USB Wi-Fi Adapter RTL8812au

USB Wi-Fi Adapter RTL8812au is a dual-band USB Wi-Fi adapter with a Realtek RTL8812AU chip, suitable as a ground receiver for digital video transmission in the OpenIPC system.

OpenIPC is an open project for digital FPV video transmission based on IP cameras and Wi-Fi modules. Video from the transmitter on the model is received via a Wi-Fi adapter connected to a laptop, mini PC or Android device, where the image is displayed in the relevant app. The adapter with the RTL8812AU chip is among the standard hardware used for this role because it supports both monitor mode and packet injection — the modes on which OpenIPC reception is based.

The adapter operates according to the 802.11ac standard in the 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz bands with a 2T2R configuration. Transfer speed reaches 300 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band and 867 Mbps in the 5 GHz band. For FPV transmission, the 5.8 GHz band is especially important, which is used by Runcam WiFiLink units. Connection is provided by a USB 3.0 interface with backward compatibility with USB 2.0 — for full throughput, it is recommended to use a USB 3.0 port.

Signal is handled by two removable external antennas, which can be replaced with directional antennas or higher-gain antennas as needed. Outside FPV, the adapter can also be used as a regular Wi-Fi card or as an access point (AP), supporting WEP, WPA, WPA2 security and TKIP and AES encryption. Drivers are available for Windows XP to 10, Linux (kernel 2.6 and later) and macOS 10.13–10.15.

OpenIPC is recommended for technically skilled users. Wi-Fi video transmission is especially suitable for FPV wings and drones with GPS stabilization. Due to higher latency, the transmission is not suitable for acrobatic freestyle or racing drones.