Linux Wireless Driver Support and Capabilities

Written and curated by Philip Collier / AB9IL
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Driver Chipsets Integration in mainline Non-free firmware required License Development
acx100 Texas InstrumentsACX100, ACX111, TNETW1450 No Yes Dual Reverse engineered
airo Cisco Systems Aironet 4500/4800 and 340/350 Yes Unknown GPL unknown
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 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 unknown
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 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), 2860 and 3090 (both PCI) 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


Linux Wireless Driver Capabilities


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 unknown
adm8211 unknown PCI unknown unknown unknown unknown No unknown
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 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 unknown
hostap 802.11b PCI, Mini PCI, PC card Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ipw2100 802.11b Mini PCI Yes Yes unknown Yes unknown unknown
ipw2200 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g Mini PCI Yes Yes Yes Yes No unknown
ipw2200-ap 802.11b, 802.11g Mini PCI unknown unknown unknown Yes Yes unknown
ipw3945 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g Mini PCI, PCI Express Mini Card Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
islsm 802.11b, 802.11g PCI, USB No No No unknown No unknown
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 unknown unknown unknown unknown No unknown
MadWifi 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g PCI, Mini PCI, PC card Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, low RF sensitivity?
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 unknown Yes Yes unknown
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 unknown unknown unknown unknown Yes unknown
rtl-wifi 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g PCI, Mini PCI, PC card Yes Yes unknown unknown Yes unknown
zd1201 802.11b USB Yes No No Yes Yes unknown
zd1211 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes unknown
zd1211rw 802.11b, 802.11g USB Yes Yes Yes Yes No unknown



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