The ThinkPenguin Scam - How to get cheap FSF compatable wifi cards.

Many people online have become interested in running completely free software. A common hiccup that people tend to encounter is that their wifi cards are not compatable with the linux=libre kernel. They proceed to look online for fully free FSF approved wifi cards. What they find are websites selling wifi dongles for $50 - $100 dollars. For many people this paywall completely deters them from running a fully free system, instead falling back into the proprietary ecosystem.

The interesting thing is, those wifi dongles that are being sold for $50 to $100 are in reality worth $5 - $10 dollars. What these websites do is they buy the wifi card for cheap and then sell them back to ignorant users who want to get into free software. They are middlemen who create artifical paywalls gatekeeping poor people from free software. Companies like ThinkPenguin are commonly venerated by the Free Software community for "contributing". Upselling a $10 product for 500% markup isn't contribution, it's thievery.

I am personally disgusted that websites like ThinkPenguin are commonly venerated and even endorsed by the FSF. I have first hand experience seeing people get completely gatekeeped out of free software because of the insanely high prices. They typically either run a non-free malicious wifi driver on top of a free software distro or even worse they instead opt to run a completely non-free distro.

How you beat CheatPenguin

Here on this article I am going to give all of you the secret on how you can get your very own Free Software Compatable wifi card. This page will contain all the information that you need to beat CheatPenguin and get the wifi card you deserve.

My favorite way (and the easiest way) of beating CheatPenguin is by utilizing the website itself. Go on the website and find the wifi card you want, then simply copy and paste the chipset name into ebay. You will commonly find the same exact wifi cards being sold for up to a 10th of the price.

You can also use this table to find a card. Simply copy and paste the card names into ebay or amazon until you find what you need.

The Video Tutorial

I plan on releasing a Video Tutorial that goes into more depth on how to get a cheap FSF wifi card. If you are interested in this than please consider signing up for the Getgle Mailing List or subscribing to my youtube channel

