About Wireless

Comparison of open source wireless drivers

Linux
Also see linuxwireless.org
Driver
Chipsets
Integration in mainline
Non-free firmware required
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 AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, AR5413, AR5414
Yes (since 2.6.25)
No
Dual GPL/BSD
Reverse engineered
ath9k
Atheros chips with 802.11n support
Yes (since 2.6.27)
No
ISC
Written by Atheros
MadWifi
Atheros AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, RF5111, RF5112, RF2413, RF5413
No
No
Dual GPL/BSD with proprietary HAL
Atheros supported
atmel
Atmel at76c50x
Yes
Depends on the model
GPL
?
b43
Some Broadcom 43xx
Yes (since 2.6.24)
Experimental OSS firmware
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
GPL
orinoco
Lucent Hermes (WaveLAN/ ORiNOCO); Intersil PRISM-II, PRISM-2.5; Symbol Spectrum24 802.11B
Yes
Required for WPA support
GPL
ipw2100
Intel PRO/Wireless 2100
Yes
Yes
GPL
Intel supported
ipw2200
Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG/2915ABG
Yes
Yes
GPL
Intel supported
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
GPL
prism54
Intersil ISL38xx FullMAC
Yes
Yes
GPL
Reverse engineered. Obsoleted by p54.
islsm
Intersil ISL38xx SoftMAC
No
Yes
GPL
Reverse engineered. Obsoleted by p54.
p54
Intersil ISL38xx SoftMAC
Yes (since 2.6.24)
Yes
GPL
Reverse engineered
rt2x00
Most Ralink chipsets, experimental support for RT2870 (USB) and upcoming 2860 and 3090 (both PCI) support in 2.6.33.
Yes (since 2.6.24)
Depends on the model
GPL
From partial documentation and GPL drivers by Ralink
rt2400
Ralink RT2400
No
No
GPL
Ralink supported
rt2500
Ralink RT2500 (PCI)
No
No
GPL
Ralink supported
rt2570
Ralink RT2500USB (RT2570)
No
No
GPL
Ralink supported
rt61
Ralink RT2600 (RT2661), RT2501 (non-USB, RT2561)
No
Yes
GPL
Ralink supported
rt73
Ralink RT2501USB (RT2571W)
No
Yes
GPL
Ralink supported
rtl8180-sa2400
Some Realtek RTL818x
No
No
GPL
Realtek supported. Obsoleted by rtl-wifi project.
rtl-wifi
Realtek RTL8180, RTL8185, RTL8187, RTL8187B
Yes
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
DragonFly BSD
Driver
Chipset
Integration
Non-free firmware required
License
Original/Primary developer
Development
Free software
acx
Texas Instruments ACX100/ACX111
Integrated since 1.5
Yes
BSD
Reverse engineering
Yes
an
Aironet 4500/4800
Integrated
N/A
BSD
Bill Paul (FreeBSD)
Yes
ath
Atheros AR5210/ AR5211/ AR5212
Integrated
N/A
BSD with proprietary HAL
No
bwi
Broadcom BCM430x/4318
Integrated
Yes
BSD
Sepherosa Ziehau
Reverse engineering
Yes
iwi
Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG/2915ABG
Integrated
Yes
BSD
Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD)
Reverse engineering
Yes
iwl
Intel PRO/Wireless 2100
Integrated
Yes
BSD
Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD)
Reverse engineering
Yes
ral
Ralink RT2500/ RT2501/ RT2600
Integrated
N/A
BSD
Damien Bergamini
Ported from FreeBSD
Yes
rtw
Realtek RTL8180L
Integrated
N/A
BSD
Ported from NetBSD
Yes
rum
Ralink RT2501USB/ RT2601USB
Integrated
N/A
BSD
Damien Bergamini
Ported from FreeBSD
Yes
wi
Lucent Hermes (WaveLAN/ ORiNOCO); Intersil PRISM-II, PRISM-2.5; Symbol Spectrum24 802.11B
Integrated
N/A
BSD
Bill Paul (FreeBSD)
Documentation based
Yes
FreeBSD
Driver
Chipset
Integration
Non-free firmware required
License
Original/Primary developer
Development
Free software
acx
Texas Instruments ACX100/ACX111
Separate project
Yes
BSD
Reverse engineering
Yes
an
Aironet 4500/4800, Cisco Aironet 340/350, Xircom Wireless Ethernet
Integrated
N/A
BSD
Bill Paul (FreeBSD)
Yes
arl
Aironet Arlan 655
Integrated / Removed in 8.0
N/A
BSD
Yes
ath
Atheros AR5210/ AR5211/ AR5212/ AR5416
Integrated
N/A
BSD
Supported by Atheros via Sam Leffler (FreeBSD)
Documentation based
Yes
awi
AMD PCnetMobile
Integrated / Removed in 8.0
N/A
BSD
Bill Sommerfeld (NetBSD) and Atsushi Onoe (NetBSD)
Yes
bwi
