 of those antennas are probably fake.

I think you are right, i see too many realtek 88x2au dongles with 4 antennas and if they were detachable test them would be easy....but they arent.

I can think of buy that Alfa but if it is not cooled his life will be short and at now cost even more than 2021.....

[morrownr]

More the antennas better the signal no?

No, that is not how it works. More antennas are only useful if there is something that uses the extra antennas. Almost all modern usb wifi adapters can operate optimally with 2 antennas. The ones with the rtl8814au are the exception.

I can think of buy that Alfa but if it is not cooled his life will be short and at now cost even more than 2021.....

You can get something more modern and faster for less. Have you looked at The Plug and Play List?

[MR0000001]

More antennas are only useful if there is something that uses the extra antennas.
You can get something more modern and faster for less.

@morrownr I’m not hacking or near the router. I’m connecting my home network to my private office in the same building but on different floors, that why realtek is okay if with 4 antennas.

To my knowledge, improving range typically requires more antennas or higher wattage.
While I’m aware that the 8814AU chipset is outdated by today’s standards, I’m skeptical that newer chips with limitations on power or antenna count (e.g., only 2 antennas) can match or outperform older models that support more antennas/higher power.

I’m looking at these MT7921AU adapters on AliExpress with 2 detachable antennas:

MT7921AU AX1800M

EDUP AX1672

They’re priced low—could you confirm if these are worth it for the price?

There’s also this cheaper option, but it lacks detachable antennas, so im not taking in count it:

Fenvi AX1800

Let me know your thoughts!

Have you looked at The Plug and Play List?

Every 2 months i check it for good news, so i know that MT7921au was a cheap solution, but im not sure how the printed board is in those models and the power.

[morrownr]

To my knowledge, improving range typically requires more antennas or higher wattage.

This is not true in the case of USB WiFi adapters. The signal strength for WiFi is limited by law and that varies by country and band. Most drivers bring adapters up with maximum signal strength given the country you are located in and the band you are using. The number of antennas has to do with the number of antennas supported and that really has nothing to do with range. It has to do with throughput but not range.

What does matter for range: The QUALITY of the AMP and the ANTENNAS. Let me repeat that. Range, given the limitations of WiFi imposed by laws, entirely has to do with the QUALITY of the internal AMP and ANTENNAS. Good quality AMPS and antennas are not cheap so don't expect them on cheap adapters.

Several years ago I did a range test with some adapters. It is not listed on the Main Menu as it is somewhat dated, I do need to do a new test when I have but it should show what I am talking about:

https://github.com/morrownr/USB-WiFi/blob/main/home/Performance_Comparison.md

Note that there is a LOT of difference in range between the top two adapters and the ones at the bottom. The Alfa ACH and ACHM are too this day are the leaders in range. They are not cheap and likely never will be because of the cost to make them. I am working on convincing a couple of makers to include long range adapters in their initial mt7925u based adapters. We need a more modern long range adapter. Right now, one of the modern adapters with reasonably long range is the EDUP EP-AX1672. I have one and regularly do various things with it. While I have included it in a range test yet, my impression is that it has good range.

https://www.amazon.com/EDUP-Wireless-802-11AX-Tri-Band-Compatible/dp/B0CZ82RM5L

If you live in the US, use caution ordering from AliExpress due to the unfortunate trade war started by the US.

They’re priced low—could you confirm if these are worth it for the price?

The EP-AX1672, imho, is a bargain at a price below 30 USD. Outstanding adapter.

Every 2 months i check it for good news, so i know that MT7921au was a cheap solution, but im not sure how the printed board is in those models and the power.

With the EP-AX1672, you can expect around 650 Mbps on 5 GHz if you have low congestion and a good signal. I have done long term testing with iperf3 to see how it is regarding thermal characteristics. Basically you can run full speed (650 Mbps) indefinitely without heat issues. The Mediatek chips tend to run much cooler that the Realtek chips. The EP-AX1672 is listed first in its category for a reason. The other adapters in that category are good but I would rank the AX1672 as the best right now.

