Status of Atheros Wifi Hardware
| Driver | HAL | Supported Hardware | 802.11n support | Debugging |
Supported NICs
Generally speaking, all 802.11abgn NICs are supported, save the AR5513 MIMO 802.11abg NIC.
Anything listed on http://wikidevi.com/wiki/Atheros should be supported.
However:
- The AR5513 is not supported
- The AR5523 USB NIC is supported by uath(4)
- The AR7010 and AR9271 NICs are not yet supported - the USB glue needs writing for ath(4).
- The 802.11ac devices will be supported by an alternate driver (not yet written.)
Supported Chipsets
This is a list of chipsets which the ath(4) and ath_hal(4) code supports.
Chipset
Bus
MAC
Radio
Description
Antennas
802.11n Spatial Streams
Notes
AR5210
PCI
AR5210
AR5210
802.11a only, first generation
2
N/A
AR5211
PCI
AR5211
AR5211
802.11a / 802.11b / "pure-G" (no 11bg)
2
N/A
AR5212
PCI
AR5212
Various
802.11bg/802.11a chipsets
2
N/A
AR2413
PCI/PCIe
Integrated
AR5413
PCI/PCIe
AR5424
PCIe
AR2417
PCI
AR5213
?
AR5416
PCI
AR5416
AR2133 (2ghz) / AR5133 (2/5ghz)
802.11bg(a)n
3
2x2
AR5418
PCIe
AR5416
AR9130
PCI
AR9130
AR2133 (2ghz)
802.11bgn
3
2x2
Embedded; part of the AR913x CPU SoC
AR9160
PCI
AR9160
AR9103 (2ghz) / AR9106 (2/5ghz)
802.11bg(a)n
3
2x2
AR9220
PCI
AR9280
various
802.11bg(a)n
2
2x2
AR9280
PCIe
AR9280
integrated
802.11bg(a)n
2
2x2
AR9281
PCIe
AR9280
integrated
802.11bgn
2
1 TX, 2 RX
This requires an up to date -HEAD for the TX/RX chain configuration to be successfully read from EEPROM
AR9283
PCIe
AR9280
integrated
802.11bgn
2
2x2
AR9285
PCIe
AR9285
integrated
802.11bgn
2
1x1
AR2427
PCIe
AR9285
integrated
802.11bg
2
N/A
This is an AR9285 but without the 11n functionality
AR9287
PCIe
AR9287
integrated
802.11bgn
2
2x2
Supports Short-GI in HT/20 mode
AR9227
PCI
AR9287
Known chipset issues/limitations/bugs
AR5416 / AR5418
- interrupt read-and-clear bug
- PHY register read corruption bug
- 8K max aggregate size if RTS protected, otherwise 64K max size
- radar detection limited to primary channel only
- can't do 4-addr frames with aggregation; thus it can't participate in WDS without local (Atheros) extensions
- block-ack issues with multi-ssid mode (?); thus aggregation is only supported on the first (lowest?) mac address. Or, just don't create more than one virtual 11n-enabled interface.
- per-packet TPC can't set a TX Power value of 0dBm, the lowest valid value is 0.5dBm.
AR9130
- interrupt read-and-clear bug
- PHY register read corruption bug
- interrupt mitigation isn't supported? (XXX this should be verified!)
- block-ack issues with multi-ssid mode - fixed in revision 1.4.
AR9160
- interrupt read-and-clear bug
- PHY register read corruption bug
- radar detection hang?
- mac hangs? (check capabilities in HAL)
- baseband hangs? (check capabilities in HAL)
AR9220/AR9280
- interrupt read-and-clear bug
- baseband hangs?
AR9285
- interrupt read-and-clear bug
- software-driven receive antenna diversity is implemented but not enabled (and only currently will be useful for station mode.) This isn't a hardware bug; it's a driver issue.
AR9227/AR9287
- interrupt read-and-clear bug
Chipsets which I'll be working on
I'll be working on these chipsets once bugs/issues in the above are sorted out.
AR93xx, AR94xx, AR95xx, AR96xx - the descriptor handling and data path modifications are in -HEAD; the HAL is now open source. See dev/ath_hal(4)/AR9300 for more information.
Chipsets I won't be working on
- USB chipsets, in particular the AR7010+AR9280, AR9271 or the AR9170 chipset
- although if someone would like to work on these, I'll be happy to help them with it
Vendor Sources
- In the past, Ubquiti Networks (www.ubnt.com) shipped Atheros based boards and NICs. Any/all NICs from Ubiquiti work - however now they've moved to integrated units that include the wireless hardware onboard.
