 | This article needs to be updated.(November 2022) |
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 802.11 wireless network cards.
 | This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: This seems to confuse mainline and staging trees of the kernel. Also, many of the kernel wiki links are broken.(November 2016) |
| Driver family | Driver | Chipsets | Chipset PHY Modes | Integration in mainline | Non-free firmware required [note 1] | License | Development |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| adm8211 | adm8211 | ADMtek ADM8211 (IEEE 802.11b MAC/BBP | b | Yes | Yes | GPLv2 | With support from Infineon/ADMtek |
| at76c50x‑usb at76c50x‑usb | at76c50x-USB | Atmel AT76C503/AT76C505 based USB WLAN adapters | b | Yes | Depends on the model | GPLv2 | ? |
| acx100 | Texas Instruments ACX100, ACX111, TNETW1450 | b/g | No | Yes | Dual BSD/MPL | Reverse-engineered | |
| airo | airo | Cisco Systems Aironet 4500/4800 and 340/350 | b | Yes | No | Dual GPLv2 and BSD | ? |
| ath | ar5523 | Qualcomm Atheros AR5523 based USB dongles | a/b/g | Yes | Yes | ISC | Reverse-engineered |
| ath5k | Qualcomm Atheros AR2413, AR2414, AR2417, AR2425, AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, AR5213, AR5413, AR5414, AR5423, AR5424 | a/b/g | Yes (since 2.6.25) | — [3] | Dual GPL/BSD | Reverse-engineered | |
| ath6kl | Qualcomm Atheros AR6003, AR6004 (SDIO), AR6004 (USB) | a/b/g | Yes | Yes | ISC | Written by Qualcomm Atheros | |
| ath9k | Qualcomm Atheros chips with IEEE 802.11n support | a/b/g/n | Yes (since 2.6.27) | — [3] proprietary blob only required for Bluetooth (Purism / NovaCustom) | ISC | Written by Qualcomm Atheros | |
| ath9k_htc | Qualcomm Atheros AR9271, AR7010 (USB-PCIe bridge with AR928x chips) | b/g/n | Yes (since 2.6.35) [4] [5] | No [6] | ISC | Written by Qualcomm Atheros | |
| ath10k | Qualcomm Atheros chips with IEEE 802.11ac support | ac | Yes (since 3.11) [7] | Yes [8] | ISC | Written by Qualcomm Atheros | |
| ath11k | Qualcomm Atheros chips with IEEE 802.11ax support | ax | Yes (since 5.6) [9] | Yes [10] | ISC | Written by Qualcomm Atheros | |
| carl9170 | Qualcomm Atheros AR9170 (802.11n USB) | a/b/g/n | Yes (since 3.0) | No [11] | GPL | Qualcomm Atheros-supported | |
| wil6210 | Wilocity wil6210, 802.11ad 60GHz | ad | Yes | Yes | ISC | Written by Qualcomm Atheros | |
| atmel | atmel | Atmel at76c502 at76c504 and at76c506 wireless cards | b | Yes | Yes | GPLv2+ | Reverse-engineered |
| b43 | b43 | Some Broadcom 43xx | a/b/g/n | Yes (since 2.6.24) | Experimental OSS firmware [12] | GPL | Reverse-engineered |
| b43legacy | b43legacy | Broadcom 4301, 4303, and 4306 revisions 1 and 2 | a/b/g | Yes (since 2.6.24) | Experimental OSS firmware [12] | GPL | Reverse-engineered |
| brcm80211 | brcmfmac | PCIe devices: Broadcom 4356, 43567, 43570, 4358, 4359, 43602, 4365, 4366 SDIO devices: Broadcom 4329, 4330, 4334, 43340, 43341, 43241, 4335, 4339, 43362, 43430, 43455, 4354, 43143 USB devices: Broadcom 43235, 43236, 43238, 43143, 43242, 43566, 43569 | a/b/g/n | Yes (since 3.2) | Yes | ISC | Written by Broadcom |
| brcmsmac | Broadcom 4313, 43224, 43225 | a/b/g/n | Yes (since 3.2) | Yes | ISC | Written by Broadcom | |
| cw1200 | cw1200 | ST-Ericsson CW1100 & CW1200 WLAN chipsets | ? | Yes (since 3.11) [13] | Yes [14] | GPLv2 | ? |
| hostap | HostAP | Intersil PRISM-II, PRISM-2.5, PRISM 3 | ? | Yes | Depends on the model [15] | GPLv2 | |
| ipw2x00 | ipw2x00 | Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 and 2200 Network Connection 802.11b | ? | Yes | Yes [16] | GPL | Written by Intel |
| iwlegacy | iwlegacy | Intel Wireless WiFi 3945ABG, 4965AGN | ? | Yes | Yes | GPL | |
