Comparison of open source wireless drivers. Wireless network cards for computers require control software to make them function firmware, device drivers. This is a list of the status of some open source drivers for 8. Location of the network device drivers in a simplified structure of the Linux kernel. Marvells Libertas runs an RTOS on an ARM9 and interfaces over a shim with the actual operating system. Driver family. Driver. Chipsets. Chipset PHY Modes. Integration in mainline. Non free firmware requirednote 1License. Developmentadm. 82. ADMtek ADM8. 21. 1 IEEE 8. MACBBP Yes. Yes. GPLv. With support from InfineonADMtekat. USBAtmel AT7. 6C5. AT7. 6C5. 05 based USB WLAN adapters802. Wireless LAN Card Drivers Download. Wireless LAN USB Network Adapter2. Bloodrayne 2 Save Game Location. USB Wireless LAN Card Driver EDUP. WirelessLANRalink1. Yes. Depends on the model. GPLv. 2 acx. 10. Broadcom Wireless LAN Windows XPVistaWin7 3264bit Driver and Utility, Ver. Texas Instruments ACX1. ACX1. 11, TNETW1. No. Yes. Dual BSDMPLReverse engineeredairoairo. Cisco Systems Aironet 4. Yes. No. Dual GPLv. BSD athar. 55. 23. Qualcomm Atheros AR5. USB dongles Yes. Yes. ISCReverse engineeredath. Qualcomm Atheros AR2. AR2. 41. 4, AR2. 41. AR2. 42. 5, AR5. 21. AR5. 21. 1, AR5. 21. AR5. 21. 3, AR5. 41. AR5. 41. 4, AR5. 42. AR5. 42. 4 Yes since 2. NA3Dual GPLBSDReverse engineeredath. Qualcomm Atheros AR6. AR6. 00. 4 SDIO, AR6. USB Yes. Yes. ISCWritten by Qualcomm Atherosath. Qualcomm Atheros chips with IEEE 8. Yes since 2. 6. 2. NA3ISCWritten by Qualcomm Atherosath. Qualcomm Atheros AR9. AR7. 01. 0 USB PCIe bridge with AR9. Yes since 2. 6. 3. No6ISCWritten by Qualcomm Atherosath. Qualcomm Atheros chips with IEEE 8. Yes since 3. 1. 17Yes8ISCWritten by Qualcomm Atheroscarl. Qualcomm Atheros AR9. USBabgn. Yes since 3. No9GPLQualcomm Atheros supportedwil. Wilocity wil. 62. GHz Yes. Yes. ISCWritten by Qualcomm Atherosatmelatmel. Atmel at. 76c. 50. Yes. No. GPLv. 2Reverse engineeredb. Some Broadcom 4. 3xx Yes since 2. Experimental OSS firmware1. GPLReverse engineeredb. Broadcom 4. 30. 1, 4. Yes since 2. 6. 2. Experimental OSS firmware1. GPLReverse engineeredbrcm. PCIe devices Broadcom 4. SDIO devices Broadcom 4. USB devices Broadcom 4. Yes since 3. 2Yes. ISCWritten by Broadcombrcmsmac. Broadcom 4. 31. 3, 4. Yes since 3. 2Yes. ISCWritten by Broadcomcw. ST Ericsson CW1. CW1. WLAN chipsets Yes since 3. Yes1. 2GPLv. 2  Host. APIntersil. PRISM II, PRISM 2. PRISM 3 Yes. Depends on the model1. GPLv. 2ipw. 2x. 00ipw. Intel PROWireless 2. Network Connection 8. Yes. Yes1. 4GPLWritten by Inteliwlegacyiwlegacy. Intel Wireless Wi. Fi 3. 94. 5ABG, 4. AGN Yes. Yes. GPLiwlwifiiwlwifi. Intel Wireless Wi. Fi Next Gen AGN Wireless NAdvanced NUltimate N 6. AGN, 6. 20. 0AGN, 6. AGN 1. 00. 0BGN, 5. AGN, 5. 10. 0AGN, 5. AGN, 5. 35. 0AGN, 6. BGN, 1. 00. BGN and 1. BGN, 2. 00. 0 Yes. Yes. Dual GPLBSDWritten by Intellibertaslibertas. Marvell 8. 8W8. 68. SDIO Libertas 8. 38. USB 8. 02. 1. 1bg, 8. Compact. Flash 8. SDIO 8. 02. 1. 1bg, 8. SPI 8. 02. 1. 1bg 8. W8. 38. 8 Yes. Yes1. GPLMarvell supportedlibertastflibertastf. Marvell 8. 38. 8 USB WLAN Thinfirm Driver OLPCYes. GPLcozybit, Marvell supportedmt. Media. Tek MT7. 60. Ubgn. Yes mwifiexmwifiex. Wi. Fi Ex Driver for Marvell SD8. SD8. 78. 7SD8. 79. SDIO, 8. 76. 68. PCIe and 8. W8. USB Yes. Yes1. GPLv. 2Written by Marvellmwl. Marvell TOPDOG 8. Wireless cards 8. W8. 36. 6, 8. 8W8. W8. 68. 7, 8. 8W8. Yes. Yes. GPLv. 2Written by Marvellorinocoorinoco. Lucent Hermes Wave. LAN ORi. NOCO Intersil. PRISM II, PRISM 2. Symbol Spectrum. 24 8. B Yes. Required for WPA support1. Yes. Yes1. 8prism. Yes. Reverse engineered obsoleted by p. Media. Tek Ralink RT2. Yes since 2. 6. 2. No1. 9GPLv. 2rt. From partial documentation and GPL drivers by Ralinkrt. RT2. 56. 0 Yes. No. GPLv. 2rt. 2x. 00. RT2. 56. 1, RT2. 56. S, RT2. 66. 1 Yes. Yes. GPLv. 2rt. 2x. RT2. 76. 0, RT2. 79. RT2. 86. 0, RT2. 88. RT2. 89. 0, RT3. 05. RT3. 09. 0, RT3. 09. RT3. 09. 2RT3. 39. RT3. 06. 0, RT3. 06. RT3. 56. 2, RT3. 59. RT5. 39. 0, RT3. 29. Yes. Yes. GPLv. 2rt. RT2. 57. 1 RT2. Yes. No. GPLv. 2rt. RT2. W, RT2. RT2. 67. 1 Yes. Yes. GPLv. 2rt. 2x. RT2. 77. 0, RT2. 87. RT3. 07. 0, RT3. 07. RT3. 07. 2RT3. 