Comparison of open-source wireless drivers

Comparison of open-source wireless drivers

Wireless network cards for computers require control software to make them function (Device drivers). This is a list of the status of some open-source drivers for 802.11 wireless network cards.

Contents

Linux

Also see linuxwireless.org

Status

Driver Chipsets Integration in mainline Non-free firmware required[1] License Development
acx100 Texas Instruments ACX100, ACX111, TNETW1450 No Yes Dual BSD/MPL Reverse engineered
airo Cisco Systems Aironet 4500/4800 and 340/350 Yes ? GPL ?
ar9170 Atheros AR9170 (802.11n USB) Yes (since 2.6.30) No GPL Atheros supported
ath5k Atheros AR2413, AR2414, AR2417, AR2425, AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, AR5213, AR5413, AR5414, AR5423, AR5424 Yes (since 2.6.25) No[2] Dual GPL/BSD Reverse engineered
ath9k Atheros chips with 802.11n support Yes (since 2.6.27) No[2] ISC Written by Atheros
MadWifi Atheros AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, RF5111, RF5112, RF2413, RF5413 No No[2] Dual GPL/BSD with proprietary HAL[3] Atheros supported
atmel Atmel at76c50x Yes Depends on the model GPL ?
b43 Some Broadcom 43xx Yes (since 2.6.24) Experimental OSS firmware[4] GPL Reverse engineered
bcm43xx Some Broadcom 43xx No (removed in 2.6.26) Yes GPL Reverse engineered
HostAP Intersil PRISM-II, PRISM-2.5, PRISM 3 Yes Depends on the model[5] GPL
orinoco Lucent Hermes (WaveLAN/ ORiNOCO); Intersil PRISM-II, PRISM-2.5; Symbol Spectrum24 802.11B Yes Required for WPA support[6] GPL
ipw2100 Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 Yes Yes GPL Intel supported
ipw2200 Intel PRO/Wireless[7] 2200BG/2915ABG Yes Yes GPL Intel supported[8]
ipw3945 Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG No Yes GPL with proprietary binary regulatory daemon Intel supported. Obsoleted by iwlwifi.
iwlwifi Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG, 4965AGN Yes (since 2.6.24) Yes GPL Intel supported.
iwlagn Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN, 5100BG, 5350AGN, 6000AGN Yes (since 2.6.27) Yes GPL Intel supported.
libertas Marvell 88W8388, 88W8686 SDIO Yes Yes[9] GPL
prism54 Intersil ISL38xx FullMAC Yes Yes[10] GPL Reverse engineered. Obsoleted by p54.
islsm Intersil ISL38xx SoftMAC No Yes[10] GPL Reverse engineered. Obsoleted by p54.
p54 Intersil ISL38xx SoftMAC Yes (since 2.6.24)[11] Yes[10] GPL Reverse engineered
rndis_wlan Broadcom 4320 USB FullMAC/RNDIS Yes No GPL
rt2x00 Most Ralink chipsets, experimental support for RT2870 (USB), 2860 and 3090 (both PCI) Yes (since 2.6.24) Depends on the model[12] GPL From partial documentation and GPL drivers by Ralink
rt2400 Ralink RT2400 No No GPL Ralink supported
rt2500 Ralink RT2500 (PCI) No No[13] GPL Ralink supported
rt2570 Ralink RT2500USB (RT2570) No No GPL Ralink supported
rt61 Ralink RT2600 (RT2661), RT2501 (non-USB, RT2561) No Yes[14] GPL Ralink supported
rt73 Ralink RT2501USB (RT2571W)[15] No Yes GPL Ralink supported
rtl8180-sa2400 Some Realtek RTL818x No No GPL Realtek supported. Obsoleted by rtl-wifi project.
rtl-wifi (link OK) rtl-wifi (link broken) Realtek RTL8180, RTL8185, RTL8187, RTL8187B Yes[16] No GPL Forked from rtl8180-sa2400 project.
zd1201 ZyDAS ZD1201 Yes Yes GPL
zd1211 ZyDAS ZD1211/ZD1211B No Yes GPL written by ZyDAS
zd1211rw ZyDAS ZD1211/ZD1211B, Atheros AR5007UG Yes (since 2.6.18) Yes GPL ZyDAS supported