| iwlwifi | iwlwifi | Intel Wireless WiFi Next Gen AGN - Wireless-N/Advanced-N/Ultimate-N: 6250AGN, 6200AGN, 6300AGN, 1000BGN, 5150AGN, 5100AGN, 5300AGN, 5350AGN, 6005, 6030, 6150BGN, 100BGN and 130BGN, 2000 | a/b/g/n/ac/ax | Yes | Yes | Dual GPL/BSD | Written by Intel |
| libertas | libertas | Marvell 88W8686 SDIO Libertas 8388 (USB) 802.11b/g, 8385 (CompactFlash) 802.11b/g, 8385/8686/8688 (SDIO) 802.11b/g, 8686 (SPI) 802.11b/g 88W8388 | ? | Yes | Yes [17] | GPL | Marvell-supported |
| libertas_tf | libertastf | Marvell 8388 (USB) WLAN Thinfirm Driver (OLPC) | b/g | Yes | Yes | GPL | cozybit, Marvell-supported |
| mt76 | mt76 | MediaTek MT76x0U, MT76x2U | a/b/g/n/ac/ax | Yes (since 4.19 [18] ) | Yes | ISC | With support from MediaTek |
| mt7601u | mt7601u | MediaTek MT7601U | b/g/n | Yes (since 4.2) | Yes | GPLv2 | |
| mwifiex | mwifiex | WiFi-Ex Driver for Marvell SD8786/SD8787/SD8797 (SDIO), 8766/8897 (PCIe) and 88W8797 (USB) | ? | Yes | Yes [19] | GPLv2 | Written by Marvell |
| mwl8k | mwl8k | Marvell TOPDOG 802.11 Wireless cards: 88W8366, 88W8863, 88W8687, 88W8764 | ? | Yes | Yes | GPLv2 | Written by Marvell |
| orinoco | orinoco | Lucent Hermes (WaveLAN/ ORiNOCO); Intersil PRISM-II, PRISM-2.5; Symbol Spectrum24 802.11B | ? | Yes | Required for WPA support [20] | ||
| prism54 [ permanent dead link ]-p54 | p54 | Prism54: Intersil/Conexant ISL3877, ISL3880, ISL3886, ISL3887, ISL3890 | ? | Yes (~Aug 2007) | Experimental OSS firmware [21] | ||
| prism54 [ permanent dead link ] | ? | Yes (before 2.6.12) | Reverse-engineered; obsoleted by p54. | ||||
| rt2x00 | rt2400pci | MediaTek (Ralink) RT2460 | b | Yes (since 2.6.24) | No [22] | GPLv2+ | rt2x00.serialmonkey.com; From partial documentation and GPL drivers by Ralink |
| rt2500pci | RT2560 | b/g | Yes | No | GPLv2+ | rt2x00.serialmonkey.com | |
| rt61pci | RT2561, RT2561S, RT2661 | ? | Yes | Yes | GPLv2+ | rt2x00.serialmonkey.com | |
| rt2800pci | RT2760, RT2790, RT2860, RT2880, RT2890, RT3052, RT3090, RT3091, RT3092 RT3390, RT3060, RT3062, RT3562, RT3592, RT5390, RT3290 | ? | Yes | Yes | GPLv2+ | rt2x00.serialmonkey.com | |
| rt2500usb | RT2571 & RT2572 | b/g | Yes | No | GPLv2+ | rt2x00.serialmonkey.com | |
| rt73usb | RT2571W, RT2573 & RT2671 | ? | Yes | Yes | GPLv2+ | rt2x00.serialmonkey.com | |
| rt2800usb | RT2770, RT2870 & RT3070, RT3071 & RT3072 RT3370, RT3572, RT5370, RT5572 | ? | Yes | Yes | GPLv2+ | rt2x00.serialmonkey.com | |
| rtl818x | rtl8180 | RTL8180, RTL8185, RTL8187SE | b/g | Yes | No | GPL | |
| rtl8187 | RTL8187, RTL8187B | a/b/g | Yes | No | GPL | ||
| rtl8xxxu | rtl819x | RTL8723AU, RTL8723BU, RTL8188CUS, RTL8192CU, RTL8191EU, RTL8192EU, RTL8188EU, RTL8188RU, RTL8188FU, RTL8192FU | b/g/n | Yes | Yes | GPLv2 | fan-made, based on open source drivers released by Realtek |
| rtlwifi rtl‑wifi | rtl8188ee | Realtek | ? | Yes (since 2.6.38) [23] | Yes | GPL | Written by Realtek et al. Forked from rtl8180-sa2400 project. |
| rtl8192c | ? | Yes | GPL | Written by Realtek et al. | |||
| rtl8192ce | ? | Yes | Yes | GPL | Written by Realtek et al. | ||
| rtl8192cu | ? | Yes | Yes | GPL | Written by Realtek et al. | ||
| rtl8192de | ? | Yes | Yes | GPL | Written by Realtek et al. | ||
| rtl8192se | ? | Yes | Yes | GPL | Written by Realtek et al. | ||
| rtl8723ae | ? | Yes | Yes | GPL | Written by Realtek et al. | ||
| rtl8188eu | RTL8188EU e.g. in the TP-Link TL-WN725N | ? | Yes (since 3.12 [24] [25] ) | Yes | GPL | Written by Realtek et al. | |
| rtl8821ae | RTL8812AE, RTL8821AE | ac | Yes (since 3.16) | Yes | GPL | ? | |
| rtw88 | rtw88_8822ce | RTL8822CE | b/g/n/ac | Yes | Yes | Dual GPLv2 and BSD | Written by Realtek et al. |