[MR0000001]

The EP-AX1672, imho, is a bargain at a price below 30 USD. Outstanding adapter.

I found the last piece available (though it might be the usual fake scarcity tactic) from a shop on AliExpress for 12,15€.
Since it was so cheap, I rushed to buy it before waiting for your reply.
After all I needed a replacement for when the partially burned 8814AU will die, and I couldn’t find a better option than the Edup AX1672.

Do you think it’s overkill if I attach copper plates with non-conductive thermal adhesive paste to both sides of the MT7921au chip on the PCB?
I plan to use it as a bridge access point with many connected devices and virtually no idle time for cooling.

@morrownr thanks for all the info you shared and for your work on github.

[dubhater]

I plan to use it as a bridge access point with many connected devices

MT7921 doesn't support very many connected devices: #561

[morrownr]

@dubhater

MT7921 doesn't support very many connected devices: #561

Yes, that is a heck of a issue. I never run into this because I do not have enough clients to cause the problem. I have no idea if this is a needed limit due to some reason or if it is just a limit because in the mind of the dev, there is no need for a higher limit. What I do know is that the older RALink drivers support far more than 16 or so clients. I have WiFi 4 adapters with the rt2870, rt3070 and rt5370 chips. That is what I recommend to users wanting something for a lot of IoT clients. They seem to work well...with up to around 64 clients. I think the rt5370 is still in production. Panda makes an adapter with it.

Anyway, I can send a patch to Felix/linux-wireless if you test to see if an appropriate increase works. The increase should probably be for all of the modern chips --- mt7610, mt7612, mt7921 and mt7925. At least that should trigger an answer one way or another.

[morrownr]

Do you think it’s overkill if I attach copper plates with non-conductive thermal adhesive paste to both sides of the MT7921au chip on the PCB?

I think that is overkill. You should find no need to supplement the cooling of this adapter in my experience. I have tried to overheat this adapter and simply could not do it . I'd say put it in a port and use it. Remember, this is a plug and play adapter unless you are using a kernel prior to 5.19. Kernels 6.1, 6.6, 6.12 and later should work well. Let me know if you have any problems.

[MR0000001]

I think that is overkill. You should find no need to supplement the cooling of this adapter in my experience. I have tried to overheat this adapter and simply could not do it.

I applied thermal paste years ago to the 8814au chip, but only on the front side.
Today, I also applied it to the backside of the PCB where there were visible burn-in marks.
After running some speed tests and watching live on Twitch—no torrents or large downloads—both copper plates became noticeably warm to the touch.

The 8814au has truly scorched my soul, now im crazy about thermals on usb wifi dongles.

[morrownr]

I am very aware of the thermal issues with the rtl8814au chip. It is a totally different story with the Mediatek chips. I have many adapters. The Mediatek adapters run cooler than the Realtek adapters and much cooler than the rtl8814au in particular.

Here are a couple of things to mention to you:

• When you run iw dev, it will report 3 dBm. That is a cosmetic issue. The adapter is really running at full speed.
• The LED will be on when the adapter has power and off when it does not. This is common among what I will call built for Linux adapters.

We are seeing more and more of those built for Linux adapters as I think some of the adapter makers are getting the message and they are making some adapters that work very well on Linux:

• use in-kernel high quality drivers
• no onboard Windows driver
• not a combo adapter (bluetooth support)
• adapter uses the LED as a power indicator

When you see those 4 characteristics in a USB WiFi adapter, it is not an accident. The package may not say made for Linux but they are.

[MR0000001]

Do you think it’s overkill if I attach copper plates with non-conductive thermal adhesive paste to both sides of the MT7921au chip on the PCB?

I think that is overkill. You should find no need to supplement the cooling of this adapter in my experience. I have tried to overheat this adapter and simply could not do it . I'd say put it in a port and use it. Remember, this is a plug and play adapter unless you are using a kernel prior to 5.19. Kernels 6.1, 6.6, 6.12 and later should work well. Let me know if you have any problems.