Driver capabilities

Also see linuxwireless.org

Driver 802.11 Bus interface WEP WPA WPA2 Monitor mode Master mode Ad-Hoc mode
acx1xx 802.11b, 802.11g PCI, Mini PCI, PC card, USB Yes No No Yes Yes ?
adm8211 ? PCI ? ? ? ? No ?
ath5k 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g PCI, Mini PCI, PC card, AHB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (since 2.6.31) Yes
ath9k 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n PCI, Mini PCI, AHB, PCI Express Mini Card Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
b43 802.11b, 802.11g PCI, Mini PCI, SDIO ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
bcm43xx 802.11b, 802.11g PCI, Mini PCI, PC card, Cardbus Yes Yes Yes Yes No ?
brcmsmac 802.11b, 802.11g ? Yes ? Yes Yes No No
hostap 802.11b PCI, Mini PCI, PC card Yes Yes[17] Yes[17] Yes Yes Yes
ipw2100 802.11b Mini PCI Yes Yes ? Yes ? ?
ipw2200 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g Mini PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
ipw2200-ap 802.11b, 802.11g Mini PCI ? ? ? Yes Yes ?
ipw3945 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g Mini PCI, PCI Express Mini Card Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
islsm ? PCI, USB No No No ? No ?
iwlwifi 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g Mini PCI, PCI Express Mini Card Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
iwlagn 802.11a, 802.11g, 802.11n Mini PCI, PCI Express Mini Card Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
libertas 802.11b, 802.11g USB, CF, SDIO ? ? ? ? No ?
MadWifi 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g PCI, Mini PCI, PC card Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes some issues in HAL, outdoor sensitivity?[citation needed]
orinoco 802.11b Mini PCI, PC card Yes Yes[18] No Yes No Yes
p54 802.11b, 802.11g Mini PCI, Cardbus, USB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
prism54 802.11b, 802.11g PCI Yes No ? Yes Yes ?
rndis_wlan 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
rt2x00 802.11b, 802.11g PCI, Mini PCI, USB Yes Yes[19] Yes[20] Yes Yes[21] Yes
rtl8180 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g PCI, Mini PCI, PC card ? ? ? ? Yes ?
rtl-wifi 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g PCI, Mini PCI, PC card Yes Yes ? ? Yes ?
zd1201 802.11b USB Yes No[22] No[22] Yes Yes ?
zd1211 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
zd1211rw 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[23] Yes

DragonFly BSD

Driver Chipset Integration Non-free firmware required[1] License Original/Primary developer Development
acx Texas Instruments ACX100/ACX111 Integrated since 1.5 Yes BSD Reverse engineering
an Aironet 4500/4800 Integrated N/A BSD Bill Paul (FreeBSD)
ath Atheros AR5210/ AR5211/ AR5212/ AR5416 Integrated N/A BSD
bwi Broadcom BCM430x/4318 Integrated Yes BSD Sepherosa Ziehau Reverse engineering
iwi Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG/2915ABG Integrated Yes BSD Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) Reverse engineering
iwl Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 Integrated Yes BSD Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) Reverse engineering
iwn Intel 4965/1000/5000/5150/5300/6000/6050 Integrated Yes BSD Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) Reverse engineering
ral Ralink RT2500/ RT2501/ RT2600 Integrated N/A BSD Damien Bergamini Ported from FreeBSD
rtw Realtek RTL8180L Integrated N/A BSD Ported from NetBSD
rum Ralink RT2501USB/ RT2601USB Integrated N/A BSD Damien Bergamini Ported from FreeBSD
wi Lucent Hermes (WaveLAN/ ORiNOCO); Intersil PRISM-II, PRISM-2.5; Symbol Spectrum24 802.11B Integrated N/A BSD Bill Paul (FreeBSD) Documentation based
wpi Intel 3945ABG Integrated N/A BSD Damien Bergamini Ported from OpenBSD