| rtw88_8822be | RTL8822BE | b/g/n/ac | Yes | Yes | Dual GPLv2 and BSD | Written by Realtek et al. | |
| rtw88_8821ce | RTL8821CE | b/g/n/ac | Yes | Yes | Dual GPLv2 and BSD | Written by Realtek et al. | |
| rtw88_8723de | RTL8723DE | b/g/n | Yes | Yes | Dual GPLv2 and BSD | Written by Realtek et al. | |
| rtw88_8822cu | RTL8822CU | b/g/n/ac | Yes | Yes | Dual GPLv2 and BSD | Written by Realtek et al. | |
| rtw88_8822bu | RTL8822BU | b/g/n/ac | Yes | Yes | Dual GPLv2 and BSD | Written by Realtek et al. | |
| rtw88_8821cu | RTL8821CU | b/g/n/ac | Yes | Yes | Dual GPLv2 and BSD | Written by Realtek et al. | |
| rtw88_8723du | RTL8723DU | b/g/n | Yes | Yes | Dual GPLv2 and BSD | Written by Realtek et al. | |
| rtw89 | rtw89_8852ce | RTL8852CE | b/g/n/ac/ax | Yes | Yes | Dual GPLv2 and BSD | Written by Realtek et al. |
| rtw89_8852ae | RTL8852AE | b/g/n/ac/ax | Yes | Yes | Dual GPLv2 and BSD | Written by Realtek et al. | |
| rtw89_8852be | RTL8852BE | b/g/n/ac/ax | Yes | Yes | Dual GPLv2 and BSD | Written by Realtek et al. | |
| rsi9113 | RSI9113 | Redpine Signals SDIO, USB adapters | Yes | GPL | Written by Redpine Signals Inc. | ||
| ti | wl1251 | Texas Instruments TI wl1251 (SDIO/SPI) | ? | Yes | Yes [26] | GPL | Written by Nokia |
| wl12xx | Texas Instruments TI wl1271, wl1273, wl1281 and wl1283 | ? | Yes (Only up to 3.2 [27] ) | Yes [26] | GPL | Written by Nokia and Texas Instruments | |
| wl18xx | Texas Instruments TI WiLink 8 | ? | Yes | Yes [26] | GPL | Written by Texas Instruments | |
| zd1211rw | zd1211rw | ZyDAS ZD1211/ZD1211B (USB) | ? | Yes | Yes [28] | GPL | various |
| Driver | 802.11 | Bus interface | Wireless Security | Monitor mode | Master (AP) mode | Ad-Hoc mode | IEEE 802.11s | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | b | g | n | ac | ad | ax | WEP | WPA | WPA2 | ||||||
| acx1xx | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | PCI, Mini PCI, PC card, USB | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | |
| adm8211 | No | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | PCI | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | No | Yes | |
| carl9170 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | USB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| ath5k | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | PCI, Mini PCI, PC card, AHB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (2.6.31) | Yes | |
| ath9k | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | PCI, Mini PCI, Mini PCIe, AHB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| ath9k_htc | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | USB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| ath10k | No | No | No | No | Yes | ? | ? | PCI, Mini PCI, AHB, Mini PCIe | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| b43 | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | PCI, Mini PCI, SDIO ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| bcm43xx | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | PCI, Mini PCI, Cardbus, PC card | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | |
| brcmfmac | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | USB, SDIO, PCI Express | Yes | Yes | Yes | Exp. [29] | Yes [30] | No | |
| brcmsmac | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | PCI, Mini PCI, Mini PCIe | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes [31] | Yes [32] | |
| hostap | No | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | PCI, Mini PCI, PC card | Yes | Yes [33] | Yes [33] | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| ipw2100 | No | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | Mini PCI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