Did you ever tried to set a fixed power on MT7921 being it cooler? Is useless trying?

I plan to use it as a bridge access point with many connected devices

MT7921 doesn't support very many connected devices: #561

I will use the MT7921 as client to the main ap, for the ap lan i will use realtek dongles (88*2au/8852au) that i already own, i plan to 5-7 devices not more anyway.

[morrownr]

Did you ever tried to set a fixed power on MT7921 being it cooler? Is useless trying?

Currently it is useless typing. It is good to be able to reduce txpower in some situations so it is something I would like to see.

I will use the MT7921 as client to the main ap, for the ap lan i will use realtek dongles (88*2au/8852au) that i already own, i plan to 5-7 devices not more anyway.

5-7 should be no big deal. Are you using hostapd? If so, I can put you on a good hostapd.conf for the mt7921 based adapter.

[MR0000001]

Did you ever tried to set a fixed power on MT7921 being it cooler? Is useless trying?

Currently it is useless typing. It is good to be able to reduce txpower in some situations so it is something I would like to see.

I will use the MT7921 as client to the main ap, for the ap lan i will use realtek dongles (88*2au/8852au) that i already own, i plan to 5-7 devices not more anyway.

5-7 should be no big deal. Are you using hostapd? If so, I can put you on a good hostapd.conf for the mt7921 based adapter.

I’m using Hostapd with a Realtek chipset.
Since I need the stronger WiFi adapter as a client and the weaker one for Hostapd, I’ve decided not to use the MT7921 for the Access Point (AP).
I was wondering if you’ve ever managed to increase the transmit (TX) power on the MT7921, by leveraging its naturally low operating temperatures.

[morrownr]

@MR0000001

In case you need it, here is a link to an example hostapd.conf for your adapter:

https://github.com/morrownr/USB-WiFi/blob/main/home/AP_Mode/hostapd-WiFi6.conf

In case you forget where this message is, the link is also on the site Main Menu.

[MR0000001]

Thanks.

Ps: based on IP location and new account, the MT7921 shows also at 7€ on aliexpress.

[MR0000001]

Hi @morrownr i found this on aliexpress:

https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1005005935674287.html

I initially thought it was an RTL device but, from reviews, i saw that it was shipped with a mini-CD.
Since newer RTL models include full CD-ROM functionality, I checked the driver.zip file on the official site and... it’s actually an MT7921!

SuperCheap!

[morrownr]

Thanks. I added the link to this adapter in The Plug and Play List. I already had some links but this is a different link to the Fenvi FU-AX1800.

This is a very cheap adapter that seems to hold its own. It probably does not have range that could be considered anything but average but that works for a lot of use cases.

[MR0000001]

@morrownr today i got Edup ax1672 but is doing very bad.

I usually get almost three times that bandwith even with a RLT8812au, the signal quality is good but seems underpowered.

[morrownr]

the signal is good but seems underpowered.

It will be running at the max power allowed by your country and band. The -3 dBm is not correct. It is an output mistake in the driver that has not been corrected.

The signal level at -62 is concerning.

What band are you on?
Any obstacles?
Distance to AP?
Is the adapter obstructed, such as being plugged directly into the back of a desktop?
Can you move it around to see where you get a better signal?
Where is your wifi router/AP located?

[MR0000001]

@morrownr from windows too i can connect only to 2.4ghz AP but both 2,4 and 5 ghz have good signal.

Package was not in best shape so maybe is broken, idk.

[MR0000001]

Maybe this piece is damaged...

Maybe but let's work with it and see.

The router is on the second floor, so do you have any kind of flexibility as to the exact location of the second floor router? Is the router next to a wall? Is there anything blocking the signal of the router? Is it behind furniture or the like. Is there any flexibility in the location of your first floor workspace? Are you using a laptop where you can move around while checking the signal with wavemon?

