Administrative Note

As of upstream version 5.6.1, I'm moving away from individual repositories for each upstream version in favor of a single repository with version-based branches. Hopefully, this will help with clutter and URL consistency moving forward. The archived repositories are available here:

• rtl88x2BU_WiFi_linux_v5.3.1_27678.20180430_COEX20180427-5959
• rtl88x2BU_WiFi_linux_v5.2.4.4_26334.20180126_COEX20171012-5044
• rtl88x2BU_WiFi_linux_v5.2.4.4_25643.20171212_COEX20171012-5044
• rtl88x2BU_WiFi_linux_v5.2.4.1_22719_COEX20170518-4444.20170613

Driver for rtl88x2bu wifi adaptors

Updated driver for rtl88x2bu wifi adaptors based on Realtek's source distributed with myriad adapters.

Realtek's 5.6.1 source was found bundled with the Cudy WU1200 AC1200 High Gain USB Wi-Fi Adapter and can be downloaded from Cudy's website.

Build confirmed on:

Linux version 5.3.0-050300-generic (kernel@sita) (gcc version 9.2.1 20190909 (Ubuntu 9.2.1-8ubuntu1)) #201909152230 SMP Sun Sep 15 22:32:54 UTC 2019

Linux version 5.2.0-2-amd64 ([email protected]) (gcc version 8.3.0 (Debian 8.3.0-21)) #1 SMP Debian 5.2.9-2 (2019-08-21)

DKMS installation

cd rtl88x2bu
VER=$(sed -n 's/\PACKAGE_VERSION="\(.*\)"/\1/p' dkms.conf)
sudo rsync -rvhP ./ /usr/src/rtl88x2bu-${VER}
sudo dkms add -m rtl88x2bu -v ${VER}
sudo dkms build -m rtl88x2bu -v ${VER}
sudo dkms install -m rtl88x2bu -v ${VER}
sudo modprobe 88x2bu

Raspberry Pi Access Point

# Update all packages per normal
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

# Install prereqs
sudo apt install git dnsmasq hostapd bc build-essential dkms raspberrypi-kernel-headers

# Reboot just in case there were any kernel updates
sudo reboot

# Pull down the driver source
git clone https://github.com/cilynx/rtl88x2bu
cd rtl88x2bu/

# Configure for RasPi
sed -i 's/I386_PC = y/I386_PC = n/' Makefile
sed -i 's/ARM_RPI = n/ARM_RPI = y/' Makefile

# DKMS as above
VER=$(sed -n 's/\PACKAGE_VERSION="\(.*\)"/\1/p' dkms.conf)
sudo rsync -rvhP ./ /usr/src/rtl88x2bu-${VER}
sudo dkms add -m rtl88x2bu -v ${VER}
sudo dkms build -m rtl88x2bu -v ${VER} # Takes ~3-minutes on a 3B+
sudo dkms install -m rtl88x2bu -v ${VER}

# Plug in your adapter then confirm your new interface name
ip addr

# Set a static IP for the new interface (adjust if you have a different interface name or preferred IP)
sudo tee -a /etc/dhcpcd.conf <<EOF
interface wlan1
    static ip_address=192.168.4.1/24
    nohook wpa_supplicant
EOF

# Clobber the default dnsmasq config
sudo tee /etc/dnsmasq.conf <<EOF
interface=wlan1
  dhcp-range=192.168.4.100,192.168.4.199,255.255.255.0,24h
EOF

# Configure hostapd
sudo tee /etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf <<EOF
interface=wlan1
driver=nl80211
ssid=pinet
hw_mode=g
channel=7
wmm_enabled=0
macaddr_acl=0
auth_algs=1
ignore_broadcast_ssid=0
wpa=2
wpa_passphrase=CorrectHorseBatteryStaple
wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
wpa_pairwise=TKIP
rsn_pairwise=CCMP
EOF

sudo sed -i 's|#DAEMON_CONF=""|DAEMON_CONF="/etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf"|' /etc/default/hostapd

# Enable hostapd
sudo systemctl unmask hostapd
sudo systemctl enable hostapd

# Reboot to pick up the config changes
sudo reboot

If you want to setup masquerading or bridging, check out the official Raspberry Pi docs.