Table of Free Software Wifi Cards

Interface FCC ID Manuf. Vendor ID Device ID Chip1_model PHY modes MIMO config OUI FCC date
ALTAI WA1011N-GU USB UCC-WA1011N-GU AboCom AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2011-12-16
AVM FRITZ!WLAN USB Stick v2 USB 057c 8403 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 BC:05:43
AboCom WU5108 USB MQ4WU5108 AR9271L bgn 1x1:1 2011-07-25
Accton WUS622C-A USB HEDWUS622CA AWB AR7010 bgn 2x2:2 2011-11-09
Actiontec 802AIN2 USB HEDWUS622CA LNQ802AIN2 AR7010 bgn 2x2:2 2012-01-17
Askey WLL6120 USB (non-standard connector) H8N-WLU6120 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2009-07-27
Askey WLU5080-D4 USB H8N-WLU5080-D4 AR7010 abgn 2x2:2 2012-01-06
Askey WLU5080-D81 USB H8N-WLU5080 Askey AR7010 abgn ?x2:2 2010-12-02
Atheros AR5BUB173 USB (non-standard connector) PPD-AR5BUB173 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2010-10-14
AzureWave AW-NU137 USB (non-standard connector) TLZ-NU137 13d3 3327 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2010-06-18
AzureWave AW-NU138 USB TLZ-NU138 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 74:2F:68 2010-11-15
AzureWave AW-NU148 USB (non-standard connector) PPD-AR5BUB173 0cf3 9271 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 00:19:9D 2010-10-14
AzureWave AW-NU150 USB TLZ-NU150 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 74:2F:68 2010-12-13
AzureWave AW-NU153H Mini PCIe (USB, half) TLZ-NU153H AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2010-11-24
AzureWave AW-NU240 USB (non-standard connector) MDZAZW9271-240 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2012-10-10
Buffalo WLI-UV-AG300P USB 0411 0197 AR7010 abgn 2x2:2
D-Link DWA-126 USB KA2WA126A1 Cameo 07d1 3a10 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2009-12-08
Foxconn J20H049 USB (non-standard connector) MCLJ20H049 Foxconn AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 90:34:FC 2010-12-29
Gemicom WUAN-22W USB (non-standard connector) AR7010 abgn 2x2:2
Lite-On WN4606A USB (non-standard connector) PPQ-WN4606A AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 00:19:9D 2011-05-19
Microsoft Xbox 360 Internal Wireless Module (1399) USB (non-standard connector) C3K1399 Askey AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 24:EC:99 2011-04-08
Mitsumi Electric DWM-W034 USB (non-standard connector) EW4DWMW034 AR7010 abgn 2x2:2 2009-10-16
Mitsumi Electric DWM-W046 USB (non-standard connector) EW4DWMW046 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2010-09-10
Netgear WNA1100 USB PY309300113 SerComm 0846 9030 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 00:26:F2 00:8E:F2 2C:B0:5D 30:46:9A E0:46:9A E0:91:F5 2010-01-14
Netgear WNDA3200 USB SerComm 0846 9018 AR7010 abgn 2x2:2 E0:91:F5
OPPO Digital AK093 USB YTXAK093 TP-LINK AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2010-11-24
Onkyo UWF-1 USB NKR-UWF1 Wistron NeWeb AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 90:A4:DE 2011-03-15
Panasonic N5HBZ0000055 USB H8N-WLU5080 Askey 04da 3904 AR7010 abgn 1x2:2 24:EC:99 4C:ED:DE B4:74:9F E0:CA:94 2010-12-02
Philips PTA01 USB BOUWUB1110 Alpha Networks 0471 209e AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 5C:33:8E 2010-05-13
Philips WUB1110 USB BOUWUB1110 Alpha Networks AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 5C:33:8E 2010-05-13
Proware PW-DN421 USB AR9271 bgn ?x?:?
Proware PW-MN421 USB (non-standard connector) WWMMN421V1 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2011-02-17
Quanta Microsystems US305 USB (non-standard connector) T5U-US305 Quanta Microsystems AR9271L bgn 1x1:1 00:19:9D 2011-02-22
Rosewill RNX-N150HG USB W6RRNX-N150HG TP-LINK 0cf3 9271 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 68:1C:A2 2011-11-08
SMC SMCWUSBS-N4 USB YZKSMCWUSBSN4 TP-LINK AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2012-03-17
Sharp VR-WL25 USB NKR-VRWL25 Wistron NeWeb AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 90:A4:DE 2010-11-26
Shenzhen Kingnet Technology K2-364 USB (non-standard connector) ZDIK2-364 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2011-04-04
Shenzhen Kingnet Technology K2-544DW USB ZDIK2-544DW AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2011-04-04
Silex SX-USBGN USB N6C-USBGN Alpha Networks AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2012-10-29
Sony IFU-WLM3 USB NKR-DNUA93FS Wistron NeWeb AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2012-06-05
Sony UWA-BR100 USB AK8UWABR100 0411 017f AR7010 abgn 2x2:2 00:24:A5 4C:E6:76 2009-11-20
SparkLAN WUBA-171GN USB (non-standard connector) RYK-WUBA171GN M4Y-ZCN722MV1 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2013-05-22
TERAOKA AP-3001g USB SUFAP3001G Askey AR7010 abgn 2x2:2
TP-LINK TL-WN322G v3 USB 0cf3 1006 AR9271 bg
TP-LINK TL-WN422G v2 USB TE7WN422GV2 0cf3 1006 AR9271 bg 54:E6:FC
TP-LINK TL-WN721N USB TE7WN721N 0cf3 9271 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2009-10-27
TP-LINK TL-WN722N USB TE7WN722N 0cf3 9271 AR9271L bgn 1x2:1 D8:5D:4C E8:94:F6 2009-11-18
TP-LINK TL-WN821N v3 USB TE7WN821NV3 0cf3 7015 AR7010 bgn 2x2:2 2011-12-21
TP-LINK TL-WN822N v2 USB TE7WN822NV2 0cf3 7015 AR7010 bgn 2x2:2 90:F6:52 B0:48:7A 2011-09-22
Tehnoetic TET-N150 USB NKR-DNUA93F Unex 0cf3 9271 AR9271L bgn 1x2:1 2010-10-25
Tehnoetic TET-N150HGA USB TE7WN722N TP-LINK 0cf3 9271 AR9271L bgn 1x2:1 2009-11-18
Tehnoetic TET-N300 USB TE7WN821NV3 TP-LINK 0cf3 7015 AR7010 bgn 2x2:2 2011-12-21
ThinkPenguin TPE-N150USB USB NKR-DNUA93F Wistron NeWeb 0cf3 9271 AR9271L bgn 1x2:1 2010-10-25
ThinkPenguin TPE-N150USBL USB AR9271 bgn 1x1:1
Toshiba WLM-20U2 USB H8N-WLU5080-D4 Askey AR7010 abgn ?x2:2 2012-01-06
Ubiquiti Networks WiFiStation USB SWX-M2USB 0cf3 b002 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 00:27:22 00:15:6D 2010-05-25
Ubiquiti Networks WiFiStation EXT USB SWX-M2USB 0cf3 b003 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 00:15:6D 00:27:22 2010-05-25
Unex DNUA-93F USB NKR-DNUA93F 0cf3 9271 AR9271 bgn 1x2:1
VIA VNT9271BB05B USB (non-standard connector) NCI-VNT9271BB0XB AboCom AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2012-07-10
Wistron NeWeb DNUA-93C2 USB (non-standard connector) NKR-DNUA93C2 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2012-07-11
Wistron NeWeb DNUA-93F USB NKR-DNUA93F 0cf3 9271 AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 2010-10-25
Wistron NeWeb DNUA-93S USB (non-standard connector) NKR-DNUA93S AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 00:0B:6B 2011-07-08
Z-Com ZCN-722M USB (non-standard connector) M4Y-ZCN722MV1 Z-Com AR9271 bgn 1x1:1 00:19:70 2011-08-15
Zcomax XN-723M USB 2.0 (module) Zcomax AR9271 bgn 1x1:1