A USB Wi-Fi adapter is only useful if your machine has no built-in Wi-Fi — or to get better reception than it does.
| Machine | Built-in Wi-Fi? |
|---|---|
| Raspberry Pi Zero 2, 3, 4 / 400, 5 / 500 | ✅ Yes |
| Anbernic RG353 / RG503 | ✅ Yes |
| Odroid Go Advance | Rev 1.1 (Black Edition) only |
| Odroid Go Super | ❌ No — USB dongle required |
| PC | Depends on the model |
Configuration happens in MAIN MENU → NETWORK SETTINGS — see network. And for gaming, always prefer Ethernet when possible: netplay does not enjoy Wi-Fi latency.
On top of the Linux kernel's standard Wi-Fi drivers, the Raspberry Pi and handheld images include the Realtek RTL8812AU/8821AU and RTL8812BU/8822BU drivers (common AC dongles). On PC, the recent kernel (6.14) natively covers most current chipsets.
In practice: prefer a dongle whose chipset shows ✅ in the table below — recent Realtek AC600/AC1200 models (RTL8811CU, RTL8821CU, RTL8812BU) are the best served.
| Device | Status | Chipset | Last tested version | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belkin N300 F7D2102 | ✅ | |||
| CSL 300 Mbit/s WLAN Stick with antenna | ❌ | RT8191SU | ||
| Canakit Wifi Adapter | ✅ | RT5370 | ||
| Cudy WU650S AC | ✅ | RTL8821CU | 8.0.1 | |
| D-Link DWL 123 | ❌ | RT5370 | ||
| D-Link DWA 131 | ❌ | |||
| Edimax EW-7811UN | ✅ | RTL8188CUS | 4.0.0-dev | Works but creates instability with other USB devices |
| Edimax EW-7811UTC - AC600 | ❌ | RTL8812AU | ||
| EDUP EP-N8508 USB Nano WiFi 150Mbps | ✅ | |||
| Hercules HWNUm-300 | ❌ | |||
| Inter-Tech DMG-04 | ✅ | RTL8811CU | 9.1 | Amazon |
| Lindy 52213 USB 3.0 WiFi Bluetooth dongle | ✅ | |||
| Netgear WIFI USB N300 Nano WNA3100M | ✅ | |||
| Netgear WIFI USB AC1200 Nano Dual Band (A6150-100PES) | ✅ | RTL8812BU | 8.0 (x86_64) | |
| Netis WF2122 USB WiFi 11n 300M | ✅ | 4.1 | ||
| Ourlink | ✅ | RTL8192CU | ||
| Ralink Wi-Fi 802.11n with antenna | ✅ | RT5370 | ||
| Tenda W311Ma Wireless N150 Mini High Gain USB Adapter | ✅ | |||
| TP-Link TL-WN822N 300Mbps High Gain Wireless USB Adapter | ✅ | 4.0.0-dev | ||
| TP-Link TL-WN823N 300Mbps Wireless Mini USB Adapter | ❌ | 4.0.2 | ||
| TP-Link TL-WN722N High Gain Wireless USB Adapter HW v1.0 | ✅ | 4.0.0 - RPi 2B | ||
| TP-Link TL-WN722N High Gain Wireless USB Adapter HW v2.0 | ❌ | 4.1 - RPi 3 | ||
| TP-Link TL-WN725N Nano WiFi N 150 Mbps | ❌ | 8.0.1 | Worked until 7.1 (with instability), no longer works since 8.0.1 | |
| Wi-key 150 | ✅ | |||
| Wi-Pi Wifi Dongle | ✅ | |||
| Generic RTL8188EUS | ❌ | RTL8188EUS | 4.1 | |
| Netis WF2116 Wireless N300 Long-Range USB Adapter | ✅ | RTL8192CU | 4.1 | Amazon |
| Ralink RT5370 Raspberry Pi wifi adapter | ✅ | RT5370 | 4.1 | Amazon |
| OURLiNK 600Mbps AC600 Dual Band USB WiFi Dongle | ❌ | unknown | 4.1 | Amazon |
Tested a dongle that is missing from the list? Share the model, chipset and Recalbox version on the Recalbox Discord.