Cisco Aironet 340/350 (PCMCIA and Mini-PCI)

Provider:

Linux kernel

Driver:

airo

Status

Supports unencrypted and WEP networks

Edimax EW-7108PCg

Provider:

Linux kernel via http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com/

Driver:

rt61pci

Status:

Supports unencrypted and WEP, WPA, and WPA2 networks

Atmel at76c50x-based (PCMCIA and Mini-PCI)

Provider:

Linux kernel

Driver:

atmel

Status:

Supports unencrypted and WEP networks

Intel Pro Wireless 2100

Provider:

Linux kernel via http://ipw2100.sourceforge.net

Driver:

ipw2100

Status:

Supports unencrypted, WEP, WPA, and WPA2 networks

Intel Pro Wireless 2200/2915

Provider:

Linux kernel via http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net

Driver:

ipw2200

Status:

Supports unencrypted, WEP, WPA, and WPA2 networks. Note that with certain kernels versions or distribution packaging, it may not allow connection to WPA crypted networks, reporting an unsupported Wireless extension version of the kernel to be able to use wpa_supplicant with wext mode.

Intel Pro Wireless 3945

Provider:

Linux kernel via http://intellinuxwireless.org/

Driver:

ipw3945

Status:

Supports unencrypted, WEP, WPA, and WPA2 networks. Unstable with NetworkManager 0.6.4 on FC5.

Atheros 521x (madwifi, madwifi-ng)

Provider:

http://madwifi.org

Driver:

wlan

Status:

Old 'madwifi' driver supports unencrypted, WEP, WPA, and WPA2. Newer 'madwifi-ng' driver should also work for all network types, and is now preferred though it may still have some issues. These cards also take an awful long time to scan, which further degrades their responsiveness.

Broadcom BCM43xx / Airport Extreme

Provider:

http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43

Driver:

b43

Status:

Superscedes the bcm43xx in Linux 2.6.24 and above.

Lucent WaveLAN / Orinoco

Provider:

Linux kernel

Driver:

orinoco

Status:

Supports unencrypted and WEP networks. Be sure to get a Linux kernel version of 2.6.13 or higher to get the version of this driver that supports wireless scanning.

Airport

Provider:

Linux kernel

Driver:

airport

Status:

Supports unencrypted and WEP networks. Be sure to get a Linux kernel version of 2.6.13 or higher to get the version of this driver that supports wireless scanning.

Prism 2/2.5 (hostap)

Provider:

Linux kernel

Driver:

hostap

Status:

Supports unencrypted, WEP, WPA, and WPA2 networks. Be aware that if you have both this driver and the 'orinoco' driver installed, they may fight for control of the wireless card and render it inoperable to NetworkManager. You should either disable one of these drivers, or ensure that only one driver is able to control the card.

Prism54 (fullmac)

Provider:

Linux kernel

Driver:

prism54

Status:

Supports unencrypted and WEP networks. This driver only works with early versions of Prism54 cards (ie, NetGear WG511 v1 and v2 (Taiwan) and others). Later versions of this chipset, both Mini-PCI and USB, need a different driver; see the entries for p54 and islsm for more info. The prism54 driver that comes with the 2.6.19 Linux kernel claims to use WE-19 for WPA support, thanks to the work of Dan Williams.

TI ACX100 / ACX111

Provider:

http://acx100.sourceforge.net

Driver:

acx100

Status:

Works for unencrypted and WEP networks.

Atmel at76c5XXx-based (USB)

Provider:

http://at76c503a.berlios.de/

Driver:

at76_usb

Status:

Current CVS (as of August 2006) works well with WEP and unencrypted networks.

p54

Provider:

Linux wireless-dev tree

Driver:

p54

Status:

Works with Linux 2.6.22 and later. Works on my WEP network.

islsm

Provider:

Doesn't seem to have a web site. GIT archive of current source available at http://islsm.org/~jb/islsm/islsm.git/

Driver:

islsm

Status:

Works with my WEP network, presumably unencrypted networks also work. Don't know if WPA encryption will work. islsm does not work with Linux >= 2.6.20. As of Linux 2.6.22 you should use the p54 driver instead.

Zydas

Provider:

Linux Kernel

Driver:

zd1211rw

Status:

Older drivers did not support WEXT, however recent reports indicate that the newer drivers now properly support WEXT and unencrypted, WEP, and WPA networks work. See this link for more details: http://mail.gnome.org/archives/networkmanager-list/2007-March/msg00238.html

RaLink rt2x00

Provider:

http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com

Driver:

rt2x00

Status:

Supports unencrypted and WEP networks when used with NetworkManager. While the driver supports WPA, it does not use Linux Wireless Extensions for WPA support, which is required for NetworkManager. Note: WPA/WPA2 is working since kernel-2.6.22 with the new Wireless-Stack and the latest rt2x00 CVS version.

Atmel at76c5XXx-based (USB)

Provider:

http://atmelwlandriver.sourceforge.net

Driver:

Status:

As of late 2005, the driver had only rudimentary support for Linux Wireless Extensions, which is required for NetworkManager. Therefore, it does not work.

Ralink rt2571W-based (USB)

Provider:

http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com/

Driver:

rt73

Status:

Doesn't work with NetworkManager, but driver is good enough to get WEP/unencrypted connections "by hand"