| ipw2200 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | Mini PCI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
| ipw2200-ap | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | Mini PCI | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | |
| ipw3945 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | Mini PCI, Mini PCIe | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
| islsm at the Wayback Machine (archived 2015-09-29) | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | PCI, USB | No | No | No | ? | No | ? | |
| iwlwifi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Mini PCI, Mini PCIe, M.2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 2.4 GHz only Exp. [34] [35] | Yes | |
| libertas | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | USB, CF, SDIO | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | |
| madwifi Archived 2019-10-20 at the Wayback Machine | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | PCI, PC card, Mini PCI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| mt76 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | PCIe, USB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| mt7601u | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | USB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
| orinoco | No | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | Mini PCI, PC card | Yes | Yes [36] | No | Yes | No | Yes | |
| p54 | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | Mini PCI, USB, Cardbus | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| prism54 | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | PCI | Yes | No | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | |
| rndis_wlan | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | USB | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | |
| rt2x00 | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | PCI, USB, Mini PCI | Yes | Yes [37] | Yes [38] | Yes | Yes [39] | Yes | |
| rtl8180 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | PCI, PC card, Mini PCI | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | |
| rtl8187 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | USB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | |
| rtl8xxxu | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | USB | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes [40] | No | |
| rtw88 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | M.2, USB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| rtw89 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | M.2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| zd1201 | No | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | USB | Yes | No [41] | No [41] | Yes | Yes | ? | |
| zd1211 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | USB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | |
| zd1211rw | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | USB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes [42] | Yes | |
| Driver name | Chipset | Integration | Non-free firmware required | License | Original/Primary developer | Development |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| acx | Texas Instruments ACX100/ACX111 | Integrated since 1.5 | Yes | BSD | Reverse engineering | |
| an | Aironet 4500/4800 | Integrated | On Device | BSD | Bill Paul (FreeBSD) | |
| ath | Atheros AR5210/ AR5211/AR5212/AR5416 | Integrated | On Device | BSD | ||
| bwi | Broadcom BCM430x/4318 | Integrated | Yes | BSD | Sepherosa Ziehau | Reverse engineering |
| iwi | Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG/2915ABG | Integrated | Yes | BSD | Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) | Reverse engineering |
