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.
Driver
Station
AP
Ad-hoc
Adv. monitor FootNote(monitor all frames during regular operation) FootNote(wireless-dev development kernel only)
A/B/G
["en/users/Drivers/adm8211" adm8211 (ADMtek devices)]
yes
no
no
?
B
?
["en/users/Drivers/bcm43xx" bcm43xx (Broadcom chips)]
yes
yesFootNote(wireless-dev development kernel only)
yesFootNote(wireless-dev development kernel only)
yes
Yes
[http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/ Intel ipw2200]
yes
[http://sourceforge.net/projects/ipw2200-ap yes]
yes
no
A/B/G
No
["en/users/Drivers/p54" p54 (Intersil chips)]
yes
no
no
?
B/GFootNote(A/B/G devices not supported yet)
?
["en/users/Drivers/rt61pci" rt61pci]
yes
?
?
?
A/B/GFootNote(802.11a capabilities depend on the actual radio chip used)
?
["en/users/Drivers/rt73usb" rt73usb]
yes
?
?
?
B/G
?
["en/users/Drivers/rtl8187" rtl8187]
yes
no
no
?
B/G
?
["en/users/Drivers/zd1211rw" zd1211rw (ZyDAS ZD1211/ZD1211B chips)]
yes
no
no
?
B/GFootNote(A/B/G devices not supported yet)
Yes
["en/users/Drivers/madwifi" madwifi (All PCI and Cardbus Chips/NO USB Support)]FootNote(not in wireless-dev) /!\ NOT FULLY OPEN SOURCE
yes
yes
yes
yes
A/B/G
[http://snapshots.madwifi.org/dadwifi/ yes]FootNote(porting the driver is in active development)