If the router is on one floor and the client is on another, it would be best if the router and client are on opposite sides of the building so as to reduce the angle between the devices. Having the client right below the router is a bad thing.

Does your router allow for changed power levels? Have you tested to see if what the congestion levels are on the channels that you use?

As I mentioned, it’s the same setup I always use, and even now—since I’m just testing—the 8812au is performing three times better. So, talking about the AP location is just another way of saying the MT7921 is garbage, and I need to overhaul my router setup.

To clarify: I’m testing with and without a USB 3.0 cable, in the correct orientation (not near the PC case, walls, etc.), otherwise my link quality would be 30 instead of 60+. Let’s not blame obstacles or congestion—I’m running parallel benchmarks with the 8812au, so it’s clearly the MT7921 underperforming for unknown reasons.

[morrownr]

So talking about AP location is a way to say that MT7921 is shit ...

No not all. I have a Edup 1672 and an adapter with a 8821au chip. In fact, I have many USB WiFi adapters. It comes with running this site. My opinion is that the Edup 1672 probably has a little better than average range/signal ability relative to an average of other adapters. I think it is good for a low cost adapter.

Regarding the recommendations about your router: No need to get upset. I am trying to help. To me, it is obvious that settings have not been optimized if I see the router on channel 9. Channel 1 would be better, especially if it is not too heavily utilized, as a lower frequency channel can penetrate obstacles better. Whether you realize it or not, there are many things that can be done to help increase the level of satisfaction with WiFi. Changing some settings in the router is one big area and changing the location of the router, to include what is around it can have really good benefits.

You mentioned that you were using a directional antenna with your 8812au adapter. That tells me you have been having signal problems. We can work to mediate the problem. I'm not blaming anything yet. I am investigating. You are annoyed. Maybe you can take a break and try again later.

I’m running parallel benchmarks with the 8812au, so it’s clearly the MT7921 underperforming for unknown reasons.

What 8812au adapter do you have?

Can you post the result of:

$ iw reg get

What kernel are you running?

$ uname -r

[MR0000001]

So talking about AP location is a way to say that MT7921 is shit ...

No not all. I have a Edup 1672 and an adapter with a 8821au chip. In fact, I have many USB WiFi adapters. It comes with running this site. My opinion is that the Edup 1672 probably has a little better than average range/signal ability relative to an average of other adapters. I think it is good for a low cost adapter.

Regarding the recommendations about your router: No need to get upset. I am trying to help. To me, it is obvious that settings have not been optimized if I see the router on channel 9. Channel 1 would be better, especially if it is not too heavily utilized, as a lower frequency channel can penetrate obstacles better. Whether you realize it or not, there are many things that can be done to help increase the level of satisfaction with WiFi. Changing some settings in the router is one big area and changing the location of the router, to include what is around it can have really good benefits.

You mentioned that you were using a directional antenna with your 8812au adapter. That tells me you have been having signal problems. We can work to mediate the problem. I'm not blaming anything yet. I am investigating. You are annoyed. Maybe you can take a break and try again later.

I’m running parallel benchmarks with the 8812au, so it’s clearly the MT7921 underperforming for unknown reasons.

What 8812au adapter do you have?

Can you post the result of:

$ iw reg get

What kernel are you running?

$ uname -r

Yes this situation has upset me, it’s not your fault—thank you for your help.
I have multiple identical directional antenna parts, all tested and working.
I own the 8812au "anywish" nano-USB adapter with an antenna port.

What I want to make clear, aside from advice on radio channels, is that the only foreign element in my setup is the MT7921.
I’m using the 8812au in parallel with the same directional antenna (though only one on the 8812au, since it has a single antenna port), which I mounted on the MT7921.

Obviously, I also tried the original antennas from the MT7921, but aside from worse signal quality, the issue of connecting to the 5GHz network remains.