| iwl | Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 | Integrated | Yes | BSD | Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) | Reverse engineering |
| iwm | Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 3160/7260/8260/9260/9270/9560 | Integrated | Yes | BSD | OpenBSD | |
| iwn | Intel 4965/1000/5000/ 5150/5300/6000/6050 | Integrated | Yes | BSD | Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) | Reverse engineering |
| ral | Ralink RT2500/ RT2501/RT2600 | Integrated | On Device | BSD | Damien Bergamini | Ported from FreeBSD |
| rtw | Realtek RTL8180L | Integrated | On Device | BSD | Ported from NetBSD | |
| rum | Ralink RT2501USB/RT2601USB | Integrated | On Device | BSD | Damien Bergamini | Ported from FreeBSD |
| wi | Lucent Hermes (WaveLAN / ORiNOCO); Intersil PRISM-II, -2.5; Symbol Spectrum24 802.11b | Integrated | On Device | BSD | Bill Paul (FreeBSD) | Documentation based |
| wpi | Intel 3945ABG | Integrated | On Device | BSD | Damien Bergamini | Ported from OpenBSD |
| Driver | Chipset | Integration | Non-free firmware required [note 1] | License | Original/Primary developer | Development |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| acx | Texas Instruments ACX100/ACX111 | Separate project | Yes | BSD | Reverse engineering | |
| an | Aironet 4500/4800, Cisco Aironet 340/350, Xircom Wireless Ethernet | Integrated | On Device | BSD | Bill Paul (FreeBSD) | |
| arl | Aironet Arlan 655 | Integrated / Removed in 8.0 | On Device | BSD | ||
| ath | Atheros AR5210/ AR5211/ AR5212/ AR5416 /AR9130 /AR9160 /AR9280 /AR9285 /AR9287 /AR9565 (and derivatives) | Integrated | No | BSD | Originally by Atheros via Sam Leffler (FreeBSD); supported by the community | Documentation based |
| awi | AMD PCnetMobile | Integrated / Removed in 8.0 | On Device | BSD | Bill Sommerfeld (NetBSD) and Atsushi Onoe (NetBSD) | |
| bwi | Broadcom BCM43xx/4318 | Integrated since 8.0 | Yes | BSD | Sepherosa Ziehau (DragonFly BSD), Andrew Thompson (FreeBSD), Sam Leffler (FreeBSD) | Ported from DragonFly BSD |
| bwn | Broadcom BCM43xx/4318 v4 firmware | Integrated since 8.1 | Yes | BSD | Weongyo Jeong | ? |
| cnw | Netwave AirSurfer | Integrated / Removed in 8.0 | On Device | BSD | Imported from NetBSD | |
| ipw | Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 | Integrated | Yes | BSD | Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD/ FreeBSD) | Reverse engineering |
| iwi | Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG/ 2225BG/ 2915ABG | Integrated | Yes | BSD | Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD/ FreeBSD) | Reverse engineering |
| iwm | Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 / 3165 / 7260 / 7265 / 8260 | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| iwn | Intel PRO/Wireless 4965 ABGN/ 5100/ 5300/ 5350/ 1000 | Integrated since 8.0 / Available for 7.1 and above as separate patch | Yes | BSD | Damien Bergamini, Benjamin Close, Sam Leffler (OpenBSD/ FreeBSD) | Reverse engineering |
| malo | Marvell 88W8335 | Integrated | Yes | BSD | Weongyo Jeong (FreeBSD), Sam Leffler (FreeBSD) | |
| mwl | Marvell 88W8363 | Integrated since 8.0 | Yes [43] | BSD | Sam Leffler (FreeBSD) | ? |
| ral | Ralink Technology RT2500/ RT2501/ RT2600/RT3090/RT3592 | Integrated | On Device | BSD | Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD/ FreeBSD) | Based on partial documentation |
| ray | Raytheon Raylink/Webgear Aviator | Integrated / Removed in 8.0 | On Device | BSD | Imported from NetBSD | |
| rsu | Realtek RTL8188SU/RTL8192SU | Integrated since 10.0 | Yes | BSD | Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD), Imported from OpenBSD by Rui Paulo | ? |
