On Windows:
Device Manager → Properties → Details → Hardware IDs. realtek 8188gu wireless lan 80211n usb nic driver

Common Windows Errors & Fixes

| Error | Likely Cause | Solution | |-------|--------------|----------| | Code 10 (Device cannot start) | Conflicting driver from another Realtek chip | Uninstall all Realtek wireless drivers, reboot, then fresh install 8188GU | | Code 31 (Driver is corrupted) | Windows Update replaced your driver | Roll back driver in Device Manager → Properties → Driver | | Adapter disappears after sleep | USB selective suspend | Go to Power Options → Advanced → USB settings → Disable selective suspend | | Slow speed (only 10-20 Mbps) | 802.11n disabled or 20 MHz only | In Device Manager → Advanced tab → Set “Wireless Mode” to “802.11b/g/n” and “Channel Width” to “Auto” or “20/40 MHz” | The Realtek 8188GU Wireless LAN 802

macOS

No official driver exists for macOS 10.15+. Community drivers (e.g., from chris1111 on GitHub) may work but are unsupported and break with macOS updates. For macOS, replace the adapter with a chipset having native support (e.g., Realtek 8812AU). Reboot

If you opened your Device Manager and saw the dreaded "Realtek 8188GU Wireless LAN 802.11n USB NIC" listed under "Other devices" with a yellow exclamation mark, you are in the right place.

yay -S rtl8188gu-dkms-git

• Random disconnections every 20–90 minutes (USB reset needed).
• iwconfig shows Tx excessive retries >70%.
• Monitor mode & packet injection? Forget it – broken.

• dmesg | tail after plugging in; ip link, iw dev, or iwconfig to see interface name (e.g., wlan0).