I’ve confirmed that the problem lies with the MT7921.
I’ll run tests from the PC on the second floor just to be 1000% sure it’s faulty.

I understand you want the full picture of my setup, but you saw firsthand the RSS and LinkQuality values.
There’s no reason why it shouldn’t complete the connection (I’m not even talking about browsing—just connecting) to that network with that signal.

[morrownr]

Yes this situation has upset me, it’s not your fault—thank you for your help.

I understand frustration.

See the part where it says country 00, that means your system is running with global defaults which means your mt7921au based adapter could be running with reduced power. It is possible the 8812au adapter is not running with reduced power as it is an older adapter that may have different, older, eeprom settings. The wireless regulatory thing is complicated and not just for Linux but for all systems using wireless.

On the Main Menu of this site there is an item called Frequently Asked Questions. I think it is item 12. One of the first items in that document is about making sure your country code is set. Many of the questions in that document have multiple answers so you should all answers before proceeding and it one solution does not work, back what you did out and try another.

Let me know what happens.

[morrownr]

Additional: your AP/router should not be running on channel 9 on the 2.4 GHz band. Use channels 1, 6 or 11. Find the channel of those 3 that has the least traffic and set it. If you use any other channel than those 3, you will be subject to congestion from 2 heavy use channels and that is not good.

[HAX2525]

Hi everyone, i already buy Edup 1672 wifi usb card and now i want upgrade the antenna on this usb card
from Alfa which antenna do you suggest from one of these :

1- ARS-25-57A ..... 2.4 ghz 5 dBi / 5ghz 7 dBi https://alfa-network.eu/antennas/wi-fi-antennas/ars-25-57a

2- APA-M25-6E Tri-Band ....2.4ghz 8 dBi / 5ghz 10 dpi / 5.9 ghz 9 dBi > i m thinking to buy 2 of this antennas

3- ARS-NT5B 2.4GHz/5GHz .... 5dBi https://alfa-network.eu/antennas/wi-fi-antennas/ars-nt5b
.
links : 1- https://alfa-network.eu/antennas/wi-fi-antennas/ars-25-57a
2- https://alfa-network.eu/antennas/wi-fi-antennas/alfa-network-apa-m25-6e
3- https://alfa-network.eu/antennas/wi-fi-antennas/ars-nt5b

[morrownr]

Hi @HAX2525

I took a look at the antennas. I probably would not buy 1 or 3 as they are for dual band and your adapter is tri-band. You would require 2 of the directional antenna which would make it expensive but that could work well.

What is it that you are trying to accomplish?

[HAX2525]

Im trying to get very long range from this adapter :)

[morrownr]

Im trying to get very long range from this adapter :)

Then you either need to go with 2 of the directional antennas that you posted the link for or some other directional solution. If money is an issue, there are beer can solutions.

You also need to make sure that your adapter is running with full power. If the country code is not being properly set, your system could be running at reduced power. I have some items in the Frequently Asked Question document on the Main Menu.

[MR0000001]

Tested on same floor, connected to 5ghz but at half speed of 8814au even from Windows 10.
The device is garbage or faulty VS 8814au.

[MR0000001]

Searching on web, i found out similar situations, so is not probably faulty but just garbage.
Probably is good vs other chip and in good signal/range but compared to 8814 and other realtek with my antennas is just bad.

[morrownr]

@MR0000001

Searching on web, i found out similar situations, so is not probably faulty but just garbage.

I've been following the mt7921au chip since it was released. Has the Linux driver for it been perfect? No. You can find bad reports for almost any wifi related device and driver out there. It does have a track record better for most uses than the Realtek out-of-kernel drivers and it continues to improve. I am only too aware that device drivers are blamed for all evil in the world but device drivers and the chips they support are not always at fault.

Is it possible that the Edup adapter that you got is faulty. Yes, certainly. When it was described as the last one in stock, that causes me to think it could have been a faulty return that was simply shipped again. However, you are of the opinion that the device is 100% at fault. I am not convinced but it is your issue so you handle it as you please. With more information, I could have suggested additional things to look at but it is what it is.