FreeBSD

Driver Chipset Integration Non-free firmware required[1] License Original/Primary developer Development
acx Texas Instruments ACX100/ACX111 Separate project Yes BSD Reverse engineering
an Aironet 4500/4800, Cisco Aironet 340/350, Xircom Wireless Ethernet Integrated N/A BSD Bill Paul (FreeBSD)
arl Aironet Arlan 655 Integrated / Removed in 8.0 N/A BSD
ath Atheros AR5210/ AR5211/ AR5212/ AR5416 /AR9130 /AR9160 /AR9280 /AR9285 /AR9287 (and derivatives) Integrated N/A BSD Originally by Atheros via Sam Leffler (FreeBSD); supported by the community Documentation based
awi AMD PCnetMobile Integrated / Removed in 8.0 N/A BSD Bill Sommerfeld (NetBSD) and Atsushi Onoe (NetBSD)
bwi Broadcom BCM43xx/4318 Integrated since 8.0 Yes BSD Sepherosa Ziehau (DragonFly BSD), Andrew Thompson (FreeBSD), Sam Leffler (FreeBSD) Ported from DragonFly BSD
cnw Netwave AirSurfer Integrated / Removed in 8.0 N/A BSD Imported from NetBSD
ipw Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 Integrated Yes BSD Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD/ FreeBSD) Reverse engineering
iwi Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG/ 2225BG/ 2915ABG Integrated Yes BSD Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD/ FreeBSD) Reverse engineering
iwn Intel PRO/Wireless 4965 ABGN/ 5100/ 5300/ 5350/ 1000/ 6000/ 6250/ 6205a Integrated since 8.0 / Available for 7.1 and above as separate patch Yes BSD Damien Bergamini, Benjamin Close, Sam Leffler (OpenBSD/ FreeBSD) Reverse engineering
malo Marvell 88W8335 Integrated Yes BSD Weongyo Jeong (FreeBSD), Sam Leffler (FreeBSD)
mwl Marvell 88W8363 Integrated since 8.0 Yes[24] BSD Sam Leffler (FreeBSD)  ?
ral Ralink Technology RT2500/ RT2501/ RT2600 Integrated N/A BSD Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD/ FreeBSD) Based on partial documentation
ray Raytheon Raylink/Webgear Aviator Integrated / Removed in 8.0 N/A BSD Imported from NetBSD
rum Ralink RT2501USB/ RT2601USB Integrated No[25] BSD Niall O'Higgins and Damien Bergamini Based on partial documentation
run Ralink RT2700U/ RT2800U/ RT3000U Integrated since 8.1 No[26] BSD Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD), Imported from OpenBSD by Akinori Furukoshi Based on partial documentation
uath Atheros AR5005UG/ AR5005UX Integrated since 8.0 Yes[27] BSD Weongyo Jeong (FreeBSD), Sam Leffler (FreeBSD)  ?
upgt GW3887 (Conexant/Intersil PrismGT series) Integrated since 8.0 Yes BSD Imported from OpenBSD Reverse engineering
ural Ralink Technology RT2500USB Integrated N/A BSD Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD/ FreeBSD) Based on partial documentation
urtw Realtek RTL8187L/ RTL8187B Integrated since 8.0 N/A[28] BSD Weongyo Jeong (FreeBSD)  ?
wi Lucent Hermes (WaveLAN/ ORiNOCO); Intersil PRISM-2, PRISM-2.5, PRISM-3; Symbol Spectrum24 802.11B (Symbol support removed in 8.0) Integrated N/A BSD Bill Paul (FreeBSD) Documentation based
wpi Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Integrated Yes BSD Damien Bergamini, Benjamin Close Reverse engineering
zyd ZyDAS ZD1211/ZD1211B Integrated No BSD Florian Stoehr, Damien Bergamini and Jonathan Gray (OpenBSD) Documentation based

NetBSD

Driver Chipset Integration Free firmware[29] License Original/Primary developer Development methodologies Free software[30]
an Aironet 4500/4800, Cisco Aironet 340/350 Integrated N/A BSD Ported from FreeBSD Yes
ath Atheros AR521*/ AR2413/ AR2417/ AR5413/ AR5416/ AR5424/ AR9160 Integrated N/A BSD Binary blobs ported from FreeBSD Yes
atu Atmel at76c503/ at76c503a/ at76c505/ at76c505a Integrated N/A BSD Ported from OpenBSD Yes
atw ADMtek ADM8211 Integrated N/A BSD Yes
awi AMD PCnetMobile Integrated N/A BSD Yes
bwi Broadcom BCM430x/4318 Integrated N/A BSD Ported from Dragonfly BSD Yes
cnw Netwave AirSurfer Integrated N/A BSD Yes
ipw Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 Integrated No BSD Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) Ported from OpenBSD Yes
iwi Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG/2915ABG Integrated No BSD Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) Ported from OpenBSD Yes
iwn Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN/5100AGN Integrated No BSD Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) Ported from OpenBSD Yes
ral Ralink RT2500/ RT2501/ RT2600/ RT2500USB Integrated N/A BSD Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) Ported from OpenBSD Yes
ray Raytheon Raylink / WebGear Aviator Integrated N/A BSD Yes
rtw Realtek RTL8180L Integrated N/A BSD David Young Yes
wi Lucent Hermes (WaveLAN/ORiNOCO), Intersil PRISM II Integrated N/A BSD Ported from FreeBSD Yes
wpi Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Integrated No BSD Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) Ported from OpenBSD Yes
zyd ZyDAS ZD1211/ ZD1211B Integrated No BSD Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) Ported from OpenBSD Yes