Broadcom BCM43xx/4318
Integrated since 8.0
Yes
BSD
Sepherosa Ziehau (DragonFly BSD), Andrew Thompson (FreeBSD), Sam Leffler (FreeBSD)
Ported from DragonFly BSD
Yes
cnw
Netwave AirSurfer
Integrated / Removed in 8.0
N/A
BSD
Imported from NetBSD
Yes
ipw
Intel PRO/Wireless 2100
Integrated
Yes
BSD
Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD/ FreeBSD)
Reverse engineering
Yes
iwi
Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG/ 2225BG/ 2915ABG
Integrated
Yes
BSD
Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD/ FreeBSD)
Reverse engineering
Yes
iwn
Intel PRO/Wireless 4965 ABGN
Integrated since 8.0 / Available for 7.1 and 7.2 as separate patch
Yes
BSD
Damien Bergamini, Benjamin Close, Sam Leffler (OpenBSD/ FreeBSD)
Reverse engineering
Yes
malo
Marvell 88W8335
Integrated
Yes
BSD
Weongyo Jeong (FreeBSD), Sam Leffler (FreeBSD)
Yes
mwl
Marvell 88W8363
Integrated since 8.0
Yes
BSD
Sam Leffler (FreeBSD)
 ?
Yes
ral
Ralink Technology RT2500/ RT2501/ RT2600
Integrated
N/A
BSD
Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD/ FreeBSD)
Based on partial documentation
Yes
ray
Raytheon Raylink/Webgear Aviator
Integrated / Removed in 8.0
N/A
BSD
Imported from NetBSD
Yes
rum
Ralink RT2501USB/ RT2601USB
Integrated
No
BSD
Niall O'Higgins and Damien Bergamini
Based on partial documentation
Yes
uath
Atheros AR5005UG/ AR5005UX
Integrated since 8.0
Yes
BSD
Weongyo Jeong (FreeBSD), Sam Leffler (FreeBSD)
 ?
Yes
upgt
GW3887 (Conexant/Intersil PrismGT series)
Integrated since 8.0
Yes
BSD
Imported from OpenBSD
Reverse engineering
Yes
ural
Ralink Technology RT2500USB
Integrated
N/A
BSD
Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD/ FreeBSD)
Based on partial documentation
Yes
urtw
Realtek RTL8187L/ RTL8187B
Integrated since 8.0
N/A
BSD
Weongyo Jeong (FreeBSD)
 ?
Yes
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
Yes
wpi
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
Integrated
Yes
BSD
Damien Bergamini, Benjamin Close
Reverse engineering
Yes
zyd
ZyDAS ZD1211/ZD1211B
Integrated
No
BSD
Florian Stoehr, Damien Bergamini and Jonathan Gray (OpenBSD)
Documentation based
Yes
NetBSD
Driver
Chipset
Integration
Free firmware
License
Original/Primary developer
Development methodologies
Free software
an
Aironet 4500/4800, Cisco Aironet 340/350
Integrated
N/A
BSD
Ported from FreeBSD
Yes
ath
Atheros AR5210/ AR5211/ AR5212
Integrated
N/A
BSD with proprietary HAL
Binary blobs ported from FreeBSD
No
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
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
License
Original/Primary developer
Development
Free software
acx
Texas Instruments ACX100/ACX111
Integrated
Yes
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
BSD
Reverse engineering
Yes
athn
Atheros AR5416/AR9160/AR928X
Integrated (current)
No
BSD
Damien Bergamini
Partly based on the ath9k driver for Linux
Yes
atu
Atmel AT76C503/ AT76C503A/ AT76C505/ AT76C505A
Integrated
Yes
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
BSD
Damien Bergamini
Reverse engineering
Yes
iwi
Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG/ 2225BG/ 2915ABG
Integrated
Yes
BSD
Damien Bergamini
Reverse engineering
Yes
iwn
Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965/ 5000/ 1000/ 6000
Integrated
Yes
BSD
Damien Bergamini
Reverse engineering
Yes
malo
Marvell 88W8335/ 88W8310
Integrated
Yes
BSD
Marcus Glocker and Claudio Jeker
Reverse engineering
Yes
otus
Atheros AR9170
Integrated (since 4.6)
Yes
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
BSD
Ported from FreeBSD
Reverse engineering
Yes
ral/ural
Ralink RT2500, RT2501, RT2600, RT2700, and RT2800 (ral), RT2500USB (ural)
Integrated
No
BSD
Damien Bergamini
Based on partial documentation
Yes
ray
Raytheon Raylink/WebGear Aviator IEEE 802.11FH
Integrated
N/A
BSD
Yes
rtw
Realtek RTL8180L
Integrated
N/A
BSD
Ported from NetBSD
Documentation based
