Existing Linux Wireless drivers
We currently have a fair amount of working drivers that cover most of the available wireless networking cards. However, they don't implement all features and may have some issues, due to various reasons like companies not providing specs. Below is an alphabetically sorted list of drivers and what they currently can and can't do.
All drivers can run in station mode, but not all support the other modes, this is also shown in the table below.
Driver |
PHY modes |
||||
? |
? |
no |
? |
B |
|
no |
no |
no |
? |
B |
|
no |
no |
no |
no |
B |
|
ath5k (Atheros devices) |
no |
yes |
yes |
? |
A/B/G |
ath9k (Atheros devices) |
no |
yes |
no |
yes |
A/B/G/N |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
B/G2 |
|
no |
yes |
no |
no |
B |
|
yes |
no |
no |
A/B/G |
||
no |
yes |
no |
no |
A/B/G |
|
no |
yes |
no |
no |
A/B/G/N |
|
no |
yes |
yes5 |
no |
B/G |
|
yes |
yes |
yes |
? |
B/G |
|
orinoco (Agere/Intersil/Symbol) |
no |
yes? |
no |
yes |
A/B |
no |
no |
no |
no |
B/G6 |
|
no |
yes |
no |
no |
B/G |
|
no |
yes |
no |
yes? |
A/B/G7 |
|
no |
no |
no |
? |
B/G |
|
no |
no |
no |
? |
B/G |
|
no |
no |
yes |
no |
B/G6 |
monitor all frames during regular operation (1)
802.11a devices exist, but currently can't be used with this driver, A/B/G devices will work in B/G mode only (2)
requires special driver and firmware (5)
slightly different mesh implementation than mac80211's, in firmware (6)
802.11a capabilities depend on the actual radio chip used (9)