- 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
- ^ a b c d 'N/A' means firmware is stored in device at all times
- ^ a b c d e f The card doesn't have a host CPU and so it doesn't require a firmware source
- ^ The proprietary HAL can be replaced by a port of the OpenHAL (from the BSD ath driver) to Linux
- ^ See openfwwf project for open-source firmware. This firmware lacks support for QoS and hardware cryptography.
- ^ "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
- ^ http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/orinoco#devicefirmware
- ^ http://www.intel.com/network/connectivity/products/wireless/prowireless_mobile.htm
- ^ http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net
- ^ #46 (Eliminate dependency on licensed code in Marvell firmware.) – One Laptop Per Child – Trac
- ^ a b c There is a Free software firmware called FreeMAC, but it's not yet ready for non developers use
- ^ http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commit;h=eff1a59c48e3c6a006eb4fe5f2e405a996f2259d
- ^ see the license of the firmware to see which chipsets need a firmware
- ^ the sources are here [1]
- ^ this thread on rt2x00 forums explains where to install the firmware files for the rt61 driver
- ^ According to Ivo van Doorn, there is probably no such chip as "RT2573": http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=23045
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Requires station firmware 1.7.4 or later.
- ^ WPA+TKIP with Hermes (Lucent/Agere) chipsets only. Requires 2.6.28-rc1 or later kernel and v9.42 or later firmware from userspace.
- ^ except for the rt2400 chipset; only the rt2500 chipset and the rt2570 chipset are supported
- ^ one user reported that WPA2 works with rt61pci
- ^ http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers and also at least two users reported success with master mode [2] [3]
- ^ a b http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=5631
- ^ Master mode supported in zd1211rw since 2.6.39
- ^ [4]
- ^ a b http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/~checkout~/src/sys/dev/microcode/rum/rum-license
- ^ a b http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/src/sys/dev/usb/if_run.c
- ^ [5]
- ^ [6]
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ Manual Pages: acx
- ^ Manual Pages: atu
- ^ Manual Pages: ipw
- ^ Manual Pages: iwi
- ^ Manual Pages: iwn
- ^ Manual Pages: malo
- ^ Developer Blog – mglocker@: New WLAN drivers on the upswing
- ^ Manual Pages: otus(4)
- ^ Manual Pages: pgt(4)
- ^ a b OpenBSD reverse engineers more wireless drivers
- ^ http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/~checkout~/src/sys/dev/microcode/ral/ral-license
- ^ Manual Pages: uath
- ^ Manual Pages: upgt(4)
- ^ http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/~checkout~/src/sys/dev/microcode/symbol/symbol-license
- ^ There is more details about the port at kerneltrap
- ^ Manual Pages: wpi
- ^ CVS log for /src/sys/dev/microcode/zydas/Attic/zd1211-licence
- ^ it's not the same driver that the OpenBSD ath driver it's a port from Madwifi to OpenSolaris
- ^ source, I don't know if the HAL can be replaced with OpenHAL
- ^ Seattle Wireless WirelessDriver Support Wiki
References
- http://support.intel.com/support/notebook/sb/CS-006408.htm
- The Sourceforge IPW websites (ipw 2100,ipw2200 and ipw3945)
- The FSF website for the Ralink and Realtek cards
- Kerneltrap for the list of OpenBSD drivers
- The OpenSolaris website for the list of OpenSolaris and Solaris drivers
- http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2084
- http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com/wiki/index.php/Rt2x00_beta
- http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/Wireless.html
- rt2x00 README from cvs
- http://lkml.org/lkml/2007/2/9/323
External links
- Seattle Wireless Linux drivers
- Seattle Wireless Mac OS drivers
Categories:- Free software lists and comparisons
- Wireless networking
- Free device drivers
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