Existing Linux Wireless drivers
We currently have a fair number of working drivers that cover most of the available wireless networking cards on the market. However, most don't implement all features and many have issues. Companies not providing a complete spec, free firmware, and driver can be more problematic to support. The switching of chipsets by manufacturers without changing model numbers also makes this list less useful to those purchasing a new card. Except for a handful of cards with free software drivers and firmware like the Penguin 802.11N most cards are not very ideal for use in Linux. Below is an alphabetically sorted list of drivers and what they currently can and can't do.
See also:
All drivers can run in station mode, but not all support the other modes, this is also shown in the table below.
Note: * staging drivers
Out of the tree drivers(Unsupported)
Notes:
- 802.11a capabilities depend on the actual radio chip used.
- 802.11a devices exist, but currently can't be used with this driver, A/B/G devices will work in B/G mode only.
There is support with a special, out-of-tree driver and special firmware, see http://sf.net/projects/ipw2200-ap.
- Slightly different mesh implementation than mac80211's, in firmware.
Abandoned/Deprecated Drivers(Unsupported)
Driver |
Manufacturer |
PHY modes |
BUS |
|||||
ZyDAS/Atheros |
yes |
no |
yes |
no |
yes |
A(1)/B/G/N |
USB |
|
Aironet/Cisco |
no |
? |
? |
? |
? |
pre802.11 |
ISA |
|
Atmel |
no |
no |
no |
no |
no |
B |
USB |
|
Netwave/Xircom |
no |
? |
? |
? |
? |
pre802.11 |
PCMCIA |
|
ZyDAS/Atheros |
no |
? |
no |
no |
no |
A/B/G/N |
USB |
|
Intersil/Conexant |
no |
? |
? |
? |
? |
A/B/G |
PCI / PCMCIA |
|
ST/Nokia |
yes |
no |
no |
no |
no |
B/G |
SPI |
|
Lucent |
no |
? |
? |
? |
? |
pre802.11 |
ISA / PCMCIA |