Resolving Issue with Realtek AlphaAWUS036H/36NH Adapters on Ubuntu 20.04

Resolving Issues with Realtek Alpha AWUS036H/36NH Adapters on Ubuntu 20.04

The Realtek Alpha AWUS036H/36NH adapters are popular wireless USB adapters that offer high-speed connectivity and reliable performance. However, some users have reported issues when using these adapters on Ubuntu 20.04. This article aims to provide a detailed guide on how to resolve these issues and get your Realtek adapter up and running on Ubuntu 20.04.

Identifying the Realtek Alpha AWUS036H/36NH Adapter

To identify the Realtek Alpha AWUS036H/36NH adapter, you can use the lsusb command in the terminal. The output should show the device with the ID 0bda:8187, which corresponds to Realtek Semiconductor Corp.

$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 032: ID 0bda:8187 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.

Installing the Required Packages

To get the Realtek adapter working on Ubuntu 20.04, you need to install the required packages. Open the terminal and run the following commands:

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install git build-essential dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r)

Building and Installing the Realtek Driver

After installing the required packages, you can build and install the Realtek driver using the following steps:

1. Clone the Realtek driver repository:

$ git clone https://github.com/rtlwifi-next/rtlwifi-next.git

2. Change to the cloned repository:

$ cd rtlwifi-next

3. Build and install the driver:

$ sudo make install

Loading the Realtek Driver

After installing the driver, you need to load it using the following command:

$ sudo modprobe rtl8187

Verifying the Connection

After loading the driver, you can verify the connection using the iwconfig command. The output should show the Realtek adapter with an ESSID and a valid IP address.

$ iwconfig
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:"MyNetwork"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:11:22:33:44:55
Bit Rate:54 Mb/s Sensitivity:0/0
Retry:off RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=100/100 Signal level=0 dBm Noise level=0 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

In this article, we have covered the steps required to resolve issues with Realtek Alpha AWUS036H/36NH adapters on Ubuntu 20.04. We have discussed how to identify the adapter, install the required packages, build and install the Realtek driver, load the driver, and verify the connection. By following these steps, you should be able to get your Realtek adapter working on Ubuntu 20.04.

References

• Realtek Semiconductor Corp. (n.d.). RTL8187 Wireless LAN Controller. Retrieved from https://www.realtek.com/en/products/communications-network-ics/item/rtl8187
• Ubuntu (2021). Installing Additional Drivers. Retrieved from https://help.ubuntu.com/stable/ubuntu-help/additional-drivers.html
• GitHub (2021). rtlwifi-next. Retrieved from https://github.com/rtlwifi-next/rtlwifi-next