mt7996 is good for wifi 7. You can also check the suggested hardware list on the kismet project for good recommendations for older bands and protocol versions
Intel chipsets categorically do not support AP mode
I have had good luck with intel in the past but it was only a very specific version. Don’t recall the exact specifics as it was a little while ago now.
Mediatek is still the best bet, though.
> Intel chipsets categorically do not support AP mode
This is not true.
Intel chipsets do support AP mode; what they don't support is 5 GHz AP.
You wouldn't want to run a 2.4-GHz-only router for any kind of real-world long-term use, but if you just want to start a quick-and-dirty 2.4 GHz AP for testing/hacking/reverse-engineering, Intel chipsets are very good for this because they have out-of-the-box support for channel-hopping to support simultaneous client+AP operation.
More details in my previous comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47581204