urtwn(4) - NetBSD Manual Pages

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URTWN(4)                NetBSD Kernel Interfaces Manual               URTWN(4)


NAME

     urtwn -- Realtek RTL8188CU/RTL8188EU/RTL8192CU/RTL8192EU USB IEEE
     802.11b/g/n wireless network device


SYNOPSIS

     urtwn* at uhub? port ?


DESCRIPTION

     The urtwn driver supports USB 2.0 wireless network devices based on Real-
     tek RTL8188CUS, RTL8188CE-VAU, RTL8188EUS, RTL8188RU, RTL8192CU and
     RTL8192EU chipsets.

     The RTL8188CUS and RTL8188EUS are highly integrated 802.11n adapters that
     combine a MAC, a 1T1R capable baseband and an RF in a single chip.  They
     operate in the 2GHz spectrum only.  The RTL8188RU is a high-power variant
     of the RTL8188CUS.  The RTL8188CE-VAU is a PCI Express Mini Card adapter
     that attaches to the USB interface.

     The RTL8192CU and RTL8192EU are highly integrated multiple-in, multiple-
     out (MIMO) 802.11n adapters that combine 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 urtwn 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.

     IBSS mode      Also known as IEEE ad-hoc mode or peer-to-peer mode.  This
                    is the standardized method of operating without an access
                    point.  Stations associate with a service set.  However,
                    actual connections between stations are peer-to-peer.

     Host AP        In this mode the driver acts as an access point (base sta-
                    tion) for other cards.

     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 urtwn driver can be configured to use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
     or Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK).  WPA is the de facto
     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 urtwn 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 attached:

           /libdata/firmware/if_urtwn/rtl8188eufw.bin
           /libdata/firmware/if_urtwn/rtl8192cfw.bin
           /libdata/firmware/if_urtwn/rtl8192cfwU.bin
           /libdata/firmware/if_urtwn/rtl8192efw.bin


HARDWARE

     The following adapters should work:

           Airlink101 AWLL5088
           Aus. Linx AL-9604R1S
           ASUSTeK USB-N10 NANO
           B-Link BL-LW05-5R
           Belkin F7D1102 Surf Wireless Micro
           D-Link DWA-121
           D-Link DWA-131
           D-Link DWA-133
           D-Link DWA-135
           Digitus DN-7042
           Edimax EW-7811Un
           EDUP EP-N8508
           ELECOM WDC-150SU2M
           Full River FR-W100NUL
           Hercules Wireless N USB Pico HWNUp-150
           IO-DATA WN-G150UMW
           Netgear WNA1000A
           Planex GW-USEco300
           Planex GW-USNano2
           Planex GW-USValue-EZ
           Planex GW-USWExtreme
           POWCHIP POW-N18
           Sitecom N300 USB (WLA-2102 v1)
           Sitecom WL-365
           Solwise NET-WL-UMD-606N
           TP-LINK TL-WN723N v3
           TP-LINK TL-WN725N v2
           TRENDnet TEW-648UBM


EXAMPLES

     The following ifconfig.if(5) example configures urtwn0 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 urtwn0 192.168.1.1 netmask 0xffffff00 nwid my_net


DIAGNOSTICS

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

     urtwn%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), usb(4), ifconfig.if(5), wpa_supplicant.conf(5),
     ifconfig(8), wpa_supplicant(8)


HISTORY

     The urtwn device driver first appeared in OpenBSD 4.9 and in NetBSD 6.0.


AUTHORS

     The urtwn driver was written by Damien Bergamini <damien@openbsd.org> for
     OpenBSD and ported to NetBSD by NONAKA Kimihiro <nonaka@NetBSD.org>.


CAVEATS

     The urtwn 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                    December 17, 2018                   NetBSD 10.1