OpenBSD

(A full list of supported wireless devices may be obtained by searching OpenBSD's online manual pages, i.e. by typing apropos wireless in the console. For information on development methodologies, see Theo de Raadt's 2006 presentation on Open Documentation for Hardware.)

Driver Chipset Integration Non-free firmware required[1] License Original/Primary developer Development Free software[30]
acx Texas Instruments ACX100/ACX111 Integrated Yes[31] BSD Ported from DragonFlyBSD Reverse engineering Yes
an Aironet 4500/4800, Cisco Aironet 340/350 Integrated N/A BSD Yes
ath Atheros AR5210/ AR5211/ AR5212 Integrated No[2] BSD Reverse engineering Yes
athn Atheros AR5416/AR9160/AR928X Integrated (since 4.7) No[2] BSD Damien Bergamini Partly based on the ath9k driver for Linux Yes
atu Atmel AT76C503/ AT76C503A/ AT76C505/ AT76C505A Integrated Yes[32] BSD Reverse engineering Yes
atw ADMtek ADM8211 Integrated N/A BSD Documentation based Yes
awi BayStack 650 Integrated N/A BSD Yes
bwi Broadcom BCM430x/4318 Integrated Yes BSD Sepherosa Ziehau Ported from DragonFly BSD Yes
cnw NetWave AirSurfer Integrated N/A BSD Yes
ipw Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 Integrated Yes[33] BSD Damien Bergamini Reverse engineering Yes
iwi Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG/ 2225BG/ 2915ABG Integrated Yes[34] BSD Damien Bergamini Reverse engineering Yes
iwn Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965/ 5000/ 1000/ 6000 Integrated Yes[35] BSD Damien Bergamini Reverse engineering Yes
malo Marvell 88W8335/ 88W8310 Integrated Yes[36] BSD Marcus Glocker and Claudio Jeker Reverse engineering[37] Yes
otus Atheros AR9170 Integrated (since 4.6) Yes[38] BSD Damien Bergamini Based on source code released by Atheros for Linux under the ISC Yes
pgt Conexant/Intersil Prism GT Full-MAC ISL3877, ISL3880, and ISL3890 chips Integrated Yes[39] BSD Ported from FreeBSD Reverse engineering[40] Yes
ral/ural Ralink RT2500, RT2501, RT2600, RT2700, and RT2800 (ral), RT2500USB (ural) Integrated No[41] BSD Damien Bergamini Based on partial documentation Yes
ray Raytheon Raylink/WebGear Aviator IEEE 802.11FH Integrated N/A BSD Yes
rsu Realtek RTL8188SU/RTL8191SU/RTL8192SU Integrated (since 4.9) Yes BSD Damien Bergamini Reverse engineering Yes
rtw Realtek RTL8180L Integrated N/A BSD Ported from NetBSD Documentation based Yes
rum Ralink RT2501USB/ RT2601USB Integrated No[25] BSD Niall O'Higgins and Damien Bergamini Based on partial documentation Yes
run Ralink RT2700U/ RT2800U/ RT3000U Integrated No[26] BSD Damien Bergamini Based on partial documentation Yes
uath Atheros AR5005UG/ AR5005UX Integrated Yes[42] BSD Damien Bergamini Reverse Engineering[40] Yes
upgt GW3887 (Conexant/Intersil PrismGT series) Integrated Yes[43] BSD Marcus Glocker Reverse engineering Yes
urtw Realtek RTL8187L Integrated N/A BSD Weongyo Jeong (FreeBSD)  ? Yes
urtwn Realtek RTL8188CU/RTL8192CU Integrated (since 4.9) Yes BSD Damien Bergamini Reverse engineering Yes
wi Lucent Hermes (WaveLAN/ ORiNOCO); Intersil PRISM-2, PRISM-2.5, PRISM-3; Symbol Spectrum24 Integrated Yes for Spectrum24[44] and N/A for others BSD Bill Paul Documentation based Yes
wpi[45] Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Integrated Yes[46] BSD Damien Bergamini Reverse engineering Yes
zyd ZyDAS ZD1211/ZD1211B Integrated Yes[47] BSD Florian Stoehr, Damien Bergamini and Jonathan Gray Documentation based Yes

