Hi all
Thinking of buying a new lappy, currently reviewing mid-budget ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605YA 16.0" WUXGA Ryzen 5-7530U. AMD Radeon, M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0x4, spare DDR4 SO-DIMM slot.
Having watched a couple of YT vids I note one highlighting the WiFi card (Media Tech) isn't supported by Linux 
Is there an easy way to run a lappy through a Hardware Compatibility List somewhere?
Cheers
Only if you physically have access to it:
AI
Linux support for the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605YA is somewhat mixed. While Ubuntu 22.04 can run on it, some users have reported issues with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, particularly due to the MediaTek MT7902 module, which lacks official Linux drivers
Annoying, great little budget-tech lappy and stumbling at the first block! I need to change the WiFi 'card' - grrrrrr.
Update: looks like the Intel AX210 WiFi 6E WiFi Card with Bluetooth 5.3 WAP3 MU-MIMO 802.11AX is supported and seems to only be £20, not the end of the world.
Further searching:
Linux Driver for MediaTek Wi-Fi
Linux distributions such as Kali Linux, Parrot OS, Ubuntu LTS with HWE, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora, CentOS, and Arch Linux have out-of-the-box support for MediaTek 802.11ac USB Wi-Fi drivers since specific versions.1
For the MediaTek MT7610U chipset, which supports a 433 Mbps PHY rate and complies with IEEE 802.11ac standards, the driver is included in the kernel package of Debian 10, but the firmware resides in the non-free archive area, which is not included by default.21
To install the firmware for the MT7610U chipset on Debian 10, you need to add the non-free component to the sources list and install the package firmware-misc-nonfree.1
For newer chipsets like MT7921, support may require updating to a more recent kernel version. For instance, upgrading to kernel 5.15-rc6 can resolve issues with the MT7921 chipset.4
Here are some USB Wi-Fi adapters with MediaTek chipsets that are supported with in-kernel drivers for Linux:
For specific installation instructions and troubleshooting, refer to the documentation and community forums for your particular chipset and Linux distribution.124+2
AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts.
blog.abysm.org
MediaTek 802.11ac USB Wi-Fi Linux Driver Installation · Kuan-Yi Li's Blog
mediatek.com
MediaTek | MT7610U | Wi-Fi Dongle Solution
wireless.wiki.kernel.org
mediatek — Linux Wireless documentation
askubuntu.com
wireless - Ubuntu 20.04 does not have MediaTek driver MT7921 for WIFI & Bluetooth? - Ask Ubuntu
github.com
USB-WiFi-Mediatek/home/USB_WiFi_Adapters_that_are_supported_with_Linux_in-kernel_drivers.md at main · essoojay/USB-WiFi-Mediatek
community.linuxmint.com
How to install Mediatek
Thanks for the AI response, not sure it's overly helpful to post it verbatim as I too can use AI. However you'll note I'm specifically interested in the MediaTek 7902 with Zorin and had already spotted a budget-friendly supported alternative 
Thanks Storm, really useful. Hopefully the Ax210 also, although it appears that way. Only £20 too
You could simply start a USB Stick with zorin and use thr ''Try Zorin'' Mode and test if the Wifi works.
I could, but that's post purchase 
Just working out what I may or may not need in addition for budget reasons. I'll need an additional 8GB RAM to allow dual channel and possibly a WiFi card. Well tech is my hobby too so why not splash the cash!
Why not then get a GNU/Linux laptop with Zorin pre-installed?
Is that reliable for everyone, though?
My laptop originally came with a mediatek card that had issues even on Windows. I went to great lengths to get an AX200 card from a different country. That card has been working great (hasn't failed once) on Windows. But, on Zorin, I routinely run into issues. I posted about it, to which this reply happened:
Maybe not all AX200s are the same?
Maybe yours is defect. Have been running my AX200 since october with no issues. Mine is Asus built, I dunno if that makes a different.
Wifi 6 AX series are raised on the Zorin Forum on occassion, usually due to it being Network Unclaimed often enough that I consider them notoriously problematic with GnuLinux, or even just Ubuntu.
Spreading out onto the web like jam, we find the same story:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/comments/rzc8nw/intel_ax200_network_controller_not_working_on/
I would not buy one...
Would be better getting a TP-Link dongle, or a Netgear WG-111 v3 off ebay. The TP-Link needs some work but I posted about that on here.
I've faced that issue with mine on Zorin and Fedora. I'm not sure if a hardware defect would show up only on Linux-based OSes and never on Windows.
When you say it's from Asus, do you mean Asus built it, or that it's just in an Asus laptop?
I see Intel in that screenshot, and mine is an Intel one, too, though I bought it later and didn't come prebuilt with the Asus laptop I use.
Note that I don't face the problem every time I boot into Linux. It's quite intermittent and unpredictable. Maybe whatever software issue (which I'm sure is the case) I'm running into never occurred on your end, to which I can only say, lucky you! 
can you take a screenshot of inxi -Na, maybe there's something else that is different that we missed.
It's a wi-fi card made by Asus that I plugged into my formerly new computer.
I'll try that. Didn't mean to hijack the thread, so I'll post the output to my other thread and mention you. 
Thanks all, the joy's of Linux drivers!
The AX210 remains in my basket for a couple of weeks whilst I ponder, also I see the lappy supports the MediaTek MT7902 out of the box which is WiFi 6 (802.11ax) meaning the aerial is designed to include support for the 6GHz band, handy!
I'm hoping I don't need to put me sandals on and use lengthy workarounds as being new to Linux it's hard going (just to get an OS up), let alone begin streamlining apps to run. So a device that's 802.11ax and is supported on Ubuntu 22 would be a result.
Anything that needs 'manual' driver installation is unknown for me at the mo. Can I not just simply right click on the device in Device Manager and point to the manufacture's driver 
Anyone know of one that's been tested?
AI:
Intel AX200 / AX210 → Fully supported with built-in Linux drivers (iwlwifi). Killer AX1650 → Uses the same Intel drivers (iwlwifi), works out of the box. Realtek RTL8852AE → Requires manual driver installation (rtw89 module). Broadcom BCM94360NG → Works with open-source Broadcom drivers.
MediaTek MT7922 / MT7902 → Often requires custom firmware or manual fixes2. Realtek RTL8852BE → Needs third-party drivers (rtw89 module), installation can be tricky.
