MadWifi is short for Multiband Atheros Driver for Wireless Fidelity.

MadWifi comes from Multiband Atheros Driver for Wireless Fidelity. In other words: this project provides a Linux kernel device driver for Atheros-based Wireless LAN devices.

The driver works such that your WLAN card will appear as a normal network interface in the system. Additionally there is support for the Wireless Extensions API. This allows you to configure the device using common wireless tools (ifconfig, iwconfig and friends).

Here are some key features of "madwifi":

· Operational Modes:
· sta -- Station, a.k.a. infrastructure or managed. This device acting as typical WLAN client station. This is the default mode if not otherwise specified.
· ap -- Access Point, a.k.a. master. This device acts as the Access Point for other WLAN client stations.
· adhoc -- Ad-hoc. a.k.a. IBSS mode. This device is in a peer-to-peer(s) WLAN without the need for an Access Point.
· ahdemo -- Ad-hoc Demo. This is an older, non-802.11 compliant, proprietary ad-hoc mode.
· monitor -- Monitor. This device can be used to "sniff" raw 802.11 frames.
· wds -- Wireless Distribution System. This device can be used to create large wireless networks by linking several Access Points together.
· WDS support for transparent bridging over WLAN links.
· Supports Wireless Extensions API.
· One driver for miniPCI and cardbus devices. USB devices are not yet supported.
· Most of the current Atheros WLAN chipsets are supported.
· Supports WEP and WPA/802.11i.
· Support for 802.1x authentication in AP mode.

What's New in This Release:

· This release fixes compilation for kernel 2.6.24, fixes various bugs, introduces a new rate control, adds support for a runtime-tunable number of VAPs, and adds a few other new features.