Fix: This usually means the driver is soft-blocked. On Linux, run rfkill unblock wifi. On Windows, ensure "Airplane mode" is off and the WLAN AutoConfig service is running.
The AR9271 is a USB 2.0 802.11n chipset with a built-in 32-bit MIPS core (R4000-style). Unlike older “softMAC” chips (e.g., RTL8187), the AR9271 runs the full MAC and PHY management firmware on that MIPS core, not on the host CPU. This is a “hardMAC” design. tp tl-wn722n driver
The Linux driver ath9k_htc is split into: Fix: This usually means the driver is soft-blocked
sudo ip link set wlan0 down
sudo iw dev wlan0 set type monitor
sudo ip link set wlan0 up
Test with:
sudo airmon-ng start wlan0
sudo airodump-ng wlan0mon