Solaris and OpenSolaris

Driver Chipset Integration Free firmware[29] License Development Free software[30]
ath[48][49] Atheros AR5211/ AR5212/ AR5213/ AR5214 Integrated with Solaris Nevada build 29 No firmware required[2] Dual GPL/BSD with proprietary HAL Port of Madwifi No
ipw Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 Community project No BSD Ported from OpenBSD Yes
iwi Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG/2225BG/2915ABG Community project No BSD Ported from OpenBSD Yes
pcan Cisco Aironet 340/350 Community project N/A BSD Ported from FreeBSD Yes
pcwl Lucent/Agere Hermes (WaveLAN/ORiNOCO), Intersil PRISM-2 802.11b Community project N/A BSD Ported from FreeBSD Yes
ral Ralink RT2500 Community project N/A BSD Ported from OpenBSD Yes
rtw Realtek RTL8180L Community project N/A BSD Ported from NetBSD Yes
malo Marvell 88W8335/ 88W8310 Community project N/A BSD Ported from OpenBSD Yes
wpi Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Community project No BSD Ported from OpenBSD Yes
iwk Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN Community project No BSD Ported from OpenBSD Yes
arn Atheros Atheros 9000 Community project No BSD based on ath9k Yes
rwd Ralink Ralink RT2561/RT2561S/RT2661 Community project No BSD Yes
rwn Ralink Ralink RT2700/2800 Community project No BSD Yes
urtw RealTek RealTek RTL8187L/B USB Community project No BSD Yes
atu Atmel Atmel AT76C50x Community project No BSD Yes
mwl Marvell Marvell 88W8363 Community project No BSD Yes
ural Ralink Ralink RT2500USB Community project No BSD Yes
zyd ZyDAS ZD1211 chipsets Community project Yes BSD Ported from OpenBSD Yes

Darwin, OpenDarwin and Mac OS X

Driver Chipset Free firmware[29] License Development
IWIDarwin Intel PRO/Wireless 2100/2200BG/2225BG/2915ABG/3945ABG/4965AGN No GPL Port from Linux
WirelessDriver[50] Lucent/Agere Hermes (WaveLAN/ORiNOCO), Intersil PRISM-2 802.11b N/A BSD
GTdriver PRISM-GT 802.11b/g N/A GPL

Driver capabilities

FreeBSD

Driver 802.11 Bus interface WEP WPA WPA2 Monitor mode Master mode Ad-Hoc mode
acx 802.11a?, 802.11b, 802.11g Cardbus, PCI Yes  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes
an 802.11b Cardbus, PCI, ISA Yes  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes
arl N/A ISA  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
ath 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g Cardbus, PCI, Mini PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
awi N/A PC Card  ?  ?  ?  ? Yes Yes
bwi 802.11b, 802.11g Cardbus, PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
cnw N/A Cardbus  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?  ?
ipw 802.11b Mini PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
iwi 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g Mini PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
iwn 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n Mini PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
malo 802.11b, 802.11g PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
mwl 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
ral 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g Cardbus, PCI, Mini PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ray N/A PC Card  ?  ?  ? No No Yes
rum 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
run 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
uath 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
upgt 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
ural 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
urtw 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
wi 802.11b PC Card, Cardbus, PCI Yes Yes (since 8.0) Yes (since 8.0) Yes (since 8.0?) Yes Yes
wpi 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g Mini PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
zyd 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes No No

OpenBSD

Driver 802.11 Bus interface WEP WPA WPA2 Monitor mode Master mode Ad-Hoc mode
acx 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g Cardbus, PCI Yes No No Yes Yes Yes
an 802.11b PC Card, PCI, ISA Yes No No Yes No Yes
ath 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g Cardbus, PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
athn 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g Cardbus, PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
atu 802.11b USB Yes No No No No Yes
atw 802.11b Cardbus, PCI No No No No No Yes
bwi 802.11b, 802.11g Cardbus, PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
cnw N/A PC Card No No No No No No
ipw 802.11b PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
iwi 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
iwn 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
malo 802.11b, 802.11g Cardbus, PC Card, PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
otus 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
pgt 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g Cardbus, PCI Yes No No Yes Yes Yes
ral 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g Cardbus, PCI, Mini PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ray N/A PC Card No No No No No Yes
rtw 802.11b Cardbus, PCI Yes No No Yes Yes Yes
rum 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
run 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
uath 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes No No Yes No No
upgt 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
ural 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
urtw 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
urtwn 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
wi 802.11b PC Card, PCI, USB Yes No No No Yes Yes
wpi 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
zyd 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes No No

