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USB Wireless Adapters for Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura and Sonoma

trs96

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  2. Mac mini
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UPDATE: 9/30/23
If you use OpenCore and have installed Sonoma 14.0 Chris1111 has a method to let you keep SIP enabled while using a Realtek USB Wifi adapter.

Here's the video instructional to re-enable SIP by Chris-1111

Also See: https://github.com/chris1111/Wireless-USB-Big-Sur-Adapter

PCI-e based Broadcom Wifi/BT cards have always been the first choice for your hackintosh networking needs. Those generally cost between 35-55 USD. Sometimes you won't have an open PCI-e slot or you may be using a laptop with unsupported wifi built in. This is where a Realtek based USB wifi adapter makes sense. Most cost less than half of what a natively supported Broadcom based card does and are super easy to install.

Support for Realtek based Wifi adapters ended with Catalina 10.15.4 - Chris1111 has a solution that works for the Big Sur/Monterey/Ventura/Sonoma macOS versions. If you are using Catalina 10.15.3 or older use the official Archer/TP-Link drivers available from the TP-Link website. Note that you'd need a separate supported BT 4.0 dongle, when using a USB wifi adapter, in order to get things like Airdrop and Airplay to work in Catalina or Big Sur.

Many other Apple services require the BT/Wifi combo to be working and enabled. Natively supported Broadcom PCIe Wifi/BT adapters are the best choice to have all Apple/Mac features working on your hackintosh. Fenvi brand Broadcom based cards are commonly used with success. Some people assemble their own adapters with genuine Apple/Mac Wifi/BT cards manufactured by Broadcom. Note that the BT in these cards will still work in Sonoma as of the public release, 14.0, but Broadcom Wifi is no longer natively supported.


71-LcK10B5L._AC_SL1500_.jpg


This one by EDUP (AC600M) offers the best performance per dollar if you are shopping at Amazon.com
These can be used in a USB 2.0 port or a 3.0 port. Using USB 2.0 doesn't lower wifi speeds significantly.

Cost is just $11.99 USD plus your state sales tax. Here's some more models that are known to work with Big Sur through Sonoma. The ones in bold are the highest recommendations. If you can obtain one at a good price choose one of those four. The T3U (Plus), EDUP EP-AC1689 and Fenvi AC1300 are all Realtek RTL8812BU chipset based adapters. If you are paying for 200Mbps internet or faster it's wise to go with one of these to get maximum transfer speeds. Use the 5GHz band from your router if possible.
  • Archer T3U (RTL8812BU) Amazon Link
  • Archer T3U Plus (RTL8812BU) Amazon Link
  • Archer T2U MINI V3
  • Archer T2U Plus
  • Archer T4U Plus (RTL8812AU)
  • Archer T9UH V2
  • ASUS USB AC68
  • EDUP EP-AC1686
  • EDUP EP-AC1689 (RTL8812BU)
  • Fenvi AC1300 (RTL8812BU)
  • Netgear A7000
  • TL-WN823Nv2/v3
  • TL-WN725Nv3
  • TL-WN821Nv6
  • TL-WN822Nv4/v5
Full list of adapters is attached below.
 

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I got the Fenvi AC1300 but haven't got it to work in Monterey yet, on my Intel H110STX OC Monterey, I got an 'Extension Conflict' message. On my AM4 A320I-K OC Monterey I got 'Couldn't Install' message. It does work perfectly in Mojave, haven't tried in Big Sur yet. I suspect this is a manufactures driver issue as the drivers are for either macOS 10.9 - 10.13 or macOS 10.11 - 10.15. Looking at it now maybe it's a conflict with the Realtek kext!.
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Thanks!. Works great in Monterey.
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The driver "fails" every-time I try to install it, but the utility still shows up in the top menu.
It works fine when I sign into a wifi network, but I have to reinstall the utility every time I restart the computer - ??!!
Anyone have any ideas? I'm running latest version of monterey
 

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The driver "fails" every-time I try to install it, but the utility still shows up in the top menu.
Your profile shows that you have a Mac Mini. A 2014 ? I don't believe the Chris1111 method is meant to be used with real Macs, just hackintoshes. Replace the existing Wifi card in your Mac mini if you want wifi. Contact Chris on Github if you need more explanation.

Screen_Shot_19.jpg


You can still find a genuine Wifi/BT card on Ebay and replace the existing one if it has failed.

 
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