37. RT3. 57. 2, RT5. 37. RT5. 57. 2 Yes. Yes. GPLv. 2rt. 2x. 00. RTL8. 18. 0, RTL8. RTL8. 18. 7SE Yes. No. GPLrtl. 81. 87. RTL8. 18. 7, RTL8. Babg. Yes. No. GPLrtlwifirtlwifirtl. Realtek Yes since 2. Yes. GPLWritten by Realtek et al. Forked from rtl. 81. Yes. GPLWritten by Realtek et al. Yes. Yes. GPLWritten by Realtek et al. Yes. Yes. GPLWritten by Realtek et al. Yes. Yes. GPLWritten by Realtek et al. Yes. Yes. GPLWritten by Realtek et al. Yes. Yes. GPLWritten by Realtek et al. RTL8. 18. 8EU e. g. TP Link TL WN7. N Yes since 3. Yes. GPLWritten by Realtek et al. RSI9. 11. 3Redpine Signals SDIO, USB adapters Yes. GPLWritten by Redpine Signals Inc. Texas Instruments TI wl. SDIOSPI Yes. Yes2. GPLWritten by Nokiawl. Texas Instruments TI wl. Yes Only up to 3. Yes2. 3GPLWritten by Nokia and Texas Instrumentswl. Texas Instruments TI Wi. Link 8 Yes. Yes2. GPLWritten by Texas Instrumentszd. Zy. DAS ZD1. 21. 1ZD1. B USB Yes. Yes2. GPLvarious. Driver capabilitieseditAlso see wireless. Please note This sections needs to be split in soft. MAC and hard. MAC drivers. All soft. MAC drivers should have the same capabilities regarding encryption, since it is done by hostapd. Then we should copyextend http wireless. Drivers because it lists all the available modes of operation http wireless. Documentationmodes. Then we should think about documenting, whether a driver can support multiple modes simultaneously and which ones. Driver. 80. 2. 1. Bus interface. Wireless Security. Monitor mode. Master AP mode. Ad Hoc modeabgnac. WEPWPAWPA2acx. 1xx. No. Yes. Yes. No. No. PCI, Mini PCI, PC card, USBYes. No. No. Yes. Yes PCI No carl. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. USBYes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yesath. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. No. PCI, Mini PCI, PC card, AHBYes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes since 2. Yesath. 9k. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. PCI, Mini PCI, AHB, PCI Express Mini Card. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yesath. 9khtc. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. USBYes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yesath. No. No. No. No. Yes. PCI, Mini PCI, AHB, PCI Express Mini Card. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yesb. 43. No. Yes. Yes. No. No. PCI, Mini PCI, SDIO  Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yesbcm. 43xx. No. Yes. Yes. No. No. PCI, Mini PCI, PC card, Cardbus. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. No Broadcom brcmfmac. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. USB, SDIO, PCI Express. Yes. Yes. Yes. Experimental unofficial firmware patching 2. Yes2. 7No. Broadcom brcmsmac. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. PCI, Mini PCI, PCI Express Mini Card. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes2. 8Yes2. 9hostap. No. Yes. No. No. No. PCI, Mini PCI, PC card. Yes. Yes3. 0Yes3. Yes. Yes. Yesipw. No. Yes. No. No. No. Mini PCIYes. Yes. Yes. Yes ipw. 22. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. No. Mini PCIYes. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. Yesipw. No. Yes. Yes. No. No. Mini PCI Yes. Yes ipw. 39. 45. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. No. Mini PCI, PCI Express Mini Card. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. YesislsmPCI, USBNo. No. No No iwlwifi. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Mini PCI, PCI Express Mini Card. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Experimental3. 13. Yeslibertas. No. Yes. Yes. No. No. USB, CF, SDIONo Mad. Wifi. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. No. PCI, Mini PCI, PC card. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes some issues in HAL, outdoor sensitivitycitation neededmt. No. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. USBYes. Yes. Yes. Yes orinoco. No. Yes. No. No. No. Mini PCI, PC card. Yes. Yes3. 3No. Yes. No. Yesp. 54. No. Yes. Yes. No. No. Mini PCI, Cardbus, USBYes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yesprism. 54. No. Yes. Yes. No. No. PCIYes. No Yes. Yes No. Yes. Yes. No. No. USBYes. Yes. Yes. No. No. Yesrt. 2x. No. Yes. Yes. No.