Realtek 8188gu Wireless Lan 802.11n Usb Nic Driver 🔖

Spoiler: It rarely works.

Realtek never officially supported macOS beyond High Sierra for the 8188GU. The last compatible chipset for native macOS drivers was the 8188EU. For the 8188GU on modern macOS (Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura, Sonoma):

Verdict for Mac users: Throw away your 8188GU adapter and buy an adapter based on the Realtek 8812BU (for AC1200) or an official Apple-certified dongle. realtek 8188gu wireless lan 802.11n usb nic driver

Note: Do not confuse with RTL8188CUS (PID 0x8176), RTL8188EUS (PID 0x8179), or RTL8188FTV (PID 0x818C). Drivers are not cross-compatible.

The short answer: Only if you already own it. Spoiler: It rarely works

The Realtek 8188GU is a legacy chip. It uses the overcrowded 2.4GHz band, caps at 150Mbps, and lacks WPA3 support. Modern entry-level adapters (Wi-Fi 5 AC600 or Wi-Fi 6 AX1800) cost only $10-$15 and offer 5GHz support, better drivers, and dual-band connectivity.

Support: Limited to custom kernels or rooted devices. Verdict for Mac users: Throw away your 8188GU

Kernel Status: Not included in mainline kernel (unlike RTL8188EU). Requires external compilation.

The Realtek 8188GU is a single-chip Wireless LAN (WLAN) network controller. It is designed to provide Wi-Fi connectivity via a USB interface.

As of Windows 10 20H2 and Windows 11 22H2, Microsoft has integrated a basic 8188GU driver via Windows Update.