What wireless network adapters are likely to work straight out of the box?
Andrew Mclaughlin 
Ideally i'm looking for a PCI wireless network adapter.
(In this instance I was trying to install drivers for the Asus PCE-N53 Wireless-N600 but the process requires me to install and compile a driver myself, and end in an several errors); I'm looking for a wireless that works out of the box and therefor doesn't require me to troubleshoot the problem as a terminal illiterate dork.
I'm currently looking at the cheaper
- TP-Link TL-WN751ND Wireless-N150
- AirLink AWLH5085 Wireless-N150
- TRENDnet TEW-726EC (Version v1.0R) N600
- TP-LINK TL-WDN4800
etc
2 Answers
These links should help you find the one you're seeking:
The problem that you never know which chip is used in which adapter.
These marketing names give no information. Vendors can switch from e.g. Atheros to Ralink without changing adapter model. Just change a revision.
But linux kernel supports not brand names but wireless physical hardware.
Best support is for Atheros adapters, except the very new ones that require ath10k module, that is not present in Ubuntu kernels yet.
So Atheros is preferred.
Ralink and Mediatek will cause problems in 99%.
Realtek will decently work with some drivers installed from ppa or github, but there is no guarantee.
In some cases compatibility with linux is declared by a vendor. It is better, but still there may be problems with kernel versions, etc.