[MR0000001]

I am not convinced but it is your issue so you handle it as you please. With more information, I could have suggested additional things to look at but it is what it is.

Explain to me what to do to get a Wi-Fi antenna with an MT7921 working when it won’t connect to a 5GHz signal with an RSS of -69 and Link Quality of 75, because I really want to figure this out. However, please avoid unnecessarily questioning whether the RSS and Link Quality are insufficient, as with those same values, I download/browse/game without packet loss, high ping, or other issues using various Realtek Wi-Fi cards.

Here’s the situation: I read here yesterday in another thread about setting power management to “off” to resolve the issue on distros like Fedora—something I was hoping you’d suggest upfront. I’ll try that today and keep reading through other discussions (which you’re already aware of) about identical MT7921 problems.

[morrownr]

I really want to figure this out.

What I can do first that might help more than anything we have done so far is for me to setup and do testing between a rtl8814au adapter and a mt7921au adapter. Head to head testing in a situation where the distance between client and AP are identical, obstructions are identical and AP is identical.

I'll plan to use the following cleanly installed distro: Ubuntu 25.04 amd64, kernel 6.14.

The driver for both adapters are in Ubuntu 25.04, not need to install anything.

What could do if you wish: See Main Menu, item 12 Frequently Asked Questions. Questions 1, 2 and 4 could apply. If you try any of the answers, if you do not see improvement, back the changes out and try another answer. Some of the questions have multiple answers.

[MR0000001]

I installed the MT7921 on the Armbian box I’m using as wifi receiver with the 8812au and turned off power management.
It finally connected to the 5GHz AP.

Now, both the 8812au (a nano-sized device) and the MT7921 have the same antenna setup (same custom antenna), are running on the same Armbian device, connected to the same 5GHz AP, and positioned identically… BUT the MT7921 has two antennas.

Guess what? The MT7921’s signal strength is 5-7% weaker than the 8812au’s, and its intensity values (in nW) are minor and often fluctuate significantly.

This reaffirms that there’s some power or capability issue with the MT7921 I currently have.

Next week, I’ll receive the second Edup EP-AX1672 MT7921 I ordered from AliExpress.
I’ll test it to see if this is a general problem with the MT7921 or specific to this particular unit.

[morrownr]

I can also add a rtl8812au based adapter to the baseline testing that I am planning. That will bring it up to 3 adapters in the test. The rtl8812au adapter that I have is the Alfa ACH. Will it have longer range than the other two? Yes. It sells for about twice as much as the other two adapters.

[morrownr]

@MR0000001

I've been doing some tests periodically over the last few days. I averaged the numbers but that was not really needed as the numbers were very consistent.

rtl8814au based adapter: whitebox special
signal level: -56 dBM
287 Mbps per iperf3
AC

rtl8812au based adapter: Alfa ACH
signal level: -42 dBM
396 Mbps per iperf3
AC

mt7921au based adapter: Edup AX-1672
signal level: -58 dBM
624 Mbps per iperf3
AX

Overview: The setup I used:

Clean install of Ubuntu 25.04 using kernel 6.15 (so that I could use the in-kernel drivers for all 3)
Band 2, 5 GHz
Channel 100, nothing here is on DFS so this is a totally clean channel
80 MHz channel width
All adapters were checked with lsusb -t to make sure they were in USB3 mode
WPA3

4 walls and 20 feet distance from client desktop to wifi router. This was designed to be a little bit of a challenge. The iperf3 data from the rtl8814au based adapter is low but that was expected as some optimization patches for the rtl8814au are going into kernel 6.16 which is not available yet. The other 2 were about as good as if they were in the same room maybe 6 feet from the router.

[MR0000001]

Hi, thanks for the tests, im still waiting for the second one dongle Edup AX1672, after i will repeat the same tests with same OS.

