Realtek RTL8192C/RTL8188C 802.11n Wi-Fi shared code
Shared support code for Realtek's RTL8192C and RTL8188C single-chip 802.11n Wi-Fi adapters, used by both the PCIe variants (RTL8192CE/RTL8188CE found in many 2010-era laptops) and the USB variants (RTL8192CU/RTL8188CU shipped in countless cheap USB Wi-Fi dongles from roughly 2010 through the late 2010s, with new units still appearing on the market in 2025).
recommendation
Worth keeping but documenting its niche. The hardware is old and maintenance has slowed to occasional fixes (the most recent touch was late 2023), but the chips remain in active use on legacy laptops, OpenWrt builds, and low-cost USB dongles that are still being sold new. There is no single replacement driver covering both the PCIe and USB variants, so removal would strand working hardware; an annotation flagging it as legacy-only would help set expectations.
repository signals
sources
- cateee.net
CONFIG_RTL8192C_COMMON is still present in current kernels and is the shared module for RTL8192CE/RTL8192CU support.
- cateee.net
The shared code serves RTL8192CE/RTL8188CE PCIe 802.11n adapters and remains listed through current kernel series.
- cateee.net
The shared code also serves RTL8192CU/RTL8188CU USB 802.11n adapters, with many supported USB IDs indicating broad historical deployment.
- openwrt.org
OpenWrt package metadata shows rtl8192c-common was still shipped as a kernel module package in OpenWrt 22.03-era package indexes.
- openwrt.org
OpenWrt package metadata shows rtl8192cu firmware was still shipped broadly across architectures, indicating ongoing legacy deployment.
- ebay.com
A 2025-era marketplace listing showed new RTL8192CU USB dongles still being sold, supporting low-volume new availability.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Local shell inspection of `main.c` and `rtlwifi/Kconfig` identified this directory as common code for Realtek RTL8192C/RTL8188C used by `rtl8192ce` and `rtl8192cu`; there is no standalone entry point because it is a helper/common driver module. Local shell `git -c safe.directory=... log --since=2020-01-01 -- drivers/net/wireless/realtek/rtlwifi/rtl8192c` showed only sporadic maintenance, with the latest fix in 2023-12-21 and no local evidence of an active removal series. URLs above were obtained via web search tool: LKDDb for current kernel presence/hardware scope, OpenWrt package indexes for ongoing distro packaging, and eBay for current low-volume retail availability. Because maintenance is sparse but not dead, deployments are legacy/low rather than none, and there is no single upstream replacement spanning both CE PCIe and CU USB coverage, `keep-annotate` fits better than deprecate/remove.