Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- compatibility_drivers [2017/08/18 21:44] – Example: Added pictures mister_x
+++ compatibility_drivers [2018/07/20 23:16] (current) – italics for "Details" pane mister_x
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
   * See this [[faq#what_is_the_best_wireless_card_to_buy|FAQ entry]] if your question is "What is the best wireless card to buy?".
-This section deals with a three related areas:
+This section deals with two related areas:
   * Determine the chipset of a wireless card
   * Determine the driver for a wireless card
-The previous version of this page can found [[compatibility_drivers|here]].
+The previous version of this page can found [[compatibility_drivers_old|here]].
 ===== Determine the chipset =====
-There are two manufacturers involved with wireless cards. The first is the brand of the card itself.  Examples of card manufacturers are Netgear, Ubiquiti , Linksys, Interl and D-Link. There are many, many manufacturers beyond the examples give here.
+There are two manufacturers involved with wireless cards. The first is the brand of the card itself.  Examples of card manufacturers are Netgear, Ubiquiti , Linksys, Intel and D-Link. There are many, many manufacturers beyond the examples give here.
 The second manufacturer is who makes the wireless chipset within the card. For example, Ralink, Atheros, Qualcomm. This is the most important company to know.  Unfortunately, it is sometimes the hardest to determine. This is because card manufacturers generally don't want to reveal what they use inside their card. However, for our purposes, it is critical to know the wireless chipset manufacturer. Knowing the wireless chipset manufacturer allows you to determine which operating systems are supported, software drivers you need and what limitations are associated with them. The next section describes the operating systems supported and limitations by chipset.
@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 You first need to determine what wireless chipset your card uses. This can be done by one or more of these techniques:
-  *Search the internet for "<your card model> chipset" or "<your card model> linux" or "<your card model> wikidevi>. Quite often you can find references to what chipset your card uses and/or other people's experiences.
+  *Search the internet for "<your card model> chipset" or "<your card model> linux" or "<your card model> wikidevi". Quite often you can find references to what chipset your card uses and/or other people's experiences.
   *Search the [[https://forum.aircrack-ng.org/|Forum]]
   *You may also have a look at windows driver file names, it's often the name of the chipset or the driver to use.
@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
 ====== Determine the driver ======
-Once you have determined the chipset, check the [[compatibility_drivers#drivers|driver]] section for which software driver you need. Software drivers connect the operating system to the hardware. The drivers are different for each operating system. There are also notes regarding limitations.
-If you are deciding on which card to purchase, check the "[[compatibility_drivers#which_is_the_best_card_to_buy|Which is the best card to buy?]]" section on this page. There are many considerations that should go into your purchase decision:
+Once you have determined the chipset, chances are you already have identified the driver on Linux. If not, match the chipset against the "other resources" above to figure out the driver.
+On Linux, there can be multiple drivers:
+- Vendor driver: those do not and will not support monitor mode
+- Peer-modified vendor driver: In some cases, they may support monitor mode but there could be caveats
+- Staging driver: Standalone driver has been added to the [[http://www.kroah.com/log/linux/linux-staging-update.html|Linux Staging tree]]. However, quality of the driver is unknown and needs more work to be included in the kernel
+- Kernel/mac80211 driver: In this case, chances are, monitor mode is supported. Injection may or may not be supported
+If you are deciding on which card to purchase, check the "[[faq#what_is_the_best_wireless_card_to_buy|What is the best wireless card to buy?]]" section on this page. There are many considerations that should go into your purchase decision:
   *Hardware compatibility with your existing equipment.
@@ Line 62: / Line 69: @@
 It also lists the IDs (**0bda:8812**) which is what would be returned on Linux with the //lsusb// command, right next to **ID**.
-If it were on Windows, even if the drivers were not installed, looking in the device manager, that ID would be found in Details pane of the device itself, in the property "Hardware IDs". This is also displayed in WikiDevi: **USB\VID_0BDA&PID_8812** (this is the same as the IDs on Linux, they're just uppercase and they contain some text around: USB device, VID stands for Vendor ID, PID stands for product ID).
+If it were on Windows, even if the drivers were not installed, looking in the device manager, that ID would be found in //Details// pane of the device itself, in the property "Hardware IDs". This is also displayed in WikiDevi: **USB\VID_0BDA&PID_8812** (this is the same as the IDs on Linux, they're just uppercase and they contain some text around: USB device, VID stands for Vendor ID, PID stands for product ID).
 {{:awus036ac_wikidevi_2.png?200 |}}