Config w/multiple Wifi adapters?

[kramyugtaht]

I tried LXLE (looking for a LTS based distro) and there was not an easy/easily found way to choose my USB wifi adapter which has better range and which I also want to test for use with a laptop that I hope to use a light distro for. I have a Qualcomm Atheros in my Dell desktop (168c:0032) and a Realtek based USB adapter, 8812BU (0BDA:B812) - when I type in inxi-N it showed the Qualcomm as up and Realtek as down, but I couldn't find CLI instructions on how to enable the Realtek USB adapter even if it recognizes it's there and has a corresponding driver. My understanding is it's now supported through the kernel right? I had another USB adapter which was recognized but I think it was in down status as well and it just defaults to the Qualcomm.

If I use Linux Lite, which I am guessing may be better supported anyway is there built-in tools that can make this easy? Or can I install a GUI network manager of some kind to make the Realtek adapter work?

[stevef]

My understanding is it's now supported through the kernel right?

Don't know, sorry.  Back in August 2022 a PPA patch was necessary but it worked.
The kernel has had updates since then but without putting the hardware and kernel together it's hard to say if a given bit of hardware is supported.
Running a live image is one way to assess your hardware but there may be some tweaks needed for a fully installed set up.

Using multiple live adaptors on one system is possible in theory but has limited practical use for a desktop or laptop.  If the adapters connect to the same network, priority should be set for primary, secondary etc so the system uses the highest priority one that is up.  If on different networks all adaptors can be active and the routing table decides which to use.

[kramyugtaht]

So FWIW MX AHS w/ kernel v6.6 works with both my existing adapter and a cheap little $.50 free shipping one, (Device 10ec:8168) but the latter is a nano though still AC and does work. So my question is will Linux Lite run kernel v6.6?

[Şerban S.]

[...] So my question is will Linux Lite run kernel v6.6?

Kernel practice

When I was on Linux Mint, I had some issues related to the memory footprint and some video related trouble so I went on this path of changing various kernels, hoping to find solutions.
What I found is that even if the "LTS" dedicated kernel is changed, the system works properly.
I went that far up to the point that I installed the latest kernel available (non-LTS) and never had any trouble. Still, for whatever reason, nothing seemed to solve my problems so I reverted to the standard kernel.
Now, taking in account that both Linux Lite and Linux Mint are considered very stable distros, I suggest you to do some tests and see what's happening.
The worst case scenario I think, would be to remain without updates.
Since I never tested on the long run a different kernel than the shipped one, which gets regular updates, it's difficult for me to say anything.
What is presumable still, is that if the system works and is stable, you will get updates, as they appear in the Repos.
But, as I said, I never tested such a kernel on the long run (say, a month or more).
My tests, revolved around using it in the range of a few days, a week at most.
Inside this time frame, it's difficult to jump to any stability conclusion.

In any case, if you want to tweak your system, I recommend you back up your partitions so that in case of failure, you will be covered.
I use CloneZilla and in such cases, if things go sideways, I just restore the previous state and it usually takes about 30 - 40 minutes (or less).
It largely depends on the amount of data contained in those partitions (/ and /home, mostly /home).
My backup usually revolves around 22 GB, 24 GB at most.
For this size, it takes some 30 minutes, for a SSD to SSD backup task.
For other cases, might take a longer time (SSD to HDD, or HDD to HDD).

Best regards, Șerban.