I've had good luck with a Panda Wireless PAU06 300Mbps Wireless N USB adapter (under $20 on Amazon). It isn't dual band, and it isn't a rocket ship, but it is plug and play with most Linux builds and doesn't overheat like some of them do.
I've used a Cudy WU1300S AC 1300Mbps WiFi USB 3.0 adapter, which worked very well, but the Realtek driver isn't in the Linux kernel, so I had to reinstall the driver every time the kernel updated. That got old quick.
I also keep a TP-Link N-150 (TL-WN725N) USB adapter on hand. The N-150 isn't much, but I have yet to see anything -- any computer or any Win/Linux version -- on which it doesn't run. When I was using the Cudy, I used the N150 to connect during the installation process. It bogs down under heavy load so I would not recommend it as a primary adapter.