As a 1T1R device, the RTL8188CU lacks MU-MIMO support. In congested environments, latency increases and throughput drops non-linearly. It is not suitable for high-density access point applications.
As shown in the comparison table, the Realtek RTL8188CU Wireless LAN 802.11n USB 2.0 Network Adapter offers competitive performance and features compared to other wireless network adapters on the market. As a 1T1R device, the RTL8188CU lacks MU-MIMO support
A: Yes, but you need to install the official Realtek drivers (not the Microsoft ones) and use the "SoftAP" feature in the Realtek utility. As a 1T1R device
Note: For some kernels, you may need to blacklist the older rtl8xxxu driver. As a 1T1R device, the RTL8188CU lacks MU-MIMO support