- These NICs are known to work: SR2, SR5, XR2, XR5, SR71-A, SR71-12, SR71-15, PCIe SR71
- Unex (www.unex.com.tw) ship a variety of Atheros NICs.
Their Mini-PCI NICs (http://www.unex.com.tw/wi-fi/mini-pci) should work - in particular, the AR9160 based NICs are known to work extremely well.
Their Mini-PCIe NICs (http://www.unex.com.tw/wi-fi/pcie-mini-card) all work with the AR9380 HAL - except their new 802.11ac NIC. That requires a new driver.
Hardware Matrix
The following is a list of hardware I've used/tested on FreeBSD-HEAD.
Note that "Max TX power" normally refers to TX power at low rates (<24mbit.)
Hardware I own
Card
MAC
PHY
Revision Info
Bus
Modes
Max TX Power
Support
Problems
Last known good SVN revision
Ubiquiti SR71A
AR9160-AC1E
AR9106-AL1A
ath0: AR9160 mac 64.0 RF5133 phy 11.0
Mini-PCI
abgn
16dBm per radio; 3x TX radios
Works Well
Hostap in 11bg and 11a works well; Station mode works well
HEAD
Ubiquiti SR-2
AR5213A-001
MiniPCI
bg
26dBm
Works Well
WPA in hostapd mode is broken until the first group rekey
HEAD
Ubiquiti SR71A-12
AR9220
MiniPCI
bgn
26dBm
Broken
Currently broken and causes a PCI bus panic; need to investigate why
HEAD
Ubiquiti SR71A-15
AR9220
ath0: AR9280 mac 128.2 RF5133 phy 13.0
MiniPCI
an
26dBm
Works Well
STA and HostAP modes work well at full TX power mode
HEAD
Ubiquiti SR71E
AR9280
MiniPCIe
abgn
26dBm
Works well
Works well in all operating modes, STA/Hostap, legacy and 802.11n
HEAD
?
AR9283
ath0: AR9280 mac 128.2 RF5133 phy 13.0
Mini-PCIe
bgn
??
Works Well
Station mode is stable; hostap mode has not been tested; this is an open-loop TX power control board
HEAD r217921
?
AR2427 (AR9285 w/ 11n disabled)
ath0: AR9285 mac 192.2 RF5133 phy 14.0
Mini-PCIe
bg
??
Stable
11bg STA is stable
AR5BMB
AR5416-AC1A
?
ath1: AR5416 mac 13.10 RF5133 phy 8.1
MiniPCI
abgn
?
Stable
11bg STA is stable
-HEAD
?
AR9285
?
ath0: AR9285 mac 192.2 RF5133 phy 14.0
Mini-PCIe
bgn
?
Stable
11bg STA is stable
-HEAD
Unex DNMA-83
AR9160-BC1A
?
ath0: AR9160 mac 64.1 RF5133 phy 11.0
Mini-PCI
abgn
?
Stable
Stable in 11bg/11a; STA/hostap
-HEAD
AR9287
AR9287-BL1A
integrated
ath0: AR9287 mac 384.2 RF5133 phy 15.15
Mini-PCIe
bgn
?
Stable
Stable in 11bg/11gn; STA/hostap
-HEAD
MB97
AR9227
integrated
Mini-PCI
bgn
?
Stable
Sable in 11bg/11gn; STA/Hostap; this is a Kite rev 1.1 reference design
-HEAD
DBii F52N-PRO
AR9220-AC1A
integrated
Mini-PCI
abgn
??
Partially stable
4.9 and 5ghz stable; the NIC has issues w/ 2.4ghz channels
-HEAD
MB51
AR2413
RF2413 (integrated)
ath1: AR2413 mac 7.8 RF2413 phy 4.5
Mini-PCI
bg
?
Stable
This is an AR2413 reference design
MB55
AR2417
AR5424 (integrated)
AR2417 mac 15.0 RF5424 phy 7.0
Mini-PCI
bg
?
Stable
Stable in 11bg STA/Hostap; this is an AR2417 reference design
Reports from other users
AR5B95
AR9285
?
ath0: AR9285 mac 192.2 RF5133 phy 14.0
Mini-PCIe
bgn
?
Stable
Stable in station mode
-HEAD
3Com 3CRWE154A72
AR5212
ath0: AR5212 mac 5.6 RF5112 phy 4.1
PCMCIA
abg
?
Stable
Hostap untested
HEAD r221669