| rum | Ralink RT2501USB/ RT2601USB | Integrated | No [44] | BSD | Niall O'Higgins and Damien Bergamini | Based on partial documentation |
| run | Ralink RT2700U/ RT2800U/ RT3000U | Integrated since 8.1 | No [44] | BSD | Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD), Imported from OpenBSD by Akinori Furukoshi | Based on partial documentation |
| uath | Atheros AR5005UG/ AR5005UX | Integrated since 8.0 | Yes [45] | BSD | Weongyo Jeong (FreeBSD), Sam Leffler (FreeBSD) | ? |
| upgt | GW3887 (Conexant/Intersil PrismGT series) | Integrated since 8.0 | Yes | BSD | Imported from OpenBSD | Reverse engineering |
| ural | Ralink Technology RT2500USB | Integrated | On Device | BSD | Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD/ FreeBSD) | Based on partial documentation |
| urtw | Realtek RTL8187L/ RTL8187B | Integrated since 8.0 | — [46] | BSD | Weongyo Jeong (FreeBSD) | ? |
| urtwn | Realtek RTL8188CU/RTL8188EU/RTL8192CU | Integrated since 10.0 | Yes | BSD | Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD/FreeBSD) | Reverse engineering |
| wi | Lucent Hermes (WaveLAN/ ORiNOCO); Intersil PRISM-2, PRISM-2.5, PRISM-3; Symbol Spectrum24 802.11B (Symbol support removed in 8.0) | Integrated | On Device | BSD | Bill Paul (FreeBSD) | Documentation based |
| wpi | Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG | Integrated | Yes | BSD | Damien Bergamini, Benjamin Close | Reverse engineering |
| zyd | ZyDAS ZD1211/ZD1211B | Integrated | No | BSD | Florian Stoehr, Damien Bergamini and Jonathan Gray (OpenBSD) | Documentation based |
| 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, 802.11n | 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 | No |
| 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 |
| run | 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 |
| Driver | Chipset | Integration | Free firmware [note 2] | License | Original/Primary developer | Development methodologies | Free software [note 3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| an | Aironet 4500/4800, Cisco Aironet 340/350 | Integrated | — | BSD | Bill Paul (FreeBSD) | Ported from FreeBSD | Yes |
| ath | Atheros AR521*/ AR2413/ AR2417/ AR5413/ AR5416/ AR5424/ AR9160 | Integrated | — | BSD | Sam Leffler (FreeBSD) | Binary blobs ported from FreeBSD | Yes |
| athn | Atheros AR5008 up to the AR9287 | Integrated | — | BSD | Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) | Ported from OpenBSD | Yes |
| atu | Atmel at76c503/ at76c503a/ at76c505/ at76c505a | Integrated | — | BSD | Dan Vreeken (FreeBSD) | Ported from OpenBSD | Yes |
| atw | ADMtek ADM8211 | Integrated | — | BSD | David Young (NetBSD) | Yes | |
| awi | AMD PCnetMobile | Integrated | — | BSD | Yes | ||
| bwi | Broadcom BCM430x/4318 | Integrated | — | BSD | Sepherosa Ziehau (DragonflyBSD) | Ported from Dragonfly BSD | Yes |
| cnw | Netwave AirSurfer | Integrated | — | 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 |
| iwm | Intel Wireless WiFi 7260, 7265, 3160 | Integrated | No | BSD | Antti Kantee (NetBSD) | Yes | |
| iwn | Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965/ 5000/ 1000/ 6000 | Integrated | No | BSD | Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) | Ported from OpenBSD | Yes |
| malo | Marvell 88W8335/88W8310 | Integrated | No | BSD | Claudio Jeker (OpenBSD) | Ported from OpenBSD | Yes |
| otus | Atheros AR9001U | Integrated | No | BSD | Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) | Ported from OpenBSD | Yes |
| ral | Ralink RT2500/ RT2501/ RT2600/ RT2500USB/RT3592 | Integrated | — | BSD | Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) | Ported from OpenBSD | Yes |
