No. The Realtek 8188GU is a legacy single-band 802.11n device. It can only detect and connect to 2.4 GHz wireless networks.
The Realtek 8188GU chip is still supported on older Windows releases: realtek 8188gu wireless lan 802.11n usb nic driver
The Realtek 8188GU Wireless LAN 802.11n USB NIC has become one of the most common Wi-Fi adapter chipsets on the market. You will find this chip powering countless inexpensive wireless USB dongles from brands like TP-Link, Tenda, Mercusys, and many generic “no-name” adapters. Despite its age—it uses the 802.11n standard—the 8188GU remains popular because it is affordable, widely available, and reliable once properly configured. The Realtek 8188GU chip is still supported on
The issue lies in and Linux Kernel exclusion . Realtek released the 8188GU after Windows 8 and 10 were already mature. While Realtek provided drivers to Microsoft, many cheap adapters use cloned or unofficial USB identifiers. Consequently, Windows Update may identify the device as an "Unknown USB Device" or install a generic Microsoft driver that offers connectivity but disables advanced features like Monitor Mode or AP Mode. The issue lies in and Linux Kernel exclusion
: Theoretical maximum of 150 Mbps , but real-world speeds are often significantly lower (commonly around 20–30 Mbps ) due to overhead and interference.