I found out this on Aliexpress: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008233336237.html
and im thinking of adding a 5.8G Edup booster 4W.

Is a cheap OpenWRT router [RAM: 256M, NAND: 128M] featuring 2023 MediaTek components [CPU: MT7621AT & WLANS: MT7905DAN + MT7975DN], with no antennas soldered onto the PCB and 4 1Gbit Ethernet ports.

Shipped with modified OpenWRT/XWRT [risk of backdoors].

(Official OpenWRT download & motherboard photos: https://openwrt.org/toh/sim/simax1800t)

[morrownr]

Here is the link that shows the wifi router that was used in the above testing:

https://openwrt.org/toh/cudy/wr3000_v1

It uses the same chips as the OpenWRT One wifi router. I had identified the SoC/chipsets as really good ones to have in a router and it has exceeded my expectations. I have a mt7922 PCIe card and a mt7925 M.2 card in two of my systems and I see normal speeds with iperf3 of 1.2 Gbps. Yes, exceeding 1 Gbps ethernet. The OpenWRT One has several more features than the Cudy I have.

[MR0000001]

The OpenWRT One has several more features than the Cudy I have.

Well....Cudy os/interface is very very very simple, i dont like it (got a Cudy M that i dont use now)

[morrownr]

Cudy os/interface is very very very simple, i dont like it (got a Cudy M that i dont use now)

I wouldn't know about the Cudy user interface as I immediately installed OpenWRT. All that I was looking for was a reasonably decent build using the hardware I wanted and it had to have support to easily step over to OpenWRT. If I had known OpenWRT was going to launch OpenWRT One with the same SoC but additional features, I would have waited. I have monitored OpenWRT for years. It is how I figure out what the good hardware is. The one you are looking at also has a good SoC but I needed the additional throughput capability to do some of the testing that I do. I cannot get good testing on USB WiFi adapters if my router limits speed. Not everyone needs what I need to run this site so what works is what works for each person.

[MR0000001]

Yeah i understand, but for my usage 6ghz or 5ghz high width is pointless because of thick walls that will never let it go high.
Anyway the price is very reasonable i was expecting very high prices because of hw and selling numbers.

The cudy M1800 run the same hw as the cheap router i linked :D

[morrownr]

Here is a link that gives you a list of all WiFi 6, WiFi 6e and WiFi 7 routers that are currently supported by OpenWRT. Maybe the list can be of help.

I also did more testing. I simply took the 3 adapters to another computer that is located about 12 feet in distance from the router but is line of sight:

rtl8812au based adapter
398 Mbps

rtl8814au based adapter
568 Mbps

mt7921au based adapter
702 Mbps

mt7925 based M.2 card (the card was in the system so I tested it as well)
1.14 Gbps (yes, Gbps)

So, the rtl8814au and my7921au based adapters were running at less than peek capability due to the walls and distance in the first test I posted. The speed of the rtl8812au based adapter is basically running as fast as it can in both tests. That specific adapter, the Alfa ACH, has extraordinary range so even what I threw at it in the first test did not slow it down at all.

[MR0000001]

Based on how the USB Wi-Fi adapter market is evolving, with its focus on fixed antennas and high pricing, it almost makes more sense to buy M.2 to Type-C adapters and M.2 Wi-Fi antennas instead.
At least with M.2 chips, you can always attach your preferred antennas via IPX connectors.
Plus, this avoids the USB driver headaches common with RealTek chips...

Im still waiting the second MT7921 that is late in delivering.....in this week i will get also the cheap router (very fast shipping when it get in Italy with Amazon Shipping)

[bjlockie]

t almost makes more sense to buy M.2 to Type-C adapters and M.2 Wi-Fi antennas instead.

I think I asked about doing that before and was told it wouldn't work.
Only m2 ssds work with USB adapters.
I could be wrong.

[MR0000001]

On Aliexpress they sell specific adapters type-c for m2 Wifi chips so maybe there is something specific in them.

Something like this one https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1005008741085608.html