Inventory of supported/unsupported wireless cards #1, Snow Leopard -> El Capitan

Hervé · February 7, 2013

Last update: 02 Feb 2020

'thought it would be useful to try and provide a recap of what is supported, what isn't, if it works OOB or if it does not, for which OS X version, etc.

I invite everyone to bring his/her own contribution and it'll be added to the list. This post will be updated as contributions come along in order to keep the list under control. Hardware specifications can be verified here: ~~http://wikidevi.com/wiki/Main_Page~~ https://wikidevi.wi-cat.ru/

Note:

OOB = Out of the Box
This inventory is now limited to Mac OS X/OS X versions in the range Snow Leopard 10.6 to El Capitan 10.11. A separate inventory for macOS versions is available here.

Unsupported:
Vendor Model Format Ven-Dev Chip Rate SL Li ML Ma Yo Ca OOB Kext (driver)
AzureWave AW-CB161H ½Min PCIe 10ec-8821 RTL8821AE A/B/G/N/AC N N N N N N - -

AzureWave AW-CB209NF NGFF/M.2 10ec-8821 RTL8821AE A/B/G/N/AC N N N N N N - -

AzureWave AW-CB210NF NGFF/M.2 14e4-43ec BCM4356 A/B/G/N/AC N N N N N N - -

AzureWave AW-NB155NF NGFF/M.2 14e4-4365 BCM43142 B/G/N N N N N N N - -

Dell DW1501 ½Min PCIe 14e4-4727 BCM4313 A/B/G/N N N N N N N - -

Dell DW1503 ½Min PCIe 14e4-4727 BCM4313 A/B/G/N N N N N N N    - -
Dell   DW1504 ½Min PCIe 14e4-4727 BCM4313 B/G/N   N N N N N N - -
Dell   DW1530 ½Min PCIe 14e4-4359 BCM43228 A/B/G/N N N N N N N    - -
Dell DW1540 ½Min PCIe 14e4-4359 BCM43228 A/B/G/N N N N N N N    - -
Dell   DW1701   ½Min PCIe 14e4-4727 BCM4313 B/G/N N N N N N N    - -
Dell DW1704 ½Min PCIe 14e4-4365 BCM43142 B/G/N N N N N N N    - -

Dell DW1810 NGFF/M.2   168c:0042 QCA9377 A/B/G/N/AC N N N N N N    - (=QCNFA435)
Dell DW1820 NGFF/M.2   168c:003e QCA6174A A/B/G/N/AC N N N N N N    - (=QCNFA344A)

Intel All - - - - N N N N N N    - No exception!

Qualcomm QCNFA335 NGFF/M.2 168c-0042 QCA9377 A/B/G/N/AC N N N N N N - -

Qualcomm QCNFA344A NGFF/M.2 168c-003e QCA6174A A/B/G/N/AC N N N N N N - -

Ralink RT5390 ½Min PCIe 1814-539b RT5390 B/G/N N N N N N N - -

Supported:
Vendor  Model Format Ven-Dev Chip   Rate   SL Li ML Ma Yo Ca OOB Kext (driver)
Atheros AR5B91 Mini PCIe 168c-002a AR9281 B/G/N Y Y Y Y   Y  Y Y -
Atheros AR5BXB6 Mini PCIe 168c-001c AR5424 A/B/G Y Y N N N N    Y up to Lion only
Atheros AR5BXB72 Mini PCIe 168c-0024 AR5418/5133 A/B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    N patch Atheros40
Atheros AR5BXB92 Mini PCIe 168c-002a AR9280 A/B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    Y -
Atheros AR5BXB112   Mini PCIe 168c-0030 AR9380 A/B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    Y -
Atheros AR5B22   Mini PCIe 168c-0034 AR9462⁴ A/B/G/N N N N Y Y Y    N FW + Atheros40 patch

Atheros AR5B93   ½Min PCIe 168c-002a AR9283 B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    Y -
Atheros AR5B95   ½Min PCIe 168c-002b AR9285 B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    N DSDT/Atheros40 patch
Atheros AR5B97   ½Min PCIe 168c-002e AR9287 B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    N DSDT/Atheros40 patch
Atheros AR5B195 ½Min PCIe 168c-002b AR9285 B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    N (=AR5B95+BT3.0)
Atheros AR5B197 ½Min PCIe 168c-002e AR9287 B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    N (=AR5B97+BT3.0)
Atheros AR5BHB92   ½Min PCIe 168c-002a AR9280 A/B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    Y -
Atheros AR5BHB112 ½Min PCIe 168c-0030 AR9380 A/B/G/N Y Y Y Y³ Y Y    Y -
Atheros AR5B125 ½Min PCIe 168c-0032 AR9485⁴ B/G/N   N N N Y Y Y    N FW + Atheros40 patch
Atheros AR5B225 ½Min PCIe 168c-0032 AR9485⁴ B/G/N   N N N Y Y Y    N   FW + Atheros40 patch

