I don't have an answer to your problem specifically but there is a set of three books on Amazon, one of which covers digital modulation in GNU Radio. The other two are GNU radio 'basics' and analog radio.
I agree that it's hard to find resources. Just ordered the basics book, if it's as good as the reviews say I'll order the other two.
I recently bought this to use with my Dell XPS 15 - works perfectly in Ubuntu - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X4S587K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. I haven't tested it with an N210 specifically but I know N210s need a gigabit adapter and this does say it's gigabit rated.