URTW(4)

📦 version 15.1, in freebsd 14.5, freebsd 15.1

💖 URTW(4) — the glow-up edition 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to the URTW(4) page from the Kernel Interfaces Manual, and no cap this one's a whole vibe. it's the manual page for a wireless driver, and yeah i know manual pages have a reputation for being boring, but this one lowkey slays. grab a strawberry 🍓 and let's get into it.

✨ NAME ✨

urtw — the Realtek RTL8187B/L USB IEEE 802.11b/g wireless network driver. that's the whole name, and it ate. 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

bestie there are two ways to get this driver into your life. pick your fighter.

option one: bake it right into the kernel. drop these lines in your kernel configuration file:

device ehci
device uhci
device ohci
device usb
device urtw
device wlan

option two: vibe as a module. to load the driver as a module at boot time, put this line in loader.conf(5):

if_urtw_load="YES"

that's it. that's the whole synopsis. 🦋

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so what does this thing actually do? urtw supports USB 802.11b/g wireless adapters based on the Realtek RTL8187B/L. iconic hardware, honestly. 👑

here's the tea about modes:

  • urtw supports station and monitor mode operation. that's the range, and it's giving range.
  • only one virtual interface may be configured at any time. just one. don't get greedy. 🙈

and for more info on configuring this device, go look at ifconfig(8) — that's your bestie for config stuff.

✨ HARDWARE ✨

the urtw driver supports Realtek RTL8187B/L based wireless network devices, including these absolute legends (card, radio, bus — in that order, i got you):

  • Belkin F5D7050E — Radio: RTL8225, Bus: USB
  • Linksys WUSB54GCv2 — Radio: RTL8225, Bus: USB
  • Netgear WG111v2 — Radio: RTL8225, Bus: USB
  • Netgear WG111v3 — Radio: RTL8225, Bus: USB
  • Safehome WLG-1500SMA5 — Radio: RTL8225, Bus: USB
  • Shuttle XPC Accessory PN20 — Radio: RTL8225, Bus: USB
  • Sitecom WL168v1 — Radio: RTL8225, Bus: USB
  • Sitecom WL168v4 — Radio: RTL8225, Bus: USB
  • SureCom EP-9001-g(2A) — Radio: RTL8225, Bus: USB
  • TRENDnet TEW-424UB V3.xR — Radio: RTL8225, Bus: USB

every single one of them rocking RTL8225 over USB. consistency queen. 💅

✨ EXAMPLES ✨

okay this is the part where it gets practical, so pay attention bestie 🫶

join an existing BSS network (i.e., connect to an access point):

ifconfig wlan create wlandev urtw0 inet 192.0.2.20/24

join a specific BSS network with network name my_net:

ifconfig wlan create wlandev urtw0 ssid my_net up

join a specific BSS network with 64-bit WEP encryption:

ifconfig wlan create wlandev urtw0 ssid my_net \
    wepmode on wepkey 0x1234567890 weptxkey 1 up
⚠️ fr fr, keep that backslash \ in the last example — it's a line continuation and it's load-bearing. and copy the commands exactly, no improvising. 🙏

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

the full squad, all present and accounted for:

and also, the source herself: Realtek, https://www.realtek.com. 🌐

✨ HISTORY ✨

the urtw device driver first appeared in FreeBSD 8.0. a whole era. ⭐

✨ AUTHORS ✨

the urtw driver was written by Weongyo Jeong <weongyo@FreeBSD.org> — give them their flowers, they earned them. 🌸

and that's the whole page, bestie!! 💖

this little love letter came to you from Debian, dated November 10, 2024, and it's the URTW(4) page on the way out. mwah 🎀✨

📦 where this page comes from