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Wi-Fi, modems, and tethering devices

USB Modems

Modems using RNDIS or "virtual Ethernet adapter" are supported.

Suggested models:

  • Huawei's Wingle series
  • All Huawei model variants updated year 2015+ use RNDIS by default.

MBIM, QMI, and others aren't automatically configured yet, be sure to disable USB interface namer in Speedify setup page before manually configuring a modem interface.

USB WiFi Adapters in Client Mode

Supported models/chipset:

  • AR9271, tested models:
    • ALFA AWUS036NHA (beware of counterfeits)

Realtek, new Qualcomm Atheros (not to be confused with old Atheros), and Ralink are not reliable on Linux without custom drivers.
Only Atheros ath9k,ath9k_htc,ath10k based AHB/PCI-e/USB are supported.
Relevant details on this topic: https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/wi-fi-alliance-certification

TL;DR: USB Wi-Fi Adapters on Linux are a mess.

As a better alternative, wireless repeaters with an Ethernet socket work as clients in bridge mode, and you can optionally hide the repeater SSID. This solution is a decent alternative for stability, Wi-Fi 6E support, higher speeds and better range.

Setup

  • Plug in the dongle to a USB port that will remain fixed, changing ports requires reconfiguration
  • Restart/Reboot SmoothWAN
  • Configure in Network -> Wireless
  • Hit Scan and follow through, tick Replace existing configuration and set firewall to RED zone
  • Done!