UPGT(4)

📦 version 12.2, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ upgt — the Conexant/Intersil PrismGT SoftMAC USB IEEE 802.11b/g wireless situation ✨

okay bestie, gather round, because today we're talking about a Kernel Interfaces Manual page for upgt and honestly? it's giving vintage wifi realness 💖

🌸 NAME 🌸

upgt — Conexant/Intersil PrismGT SoftMAC USB IEEE 802.11b/g wireless network device

like. that's the whole vibe. a USB wifi stick from the before-times. no cap. 🦋

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

so to compile this driver into the kernel, you're gonna place these lines in your kernel configuration file:

device ehci
device uhci
device ohci
device usb
device upgt
device wlan

orrrrr, if you'd rather load the driver as a module at boot time (which, lowkey iconic, highkey convenient), you put this line in loader.conf(5):

if_upgt_load="YES"

✨ that's it. that's the whole summoning ritual. ✨

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

the upgt driver supports the USB 2.0 Conexant/Intersil PrismGT series wireless adapters based on the GW3887 chipset. periodt.

these are the modes the upgt driver can operate in:

  • BSS mode — also known as infrastructure mode. this is the one you use when you're associating with an access point, and all your traffic passes through it. this mode is the default, so if you didn't pick anything, congrats, you're here. 👑
  • monitor mode — in this mode the driver is able to receive packets without associating with an access point. it disables the internal receive filter and lets the card capture packets from networks it wouldn't normally have access to, or scan for access points. it's giving detective energy 🔍

upgt supports software WEP. Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is the de facto encryption standard for wireless networks. it can typically be configured in one of three modes: no encryption; 40-bit encryption; or 104-bit encryption.

ok but fr fr — due to serious weaknesses in the WEP protocol, it is strongly recommended that it not be used as the sole mechanism to secure wireless communication. 💀 WEP is not enabled by default.

the upgt driver can be configured at runtime with ifconfig(8). slay.

🍓 FILES 🍓

this driver requires the upgtfw firmware to be installed before it will work. 🫶

the firmware files are not publicly available. i know. i know. 😭

a package of the firmware which can be installed via pkg_add(1) is available:

http://weongyo.org/project/upgt/upgt-firmware-2.13.1.0.tar.gz

🌈 HARDWARE 🌈

the upgt driver supports USB 2.0 Conexant/Intersil PrismGT series wireless adapters based on the GW3887 chipset, among them:

  • Belkin F5D7050 (version 1000)
  • Cohiba Proto Board
  • D-Link DWL-G120 Cohiba
  • FSC Connect2Air E-5400 USB D1700
  • Gigaset USB Adapter 54
  • Inventel UR045G
  • Netgear WG111v1 (rev2)
  • SMC EZ ConnectG SMC2862W-G
  • Sagem XG703A
  • Spinnaker DUT
  • Spinnaker Proto Board

the way this list ate?? a whole museum of dongles 🏛️✨

🔥 EXAMPLES 🔥

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

ifconfig wlan create wlandev upgt0 inet 192.168.0.20 \
    netmask 0xffffff00

join a specific BSS network with network name “my_net”:

ifconfig wlan create wlandev upgt0 ssid my_net up

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

ifconfig wlan create wlandev upgt0 ssid my_net \
        wepmode on wepkey 0x1234567890 weptxkey 1 up

(and yes, we're still side-eyeing WEP. do it for the demo, not for your actual security bestie 🙈)

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

arp(4), netintro(4), usb(4), wlan(4), ifconfig(8)

go read them. iykyk. 📚

🦋 HISTORY 🦋

the upgt driver first appeared in OpenBSD 4.3. a true elder. respect. 💜

🧚 AUTHORS 🧚

the upgt driver was written by Marcus Glocker <mglocker@openbsd.org>.

the hardware specification was reverse engineered by the people at http://www.prism54.org. absolute legends, no notes. 🫡

💀 CAVEATS 💀

ok so listen carefully because this is the important part:

the upgt driver just supports the USB 2.0 devices (GW3887 chipset) but not the USB 1.0 devices containing the NET2280, ISL3880, and ISL3886 chipsets. some further efforts would be necessary to add USB 1.0 support to the driver. so if you rolled up with a USB 1.0 device, bestie, i'm so sorry, it's not happening today 😭

and that's the whole page!! this was the upgt manual, straight outta Debian, dated April 17, 2008 — thank you for coming to my ted talk, mwah 💅💖✨

📦 where this page comes from