AzureWave AW-NB037H   ½Min PCIe 168c-002b AR9285 B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    N (=AR5B195)
AzureWave AW-NB048H   ½Min PCIe 168c-002b AR9285 B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    N (=AR5B195)
AzureWave AW-NB290H   ½Min PCIe 14e4-4357 BCM43225 B/G/N N N Y Y Y Y    N DSDT/Brcm4360 patch
AzureWave AW-CE123H   ½Min PCIe 14e4-43b1   BCM4352 A/B/G/N/AC N N Y   Y Y Y    N DSDT/Brcm4360 patch

AzureWave AW-CB160H   ½Min PCIe 14e4-43a0 BCM4360 A/B/G/N/AC N N  N   Y Y Y    Y -

Dell DW1470 Mini PCI 14e4-4319 BCM4318 A/B/G Y Y Y Y Y  Y    Y -

Dell DW1390 Mini PCIe 14e4-4311 BCM4311 B/G Y Y Y   Y² Y Y    Y -
Dell DW1395 Mini PCIe 14e4-4315 BCM4312 B/G Y Y Y¹ N   N N    N BCM43xxxFamily & v2
Dell DW1490 Mini PCIe 14e4-4312 BCM4311 A/B/G   Y Y Y   Y² Y Y    Y -
Dell DW1505 Mini PCIe 14e4-4328 BCM4321 A/B/G/N Y Y Y Y² Y Y    Y -

Dell DW1397   ½Min PCIe 14e4-4315 BCM4312 B/G Y Y Y¹ N N N    N (=DW1395)
Dell   DW1502   ½Min PCIe 168c-002b AR9285 B/G/N Y Y Y Y   Y Y    N (=AR5B95)
Dell   DW1506   ½Min PCIe 168c-0032 AR9485⁴ B/G/N     N N N Y Y Y    N (=AR5B125)
Dell DW1510   ½Min PCIe 14e4-432b BCM4322 A/B/G/N Y Y Y   Y Y Y    Y -
Dell DW1515   ½Min PCIe 168C-002a AR9280 A/B/G/N Y Y Y   Y   Y Y    Y (=Atheros xB92)
Dell DW1520⁵ ½Min PCIe 14e4-4353 BCM43224 A/B/G/N N N Y Y Y Y    Y/N MBA5,2/Brcm4360 patch
Dell DW1550   ½Min PCIe 14e4-43b1 BCM4352 A/B/G/N/AC N N Y Y Y Y    N DSDT/Brcm4360 patch
Dell   DW1601   ½Min PCIe 168c-0034 AR9462⁴ A/B/G/N/AD N N N Y Y Y    N (=AR5B22)
Dell   DW1702   ½Min PCIe 168c-002b AR9285   B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    N (=AR5B195)
Dell   DW1703   ½Min PCIe 168c-0032 AR9485⁴ B/G/N   N N N Y Y Y    N (=AR5B225)
Dell   DW1705   ½Min PCIe 168c-0036 AR9565⁴ B/G/N N N N Y Y Y    N FW + Atheros40 patch

Dell   DW1560   NGFF/M.2 14e4-43b1 BCM4352 A/B/G/N/AC N N Y   Y Y Y    N DSDT/Brcm4360 patch
Dell DW1707 NGFF/M.2 168c:0036 AR9565⁴ B/G/N N N N Y Y Y    N FW + Atheros40 patch
Dell   DW1802 NGFF/M.2 168c-0034 AR9462⁴ A/B/G/N N N N Y Y Y    N (=AR5B22)
Dell   DW1820A⁶      NGFF/M.2 14e4-43a3 BCM4350      A/B/G/N/AC N N N   N Y Y ? Expected OOB

Dell   DW1830   NGFF/M.2 14e4-43ba BCM43602     A/B/G/N/AC N N N   Y Y Y    Y OOB from Yosemite