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d 'N/A' means firmware is stored in device at all times
  2. ^ a b c d e f The card doesn't have a host CPU and so it doesn't require a firmware source
  3. ^ The proprietary HAL can be replaced by a port of the OpenHAL (from the BSD ath driver) to Linux
  4. ^ See openfwwf project for open-source firmware. This firmware lacks support for QoS and hardware cryptography.
  5. ^ "Why does my D-Link DWL-650 rev. P1 or D-Link DWL-520 rev. E1 (or any other card with small flash) card fail?" – Host AP driver – Frequently Asked Questions
  6. ^ http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/orinoco#devicefirmware
  7. ^ http://www.intel.com/network/connectivity/products/wireless/prowireless_mobile.htm
  8. ^ http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net
  9. ^ #46 (Eliminate dependency on licensed code in Marvell firmware.) – One Laptop Per Child – Trac
  10. ^ a b c There is a Free software firmware called FreeMAC, but it's not yet ready for non developers use
  11. ^ http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=eff1a59c48e3c6a006eb4fe5f2e405a996f2259d
  12. ^ see the license of the firmware to see which chipsets need a firmware
  13. ^ the sources are here [1]
  14. ^ this thread on rt2x00 forums explains where to install the firmware files for the rt61 driver
  15. ^ According to Ivo van Doorn, there is probably no such chip as "RT2573": http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=23045
  16. ^ rtl8180 driver (supports RTL8180, RTL8185 chipsets) added in 2.6.25. rtl8187 driver (supports RTL8187 chipset) added in 2.6.23. RTL8187B chipset supported by rtl8187 driver from 2.6.27.
  17. ^ a b Requires station firmware 1.7.4 or later.
  18. ^ WPA+TKIP with Hermes (Lucent/Agere) chipsets only. Requires 2.6.28-rc1 or later kernel and v9.42 or later firmware from userspace.
  19. ^ except for the rt2400 chipset; only the rt2500 chipset and the rt2570 chipset are supported
  20. ^ one user reported that WPA2 works with rt61pci
  21. ^ http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers and also at least two users reported success with master mode [2] [3]
  22. ^ a b http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=5631
  23. ^ Master mode supported in zd1211rw since 2.6.39
  24. ^ [4]
  25. ^ a b http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/~checkout~/src/sys/dev/microcode/rum/rum-license
  26. ^ a b http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/src/sys/dev/usb/if_run.c
  27. ^ [5]
  28. ^ [6]
  29. ^ a b c 'N/A' means firmware is stored in device at all times, 'yes' means firmware is available for totally free redistribution, 'no' means you have to get into non-free-software contract with the manufacturer to get access to the firmware
  30. ^ a b c in terms of no binary-only requirements that are posed by the driver, i.e. you can modify all code that is run on your CPU
  31. ^ Manual Pages: acx
  32. ^ Manual Pages: atu
  33. ^ Manual Pages: ipw
  34. ^ Manual Pages: iwi
  35. ^ Manual Pages: iwn
  36. ^ Manual Pages: malo
  37. ^ Developer Blog – mglocker@: New WLAN drivers on the upswing
  38. ^ Manual Pages: otus(4)
  39. ^ Manual Pages: pgt(4)
  40. ^ a b OpenBSD reverse engineers more wireless drivers
  41. ^ http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/~checkout~/src/sys/dev/microcode/ral/ral-license
  42. ^ Manual Pages: uath
  43. ^ Manual Pages: upgt(4)
  44. ^ http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/~checkout~/src/sys/dev/microcode/symbol/symbol-license
  45. ^ There is more details about the port at kerneltrap
  46. ^ Manual Pages: wpi
  47. ^ CVS log for /src/sys/dev/microcode/zydas/Attic/zd1211-licence
  48. ^ it's not the same driver that the OpenBSD ath driver it's a port from Madwifi to OpenSolaris
  49. ^ source, I don't know if the HAL can be replaced with OpenHAL
  50. ^ Seattle Wireless WirelessDriver Support Wiki

References

External links


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