Funny, i wasn't going to respond on the last sentence in your reply but now it is gone
Firstly, why do you define someone that wants a 10Gb NIC as a "normal user"? No consumer needs 10Gb, not even 5Gb or 2.5Gb for that matter so i guess it is safe to say that we are talking about an enthusiast, hobbyist or even professional. In any of those cases it is a choice and you want it to work, right? Tinkering is fun but in the end, it is your home (or business) network connection and you want it to be reliable because in many cases, you are not the only one using that network. That is no "age-old fantasy", don't you think?
My point is, when i post something, i have personal experience with it and i have had issues with TP-Link wifi cards in the past, have had issues with Realtek-based NIC cards and currently seeing my brother suffering with wifi issues with his TP-Link M4 system. All of my own issues magically vanished when i replaced them with an Intel-based solution and surely there are some that are better than others but my i210 and x550-T2 solutions work without a glitch and i agree, they may be a bit more pricey but in my experience, you plug them in and never look back.
Just for completeness, i do not need an x550-T2, i just bought it because i spotted it on 2nd hand local website and the seller sold it dead-cheap because he wasn't sure it was real or a knock-off (it was a Silicom so it didn't have the yottamark sticker).