The RTL8188CU draws very little power (approx. 300mA). It works flawlessly with the Raspberry Pi Zero W or older Pi models where built-in Wi-Fi is slow. Because the driver is mature, it causes fewer CPU interrupts than newer chips.
Despite being an older technology, the RTL8188CU is still widely used today in specific niches: realtek rtl8188cu wireless lan 80211n usb 20 network adapter
Expect ping spikes. The RTL8188CU lacks the advanced beamforming and OFDMA technologies of modern adapters. In congested apartment buildings where 20+ networks battle over 2.4 GHz channels, latency can jump from 20ms to 200ms unpredictably. The RTL8188CU draws very little power (approx