To install the Netgear A1600 Wi-Fi adapter driver on Debian 12, follow these steps:

1. Check for Driver Support

First, verify if your Netgear A1600 Wi-Fi adapter is recognized by the system:

lsusb

Look for a line that corresponds to your Wi-Fi adapter. It should show something like:

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0846:9052 NetGear, Inc.

2. Install Necessary Packages

Ensure you have the necessary packages installed for building drivers:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential dkms git

3. Download the Driver Source

The Netgear A1600 (Broadcom BCM4360) driver might not be included directly, so you can use the Broadcom driver package:

sudo apt install broadcom-sta-dkms

4. Load the Driver

Load the driver module:

sudo modprobe wl

5. Verify Installation

Check if the Wi-Fi adapter is recognized and the driver is loaded:

iwconfig

You should see an entry for a wireless interface, typically named wlan0 or similar.

6. Configure Wi-Fi Connection

Use a network manager (like NetworkManager) to configure your Wi-Fi connection, or use wpa_supplicant for a manual setup.

Troubleshooting

If the above steps do not work, you can try manually building and installing the driver from source:

1. Download Broadcom Driver Source Code:

   git clone https://github.com/aanousakis/rtl8812AU.git
   cd rtl8812AU

2. Build and Install the Driver:

   make
   sudo make install
   sudo modprobe 8812au

3. Reboot the System:

   sudo reboot

After rebooting, check if the Wi-Fi adapter is working using iwconfig again.

By following these steps, you should be able to install and configure the Netgear A1600 driver on Debian 12.