| ray | Raytheon Raylink / WebGear Aviator | Integrated | — | BSD | Christian E. Hopps (NetBSD) | Yes | |
| rtw | Realtek RTL8180L | Integrated | — | BSD | David Young (NetBSD) | Yes | |
| rtwn | Realtek RTL8188CE and RTL8192CE | Integrated | — | BSD | Stefan Sperling (OpenBSD) | Ported from OpenBSD | Yes |
| run | Ralink RT2700U, RT2800U and RT3000U | Integrated | — | BSD | Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) | Ported from OpenBSD | Yes |
| upgt | Conexant/Intersil PrismGT SoftMAC USB IEEE 802.11b/g | Integrated | — | BSD | Marcus Glocker (OpenBSD) | Ported from OpenBSD | Yes |
| urtw | Realtek RTL8187B/L | Integrated | No | BSD | Weongyo Jeong (FreeBSD) | Ported from FreeBSD | Yes |
| urtwn | Realtek RTL8188CUS, RTL8188CE-VAU, RTL8188EUS, RTL8188RU, and RTL8192CU | Integrated | No | BSD | Damien Bergamini (OpenBSD) | Ported from OpenBSD | Yes |
| wi | Lucent Technologies WaveLAN/IEEE and PRISM-II 802.11 | Integrated | No | BSD | Bill Paul | 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 |
The following is an incomplete list of supported wireless devices:
| Driver | Chipset | Integration | Free firmware [note 2] | License | Original/Primary developer | Development | Free software [note 3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| acx | Texas Instruments ACX100/ACX111 | Integrated | No [47] | BSD | Ported from DragonFlyBSD | Reverse engineering | Yes |
| an | Aironet 4500/4800, Cisco Aironet 340/350 | Integrated | — | BSD | Yes | ||
| ath | Atheros AR5210/ AR5211/ AR5212 | Integrated | — [3] | BSD | Reverse engineering | Yes | |
| athn | Atheros AR5416/AR9160/AR928X | Integrated (since 4.7) | Yes [48] | BSD | Damien Bergamini | Partly based on the ath9k driver for Linux | Yes |
| atu | Atmel AT76C503/ AT76C503A/ AT76C505/ AT76C505A | Integrated | Yes [49] | BSD | Reverse engineering | Yes | |
| atw | ADMtek ADM8211 | Integrated | — | BSD | Documentation based | Yes | |
| awi | BayStack 650 | 2.7 to 4.3 | — | BSD | Yes | ||
| bwfm | Broadcom and Cypress IEEE 802.11a/ac/ax/b/g/n wireless network device | 6.3+ | BSD | Patrick Wildt | Yes | ||
| bwi | Broadcom BCM430x/4318 | Integrated | No | BSD | Sepherosa Ziehau | Ported from DragonFly BSD | Yes |
| cnw | NetWave AirSurfer | 2.6 to 6.0 | — | BSD | Yes | ||
| ipw | Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 | Integrated | No [50] | BSD | Damien Bergamini | Reverse engineering | Yes |
| iwi | Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG/ 2225BG/ 2915ABG | Integrated | No [51] | BSD | Damien Bergamini | Reverse engineering | Yes |
| iwn | Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965/ 5000/ 1000/ 6000 | Integrated | No [52] | BSD | Damien Bergamini | Reverse engineering | Yes |
| iwm | Intel Wireless WiFi Link 3160ac/ 7260ac/ 7265ac | Integrated (since 5.8) | No [53] | BSD | Antti Kantee, [54] Stefan Sperling | Based on iwn, and iwlwifi driver released by Intel for Linux under dual GPLv2/BSD license [55] | Yes |
| malo | Marvell 88W8335/ 88W8310 | Integrated | No [56] | BSD | Marcus Glocker and Claudio Jeker | Reverse engineering [57] | Yes |
| otus | Atheros AR9170 | Integrated (since 4.6) | No [58] | 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 | No [59] | BSD | Ported from FreeBSD | Reverse engineering [60] | Yes |
| ral/ural | Ralink RT2500, RT2501, RT2600, RT2700, RT2800, RT3090, RT3292, RT3592 and RT5390 (ral), RT2500USB (ural) | Integrated | Yes [61] | BSD | Damien Bergamini | Documentation based | Yes |
| ray | Raytheon Raylink/WebGear Aviator IEEE 802.11FH | 2.7 to 5.4 | — | BSD | Yes | ||
