Various linux distributors have opinions on which modules are good enough to be available by default. On ubuntu, they seem to inhibit watchdogs and "staging" (not production) quality drivers... that tends to include a lot of modern network devices.

So... look in
* /lib/modprobe.d
* /lib/modules-load.d
* /etc/modprobe.d
* /etc/modules-load.d
* /usr/lib/modprobe.d
* /usr/lib/modules-load.d

for files that refer to the device you're interested in. Some of these files inhibit automatically loading the driver, some of them just set default options (power saving, LEDs, etc.).

My stellarmate is running kernel 6.1.21 (use `uname -a` to check your version) and it looks like there's a compatible driver. Try `modprobe r8712u` and see if a new network device shows up

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