The
ath driver provides support for wireless network adapters based on the Atheros AR2413, AR2417, AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, AR5213, AR5413, AR5416, AR5424, and AR9160 chips. Chip-specific support is provided by the Atheros Hardware Access Layer (HAL).
Supported features include 802.11 and 802.3 frames, power management, BSS, IBSS, and host-based access point operation modes. All host/device interaction is via DMA.
The
ath driver encapsulates all IP and ARP traffic as 802.11 frames, however it can receive either 802.11 or 802.3 frames. Transmit speed and operating mode is selectable depending on your hardware.
AR5210-based devices support 802.11a operation with transmit speeds of 6 Mbps, 9 Mbps, 12 Mbps, 18 Mbps, 24 Mbps, 36 Mbps, 48 Mbps, and 54 Mbps.
AR5211-based devices support 802.11a and 802.11b operation with transmit speeds as above for 802.11a operation and 1Mbps, 2Mbps, 5.5 Mbps and 11Mbps for 802.11b operation.
AR5212-based and AR5213-based devices support 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g operation with transmit speeds appropriate to each.
All chips also support an Atheros Turbo Mode (TM) that operates in the 802.11a frequency range with 2x the transmit speeds. (This mode is, however, only interoperable with other Atheros-based devices.)
The actual transmit speed used is dependent on signal quality and the “rate control” algorithm employed by the driver. All chips support WEP encryption. AR5211 and AR5212 support the AES, TKIP, and Michael cryptographic operations required for WPA but at this time the driver does not support them. To enable encryption, use
ifconfig(8).
By default, the
ath driver configures the card for BSS operation (aka infrastructure mode). This mode requires the use of an access point (base station).
The
ath driver also supports the standard IBSS point-to-point mode where stations can communicate amongst themselves without the aid of an access point.
The driver may also be configured to operate in hostap mode. In this mode a host may function as an access point (base station). Access points are different than operating in IBSS mode. They operate in BSS mode. They allow for easier roaming and bridge all Ethernet traffic such that machines connected via an access point appear to be on the local Ethernet segment.
The mode of operation is chosen by specifying the appropriate mediaopt value to ifconfig. The
-m flag to ifconfig will list the available options.
For more information on configuring this device, see
ifconfig(8).
Devices supported by the
ath driver come in either CardBus or mini-PCI packages. Wireless cards in CardBus slots may be inserted and ejected on the fly.
The following cards are among those supported by the
ath driver:
3Com 3CRPAG175
AR5212
CardBus
a/b/g
Airlink AWLH4030
AR5212
PCI
b/g
Aztech WL830PC
AR5212
CardBus
b/g
Belkin F6D3000
AR5212
PCI
a/b/g
D-Link DWL-A520
AR5210
PCI
a
D-Link DWL-A650
AR5210
CardBus
a
D-Link DWL-AB650
AR5211
CardBus
a/b
D-Link DWL-AG520
AR5212
PCI
a/b/g
D-Link DWL-AG650
AR5212
CardBus
a/b/g
D-Link DWL-AG660
AR521?
CardBus
a/b/g
D-Link DWL-G520
AR5212
PCI
b/g
D-Link DWL-G650B
AR5212
CardBus
b/g
Elecom LD-WL54
AR5211
CardBus
a
Elecom LD-WL54AG
AR5212
CardBus
a/b/g
Fujitsu E5454
AR5212
CardBus
a/b/g
Fujitsu E5454
AR5212
CardBus
a/b/g
Fujitsu FMV-JW481
AR5212
CardBus
a/b/g
HP NC4000
AR5212
PCI
a/b/g
I/O Data WN-A54
AR5212
CardBus
a
I/O Data WN-AB
AR5212
CardBus
a/b
I/O Data WN-AG
AR5212
CardBus
a/b/g
Linksys WMP55AG
AR5212
PCI
a/b/g
Linksys WPC51AB
AR5211
CardBus
a/b
Linksys WPC55AG
AR5212
CardBus
a/b/g
NEC PA-WL/54AG
AR5212
CardBus
a/b/g
Netgear WAB501
AR5211
CardBus
a/b
Netgear WAG311
AR5212
PCI
a/b/g
Netgear WAG511
AR5212
CardBus
a/b/g
Netgear WG311
AR5212
PCI
b/g
Netgear WG511T
AR5212
CardBus
b/g
Orinoco 8470WD
AR5212
CardBus
a/b/g
Orinoco 8480
AR5212
CardBus
a/b/g
Planex GW-NS54AG
AR5212
CardBus
a/b/g
Proxim Skyline 4030
AR5210
CardBus
a
Proxim Skyline 4032
AR5210
PCI
a
Samsung SWL-5200N
AR5212
CardBus
a/b/g
SMC SMC2735W
AR5210
CardBus
a
Sony PCWA-C300S
AR5212
CardBus
b/g
Sony PCWA-C500
AR5210
CardBus
a
Sony PCWA-C700
AR5212
CardBus
a/b
Ubiquiti SRC
AR5213
CardBus
a/b/g
An up to date list can be found at
http://customerproducts.atheros.com/customerproducts.