TL-WN722N V4(rev4) Compatibility Issue with OpenWrt

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

TL-WN722N V4(rev4) Compatibility Issue with OpenWrt

Dear OpenWrt Community,

I am currently experiencing compatibility issues with the TP-Link TL-WN722N V4 USB WiFi adapter on OpenWrt. Despite efforts to install and configure the necessary drivers and packages, the adapter does not function correctly. It fails to appear in the output of iw list, indicating a problem with driver recognition or support.

After attempting various troubleshooting steps, including driver installations and updates, the issue persists. It seems that the necessary drivers or firmware for TL-WN722N V4 may not be fully supported or integrated into the OpenWrt kernel.

If anyone has successfully resolved this issue or has any suggestions on how to achieve compatibility with TL-WN722N V4 on OpenWrt, your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

2

what does lsusb say about the adapter, it seems to be RTL based ... ?

3

root@OpenWrt:~# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0627:0001 QEMU QEMU USB Tablet
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux 5.15.150 uhci_hcd UHCI Host Controller
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 2357:010c Realtek 802.11n NIC
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux 5.15.150 xhci-hcd xHCI Host Controller
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux 5.15.150 xhci-hcd xHCI Host Controller

4

search the forum for 2357:010c, but RTL wifi adapters are usually highly discouraged.
upgrading to a kernel 6.6 based snapshot might help, but not very likely, since this hw is ancient.

5

rtl8xxxu (rtl8188eu), while it could be worse, frollic is right - run for the hills.

6

I installed the snapshot version, but Luci didn't get installed and didn't work. Currently, I'm using OpenWrt version 23.05.3 with kernel 5.15.150.

7

https://openwrt.org/releases/snapshot note the top page links.

9

installed the snapshot version but the UI doesn't run and I can't install it.
Unknown package 'lcui'.

Collected errors:

  • opkg_install_cmd: Cannot install package lcui.
10

yeah, it's a common issue when you misspell stuff ....

11

In the snapshot version without access to ui with kernel 6.6.35, this problem still exists and the iw list does not show anything

12

did you install the kmods needed for your wifi stick ?

13

I have installed the packages kmod-usb-core, kmod-usb2, kmod-usb-uhci, kmod-usb-ohci, and kmod-usb-storage.

14

those aren't hw specific, that's just the generic USB support part.

15

So which packages should I install?

16

the ones @slh mentioned earlier, the kmod plus the rtl8188eu firmware, but since it's RTL, you can never know for sure.

17

root@OpenWrt:~# opkg install rtl8188eu-firmware
Package rtl8188eu-firmware (20240513-r1) installed in root is up to date.

root@OpenWrt:~# opkg install kmod-rtl8xxxu
Package kmod-rtl8xxxu (6.6.35.6.6.15-r2) installed in root is up to date.

and iw list does not show anything

18

tried rebooting ?
if it still fails, get something non-RTL based, or even better, avoid USB wifi completely.

19

Yes, I have restarted OpenWrt, and it is running on Proxmox.

No problem on Linux(parrot os rpi4,ubuntu on proxmox), but it doesn't work with OpenWrt

20

then try it on bare metal 1st, to rule out the Proxmox as the source of the issue.

openwrt is also "Linux", it doesn't tell anything.

22

722n V4
Ubuntu on proxmox

20240702__1215160
20240702__1215160903×152 38.9 KB