rtwn(4) - NetBSD Manual Pages

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RTWN(4)                 NetBSD Kernel Interfaces Manual                RTWN(4)


NAME

     rtwn -- Realtek RTL8188CE/RTL8192CE PCIe IEEE 802.11b/g/n wireless net-
     work device


SYNOPSIS

     rtwn* at pci? dev ? function ?


DESCRIPTION

     The rtwn driver supports PCIe wireless network devices based on the Real-
     tek RTL8188CE and RTL8192CE chipset.

     The RTL8188CE is a highly integrated 802.11n adapter that combines a MAC,
     a 1T1R capable baseband and an RF in a single chip.  It operates in the
     2GHz spectrum only.

     The RTL8192CE is a highly integrated multiple-in, multiple-out (MIMO)
     802.11n adapter that combines a MAC, a 2T2R capable baseband and an RF in
     a single chip.  It operates in the 2GHz spectrum only.

     These are the modes the rtwn driver can operate in:

     BSS mode       Also known as infrastructure mode, this is used when asso-
                    ciating with an access point, through which all traffic
                    passes.  This mode is the default.

     monitor mode   In this mode the driver is able to receive packets without
                    associating with an access point.  This disables the
                    internal receive filter and enables the card to capture
                    packets from networks which it wouldn't normally have
                    access to, or to scan for access points.

     The rtwn driver can be configured to use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
     or Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK).  WPA is the current
     encryption standard for wireless networks.  It is strongly recommended
     that WEP not be used as the sole mechanism to secure wireless communica-
     tion, due to serious weaknesses in it.

     The rtwn driver can be configured at runtime with ifconfig(8) or on boot
     with ifconfig.if(5).


FILES

     The driver needs the following firmware files, which are loaded when an
     interface is brought up:

           /libdata/firmware/if_rtwn/rtl8192cfw.bin
           /libdata/firmware/if_rtwn/rtl8192cfwU.bin
           /libdata/firmware/if_rtwn/rtl8192cfwU_B.bin


EXAMPLES

     The following ifconfig.if(5) example configures rtwn0 to join whatever
     network is available on boot, using WEP key ``0x1deadbeef1'', channel 11,
     obtaining an IP address using DHCP:

           nwkey 0x1deadbeef1 chan 11
           dhcp

     Join an existing BSS network, ``my_net'':

           # ifconfig rtwn0 192.168.1.1 netmask 0xffffff00 nwid my_net


DIAGNOSTICS

     rtwn%d: could not read firmware ...  For some reason, the driver was
     unable to read the microcode file from the filesystem.  The file might be
     missing or corrupted.

     rtwn%d: device timeout  A frame dispatched to the hardware for transmis-
     sion did not complete in time.  The driver will reset the hardware.  This
     should not happen.


SEE ALSO

     arp(4), netintro(4), pci(4), ifconfig.if(5), wpa_supplicant.conf(5),
     ifconfig(8), wpa_supplicant(8)


HISTORY

     The rtwn driver first appeared in OpenBSD 5.8 and in NetBSD 8.0.


AUTHORS

     The rtwn driver was written by Stefan Sperling <stsp@openbsd.org> for
     OpenBSD and ported to NetBSD by NONAKA Kimihiro <nonaka@NetBSD.org>.  It
     was based on the urtwn(4) driver written by Damien Bergamini
     <damien.bergamini@free.fr>.


CAVEATS

     The rtwn driver does not support any of the 802.11n capabilities offered
     by the adapters.  Additional work is required in ieee80211(9) before
     those features can be supported.

NetBSD 10.1                     August 27, 2015                    NetBSD 10.1