i have just recently had to reinstall Linux mint and my WiFi adapter has stopped working. i have managed to get it to the point where i sign into the network after a about 20 - 30 seconds it asks for it again. It would do this a few times and then would say fail to connect and i haven’t been able to find anyone with a similar problem. I’m running Linux mint 19.2 BTW
The Realtek RTL88xx drivers for Linux are EXPERIMENTAL. In dmesg they warn something on the lines of:
“Testing drivers, you have been warned”
They were supposed to be for kernel dev testing but then just got pushed out as stable.
You need to switch to an Intel 8265NGW based WiFi card.
Or pick up an external /usb if you have an extra port - panda makes linux friendly adapters about the same size as a mouse dongle (small enough to leave in during transport) for around $12.
I have a linksys wusb6300 with the same chip. For me, the driver won’t load because both the chip and controller are fighting each other. I plan to soll it with a desktop system at some point.
If you really don’t want to use another WiFi card, you could go the extreme route and compile your own kernel. It’s actually the only method of installing the kernel on Gentoo, so I am not familiar with the consequences of working behind the back of a package manager.
This is a risky procedure! I still felt like you should be informed though.
Good luck!
Edit
I would suggest to you to follow the advice above this reply if you can.