| rsu | Realtek RTL8188SU/RTL8191SU/RTL8192SU | Integrated (since 4.9) | No | BSD | Damien Bergamini | Reverse engineering | Yes |
| rtw | Realtek RTL8180L | Integrated | — | BSD | Ported from NetBSD | Documentation based | Yes |
| rtwn | Realtek RTL8188CE/RTL8192CE | Integrated | No [62] | BSD | Stefan Sperling | Based on urtwn driver. | Yes |
| rum | Ralink RT2501USB/ RT2601USB | Integrated | Yes [44] | BSD | Niall O'Higgins and Damien Bergamini | Documentation based | Yes |
| run | Ralink RT2700U/ RT2800U/ RT3000U | Integrated | Yes [44] | BSD | Damien Bergamini | Documentation based | Yes |
| uath | Atheros AR5005UG/ AR5005UX | Integrated | No [63] | BSD | Damien Bergamini | Reverse Engineering [60] | Yes |
| upgt | GW3887 (Conexant/Intersil PrismGT series) | Integrated | No [64] | BSD | Marcus Glocker | Reverse engineering | Yes |
| urtw | Realtek RTL8187L | Integrated | — | BSD | Weongyo Jeong (FreeBSD) | ? | Yes |
| urtwn | Realtek RTL8188CU/RTL8192CU | Integrated (since 4.9) | No | BSD | Damien Bergamini | Reverse engineering | Yes |
| wi | Lucent Hermes (WaveLAN/ ORiNOCO); Intersil PRISM-2, PRISM-2.5, PRISM-3; Symbol Spectrum24 | Integrated | Yes for Spectrum24 [65] and N/A for others | BSD | Bill Paul | Documentation based | Yes |
| wpi [66] | Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG | Integrated | No [67] | BSD | Damien Bergamini | Reverse engineering | Yes |
| zyd | ZyDAS ZD1211/ZD1211B | Integrated | Yes [68] | BSD | Florian Stoehr, Damien Bergamini, and Jonathan Gray | Documentation based | Yes |
| Driver | Chipset | Integration | Free firmware [note 2] | License | Development | Free software [note 3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ath [69] [70] | Atheros AR5211/ AR5212/ AR5213/ AR5214 | Integrated with Solaris Nevada build 29 | No firmware required [3] | 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 | — | BSD | Ported from FreeBSD | Yes |
| pcwl | Lucent/Agere Systems Hermes (WaveLAN/ORiNOCO), Intersil PRISM-2 802.11b | Community project | — | BSD | Ported from FreeBSD | Yes |
| ral | Ralink RT2500 | Community project | — | BSD | Ported from OpenBSD | Yes |
| rtw | Realtek RTL8180L | Community project | — | BSD | Ported from NetBSD | Yes |
| malo | Marvell 88W8335/ 88W8310 | Community project | — | BSD | Ported from OpenBSD | Yes |
| wpi | Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG | Community project | No | BSD | Ported from OpenBSD | Yes |
| iwk | Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN | Community project | No | BSD | Ported from OpenBSD | Yes |
| arn | Atheros 9000 | Community project | No | BSD | based on ath9k | Yes |
| rwd | Ralink RT2561/RT2561S/RT2661 | Community project | No | BSD | Yes | |
| rwn | Ralink RT2700/2800 | Community project | No | BSD | Yes | |
| urtw | Realtek RTL8187L/B USB | Community project | No | BSD | Yes | |
| atu | Atmel AT76C50x | Community project | No | BSD | Yes | |
| mwl | Marvell 88W8363 | Community project | No | BSD | Yes | |
| ural | Ralink RT2500USB | Community project | No | BSD | Yes | |
| zyd | ZyDAS ZD1211 chipsets | Community project | Yes | BSD | Ported from OpenBSD | Yes |
| Driver | Chipset | Free firmware [note 2] | License | Development |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IWIDarwin | Intel PRO/Wireless 2100/2200BG/2225BG/2915ABG/3945ABG/4965AGN | No | GPL | Port from Linux |
| WirelessDriver [71] | Lucent/Agere Systems Hermes (WaveLAN/ORiNOCO), Intersil PRISM-2 802.11b | — | BSD | |
| "GTdriver". Archived from the original on 2021-06-14. | PRISM-GT 802.11b/g | — | GPL |
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 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(March 2016) |