Linuxmint 21.3 Cinnamon. Dell Laptops 1520 and 1521.
I can usually connect wirelessly anywhere in our house and up to 200' outside using Edimax Ew7811-Un and Ew7811-Un V2 USB dongle. One day during recent bad weather I had very poor connection with the Ew7811-Un V2, thought it was storm conditions (we can only get wireless ISP). Found out the Ew7811-Un V2 had gone south. The Ew7811-Un still works very well.

I like the small profile dongles as I don't have to worry about knocking them off while carrying my laptop.

Is there going to be much difference in wireless range between brands? I am guessing the FCC is going to limit that?

Probably a little.

About the only thing that stands out with the version 2 unit (I assume by V2) is it supports WPA3. There is some difference in the specifications with receive sensitivity. Output is the same.

My (newer) phone gets better connection/speed to wifi than my (old) laptop, so I just wifi connect the phone and then tether the laptop (via usb cable) to that. Much the same when out/about when instead the phone sources internet via my monthly data allowance rather than via free/unlimited wifi.