Yes
rum
Ralink RT2501USB/ RT2601USB
Integrated
No
BSD
Niall O'Higgins and Damien Bergamini
Based on partial documentation
Yes
run
Ralink RT2700U/ RT2800U/ RT3000U
Integrated
No
BSD
Damien Bergamini
Based on partial documentation
Yes
uath
Atheros AR5005UG/ AR5005UX
Integrated
Yes
BSD
Damien Bergamini
Reverse Engineering
Yes
upgt
GW3887 (Conexant/Intersil PrismGT series)
Integrated
Yes
BSD
Marcus Glocker
Reverse engineering
Yes
urtw
Realtek RTL8187L
Integrated
N/A
BSD
Weongyo Jeong (FreeBSD)
 ?
Yes
wi
Lucent Hermes (WaveLAN/ ORiNOCO); Intersil PRISM-2, PRISM-2.5, PRISM-3; Symbol Spectrum24
Integrated
Yes for Spectrum24 and N/A for others
BSD
Bill Paul
Documentation based
Yes
wpi
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
Integrated
Yes
BSD
Damien Bergamini
Reverse engineering
Yes
zyd
ZyDAS ZD1211/ZD1211B
Integrated
Yes
BSD
Florian Stoehr, Damien Bergamini and Jonathan Gray
Documentation based
Yes
Solaris and OpenSolaris
Driver
Chipset
Integration
Free firmware
License
Development
Free software
ath
Atheros AR5211/ AR5212/ AR5213/ AR5214
Integrated with Solaris Nevada build 29
No firmware required
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
zyd
ZyDAS ZD1211 chipsets
Community project
Yes
BSD
Ported from OpenBSD
Yes
Darwin, OpenDarwin and Mac OS X
Driver
Chipset
Free firmware
License
Development
Free software
IWIDarwin
Intel PRO/Wireless 2100/2200BG/2225BG/2915ABG/3945ABG/4965AGN
No
GPL
Port from Linux
Yes
WirelessDriver
Lucent/Agere Hermes (WaveLAN/ORiNOCO), Intersil PRISM-2 802.11b
N/A
BSD
Yes
GTdriver
PRISM-GT 802.11b/g
N/A
GPL
Yes
Driver capabilities
Linux
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
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes (since 2.6.31)
Yes
ath9k
802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n
PCI, Mini PCI, AHB
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
b43
802.11b, 802.11g
PCI, Mini PCI, ?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
bcm43xx
802.11b, 802.11g
PCI, Mini PCI, PC card, Cardbus
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
?
hostap
802.11b
PCI, Mini PCI, PC card
Yes
Yes
Yes
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
?
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
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
?
rt2x00
802.11b, 802.11g
PCI, Mini PCI, USB
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
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
No
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
No
?
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
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
Yes
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
^ http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git;a=commitdiff;h=a9b3a9f7214b3acc56330c2257aeaa5fa85bf520
^ see the license of the firmware to see which chipsets need a firmware
^ the sources are here
^ 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 c d e f 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
^ acx(4) for FreeBSD uses a 4-clause BSD licence, which requires that all advertising materials mentioning it give credit for it; the Free Software Foundation says this makes it incompatible with the GPL
^
^ a b http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/~checkout~/src/sys/dev/microcode/rum/rum-license
^
^
^ 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
^ 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
^ http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/src/sys/dev/usb/if_run.c
^ 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
^ 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
^ a b http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=5631
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 software | Free device driversHidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from September 2009

---