Read this https://help.ubuntu.com/stable/ubuntu-help/net-wireless-troubleshooting-hardware-check.html
and post if your wireless USB dongle at least is recognized.
If not worrying about a driver might be a waste of time.

If it isn't recognized, you'd probably save yourself time and a big headache by just getting a USB dongle that works with Ubuntu. https://www.addictivetips.com/ubuntu-linux-tips/usb-wifi-adapter-linux/
https://www.wirelesshack.org/top-linux-compatible-usb-wireless-adapters.html

 

It's recognized in the command prompt

 

I found this online forj my specific USB. My only confusion about it is if I need to enter all of these command prompts or just one of 3(I'm new to command prompting):
You need to install a driver for this dongle. Connect to internet another way and run in a terminal

sudo apt-get install git dkms
git clone https://github.com/abperiasamy/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux
cd rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux
make
sudo make install

Then reboot, insert the dongle and test. If there are any errors while running comands, then post them to your question.

To set it up permanently run these commands

cd ~/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux
sudo make uninstall
make clean
sudo cp -R ~/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux /usr/src/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux-1.0
sudo dkms install -m rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux -v 1.0

The driver will be installed using DKMS.

If the driver is installed first time the commands are

sudo apt-get install git dkms
git clone https://github.com/abperiasamy/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux
sudo cp -R rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux /usr/src/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux-1.0
sudo dkms install -m rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux -v 1.0

 

I found this online forj my specific USB.

On the git site, the README specifically mentions the devices this driver works with. Make sure your device is listed there.

My only confusion about it is if I need to enter all of these command prompts or just one of 3

You don't need to enter all the commands (git clone could be skipped) if you download the zip file from the git website.

But you would need an internet connection for running the below command
sudo apt-get install git dkms; or
sudo apt-get install dkms
This command above will install git and dkms on your system. You can do without git but dkms is needed for installing the required module (driver for your USB) into the kernel.

The below commands need to be executed for installing the module. So yes you need to run all these commands.
cd rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux
make
sudo make install

I love linux as it gives you the freedom to tinker with almost anything on your system, but for that, you need to have a little knowledge about the terminal and some terminal commands.

You would need internet for installing dkms and I also suppose you would need to install build-essentials too before you could run any of these commands. I don't think Ubuntu comes pre-installed with make command. But it could be installed using
sudo apt-get install build-essential
or
sudo apt install build-essential

I hope this helps

 

The 'sudo apt-get install' and 'git clone' commands need an internet connection to work.
Can you connect by Ethernet cable somehow ?

 

Also read the README file on git. It provides useful information about setting DKMS and installing the module (driver).

 

Thank you for the help everyone. I couldn't access an ethernet cable, so I had to buy a new one. On startup, Ubuntu still takes a few minutes to recognize my wifi port and will immediately forget it when I replug it in. This is unlike in Windows on my old wifi adapter. Is there anything I can do to improve Ubuntu's existing drivers?

 

DKMS. You can use DKMS for adding and removing modules on the fly. However, the modules should exist for the hardware you want to work with. Modules are little pieces of software that enable the Kernel to talk to the correct h/w. In windows, we call them drivers, in Linux these are called modules or to be specific kernel modules. If you want to use a new h/w that has been launched recently and isn't supported by Linux yet, you have to manually compile and install the module until the official support for it is baked into the kernel itself.

The commands in your previous post were about compiling (make) and installing (make install) the module. Also, you might have to run the commands lsmod, modprobe, insmod separately for listing, probing, and installing modules on your system. It is a little technical thingy.

Well, I would recommend you not to give up yet as once you start to understand how linux work you will surely begin to appreciate the power it provides you.