Recommended Wireless Hardware

A variety of wireless cards can be used in FreeBSD 15.0-CURRENT@bf06074106cf, and pfSense® software includes drivers for every card supported by FreeBSD. Some have better implementations than others. Most development of wireless features on pfSense software uses Atheros hardware, so they are the most likely to work. Users have reported success with other cards as well, with Ralink being another popular choice.

FreeBSD and pfSense software may work with other cards, but those cards may not offer all available features. In particular, some cards manufactured by Intel can be used in infrastructure mode as clients but cannot run in access point mode due to limitations of the hardware itself.

Wireless cards from big name vendors

Linksys, D-Link, Netgear and other major manufacturers commonly change the chipset used in their wireless cards without changing the model number. There is no way to ensure a specific model card from these vendors will be compatible because there is no reliable way of knowing which “minor” card revision and chip a package contains. While one revision of a particular model may be compatible and work well, another card of the same model may be incompatible. For this reason, the best practice is to avoid cards from major manufacturers. If a card is already on hand, it is worth trying to see if it is compatible. Be wary when purchasing because even if the “same” model worked for someone else, a new purchase may result in a completely different piece of hardware that is incompatible.

Status of 802.11n

pfSense software version 2.8.0-RELEASE is based on FreeBSD 15.0-CURRENT@bf06074106cf which can utilize 802.11n on certain hardware such as those based on the Atheros AR9280 and AR9220 chipsets. Netgate has tested cards using those chipsets and they work well. Some other non-Atheros cards are documented by FreeBSD to work on 802.11n, specifically, mwl(4) and iwn(4). These may work using the 802.11n standard but experiences with 802.11n speeds may vary.

The FreeBSD Wiki Article for 802.11n Support contains the most up-to-date information about chipsets and drivers that work with 802.11n.

Status of 802.11ac

Currently, 802.11ac in FreeBSD is still under development, so it is not available in pfSense software. Development on FreeBSD can be tracked by checking the FreeBSD Wiki Article for 802.11ac Support.

Radio Frequencies and Dual Band

Some cards can utilize both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, such as the Atheros AR9280, but only one band may be used at a time. Currently, there are no cards working in FreeBSD that will operate in both bands concurrently. Using two separate cards in one unit is not desirable as their radios may interfere. In cases which require dual or multiple bands, the best practice is to use an external AP.

Wireless drivers included in pfSense software

This section lists the wireless drivers included in pfSense software and their compatible chipsets. This information was derived from the FreeBSD man pages for the drivers in question. Drivers in FreeBSD are referred to by their driver name, followed by (4), such as ath(4). The (4) refers to the kernel interfaces section of the man page collection, in this case specifying a network driver. The drivers are listed in order of frequency of use based on reports from users.

Access Point (hostap) Mode Cards

The cards in this section are capable of acting as an access point to accept connections from other wireless clients. This is referred to as hostap mode.

ath(4)

The ath(4) driver is for cards based on the Atheros AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, AR5416, and AR92xx APIs which are used by many other Atheros chips of varying model numbers. Most Atheros cards can offer up to four virtual access points (VAPs), stations, or a combination to create a wireless repeater.

Though not explicitly listed in the man page, the FreeBSD Wiki Article for 802.11n Support also states that the driver is compatible with AR9130, AR9160, AR9280, AR9285, AR9287, and potentially other related chipsets.

ral(4) / ural(4) / run(4) / rum(4)

There are several related Ralink Technology IEEE 802.11 wireless network drivers, each for a different set and type of card.

ral(4):

Cards based on the Ralink Technology RT2500, RT2501 and RT2600, RT2700, RT2800, RT2900, RT3090, and RT3900E chipsets.

ural(4):

RT2500USB.

run(4):

RT2700U, RT2800U, RT3000U, RT3900E, and similar.

rum(4):

RT2501USB and RT2601USB and similar.

Of these, only certain chips compatible with run(4) can utilize VAPs.

The RT3090 ral(4) chip is the only model listed as capable of 802.11n on FreeBSD. The RT2700 and RT2800 ral(4) and the RT3900E run(4) hardware are capable of 802.11n, but the drivers on FreeBSD do not currently implement 802.11n features.

mwl(4)

The Marvell IEEE 802.11 wireless network driver, mwl(4), is compatible with cards based on the 88W8363 chipset and fully implements 802.11n. This card offers multiple VAPs and stations, up to eight of each.

Client (station) Mode Only Cards

The cards in this section are not capable of acting as access points, but may be used as clients in station mode, for example as a wireless WAN.

uath(4)

Atheros USB 2.0 wireless devices using AR5005UG and AR5005UX chipsets are compatible with the uath(4) driver.

ipw(4) / iwi(4) / iwn(4) / wpi(4)

Intel wireless network drivers cover various models with different drivers.

ipw(4):

Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 MiniPCI adapters.

iwi(4):

Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG/2915ABG MiniPCI and 2225BG PCI adapters.

iwn(4):

Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 4965, 1000, 5000 and 6000 series PCI Express adapters.

wpi(4):

Intel 3945ABG adapters.

Cards compatible with the iwn(4) driver are documented by FreeBSD as capable of using 802.11n in client mode.

Several Intel adapters have a license restriction with a warning that appears in the boot log. The ipw(4), iwi(4), and wpi(4) drivers have license files that must be read and agreed to. These licenses are located on the firewall in /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_ipw/LICENSE, /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_iwi/LICENSE, and usr/share/doc/legal/intel_wpi/LICENSE respectively. To agree to the license, and Loader Tunables indicate the license acknowledgment, such as:

legal.intel_ipw.license_ack=1

Given the limited use of these adapters as clients only, development of a GUI-based solution to acknowledge these licenses is unlikely.

bwi(4) / bwn(4)

The Broadcom BCM43xx IEEE 802.11b/g wireless driver is split in two depending on the specific models in use.

bwi(4):

BCM4301, BCM4303, BCM4306, BCM4309, BCM4311, BCM4318, BCM4319 using an older v3 version of the Broadcom firmware.

bwn(4):

BCM4309, BCM4311, BCM4312, BCM4318, BCM4319 using a newer v4 version of the Broadcom firmware.

Driver compatibility overlaps for some cards. The bwn(4) driver is preferred for compatible cards while the bwi(4) driver must be used on the older cards not covered by bwn(4).

malo(4)

Marvell Libertas IEEE 802.11b/g wireless driver, malo(4) is compatible with cards using the 88W8335 chipset.

upgt(4)

The Conexant/Intersil PrismGT SoftMAC USB IEEE 802.11b/g wireless driver, upgt(4), compatible with cards using the GW3887 chipset.

urtw(4) / urtwn(4) / rsu(4)

The trio of related Realtek wireless drivers cover several different models:

urtw(4):

RTL8187B/L USB IEEE 802.11b/g models with a RTL8225 radio

urtwn(4):

RTL8188CU/RTL8188EU/RTL8192CU 802.11b/g/n

rsu(4):

RTL8188SU/RTL8192SU 802.11b/g/n

As in other similar cases, though the chips compatible with urtwn(4) and rsu(4) are capable of 802.11n, FreeBSD does not implement their 802.11n features.

zyd(4)

The ZyDAS ZD1211/ZD1211B USB IEEE 802.11b/g wireless network device driver, zyd(4), compatible with adapters using the ZD1211 and ZD1211B USB chips.