Asus USB-N10 USB 2.0 0b05-1786 RTL8188SU B/G/N Y Y Y Y ? ?    N RealTek's v2.0.1
Asus USB-AC51 USB 2.0 0b05-17d1 MT7610U A/B/G/N/AC Y Y Y Y ? ?    N Asus's driver
CSL Nano V.2 USB 2.0 0bda-8176 RTL8188CUS B/G/N Y Y Y Y ? ?    N RealTek's v2.0.1
D-Link DWA-121 A1 USB 2.0 2001-3308 RTL8188CUS B/G/N Y Y Y Y ? ?    N RealTek's v2.0.1
Lafalink LF-D10 Nano   USB 2.0 148f-7601 MT7601 B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    N Ralink's v4.2.9.10
Lafalink LF-D12 Nano USB 2.0 148f-5370 RT5370 B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    N Ralink's v4.2.9.2
NetGear WNA3100M USB 2.0 0846-F001 RTL8192CU B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    N Realtek's v2.0.1
On-Nwrks N300   USB 2.0 0846-F001 RTL8192CU B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    N Realtek's v2.0.1
Tenda W522U USB 2.0 148f-3572 RT3572 A/B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    N Ralink's v4.2.9.2
TP-Link TL-WN723N v3 USB 2.0 0bda-8179 RTL8188EUS B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    N TP-Link's driver
TP-Link TL-WN725N v2  USB 2.0 0bda-8179 RTL8188EUS B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    N TP-Link's driver

TP-Link TL-WN823N v1 USB 2.0 0bda-8178 RTL8192CU B/G/N ? Y Y Y Y Y N TP-Link's driver

TP-Link TL-WN823N v2  USB 2.0 2357-0109 RTL8192EU   B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    N TP-Link's driver

Asus USB-AC56 USB 3.0 0b05-17d2 RTL8812AU A/B/G/N/AC Y Y Y Y ? ?    N Asus's driver

Asus   PCE-AC66 PCIe x1 14e4-43a0 BCM4360 A/B/G/N/AC N N N Y Y Y    Y -
Asus   PCE-AC68 PCIe x1 14e4-43a0 BCM4360 A/B/G/N/AC N N N Y Y Y    Y -
TP-Link TL-WN781ND v1 PCIe x1 168c-002b AR9285 B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y    N DSDT/Atheros40 patch

TP-Link TL-WDN4800 PCIe x1 168c-0030 AR9380 A/B/G/N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y -

TP-Link Archer T9E PCIe x1 14e4-43a0 BCM4360 A/B/G/N/AC N N N Y Y Y Y -

NB: Patching means adding the PCI ids of the listed card to the Info.plist file found inside the listed kext. In rare cases, binary patching may also be necessary.

For some cards, DSDT Patching can be a suitable and permanent alternative to kext patching (no need to repatch a kext after OS X updates and upgrades or new installations). For instance, in the case of the Atheros AR5B95 card (chip AR9285 168c,2b), adding compatibility with a chip known to be supported OOB such as AR9380 168c,30 or AR9280 168,2a (as found in the vanilla Atheros40 kext) in a _DSM method for the identified DSDT device does the trick once and for all since it'll make the OS load the associated kext:

                Device (<YourDevice>)   // Identified wireless device through IORegistryExplorer (usually: ARPT)
                {
                    ...
                    ...
                    ...
                    Method (_DSM, 4, NotSerialized)    // Device Specific Method for the wireless card
                    {
                        Store (Package ()
                        {
                            "model", 
                            Buffer (0x1E)
                            {
                                "Atheros AR5B95 b/g/n Wireless"
                            }, 
                            "device_type", 
                            Buffer (0x08)
                            {
                                "AirPort"
                            }, 
                            "built-in", 
                            Buffer (One)
                            {
                                0x00
                            }, 
                            "name", 
                            Buffer (0x10)
                            {
                                "AirPort Extreme"
                            }, 
                            "AAPL,slot-name", 
                            Buffer (0x09)
                            {
                                "Internal"
                            }, 
                            "compatible",      // Declares compatibility with a device
                            Buffer (0x0B)
                            {
                                "pci168c,30"   // PCI id of device supported OOB
                            }
                        }, Local0)
                        DTGP (Arg0, Arg1, Arg2, Arg3, RefOf (Local0))
                        Return (Local0)
                    }
                }

`
In the same respect, in the case of the Broadcom BCM4322x cards (e.g.: chip BCM43225 14e4,4357) or BCM4352 cards (14e4,43b1), adding compatibility with a chip known to be supported OOB such as BCM94360 14e4,43ba or 14e4,43a0 (as found in the vanilla AirPortBrcm4360 kext) in a _DSM method for the identified DSDT device does the trick once and for all since it'll make the OS load the associated kext:

                Device (<YourDevice>)   // Identified wireless device through IORegistryExplorer (usually: ARPT)
                {
                    ...
                    ...
                    ...
                    Method (_DSM, 4, NotSerialized)    // Device Specific Method for the wireless card
                    {
                        Store (Package ()
                        {
                            "model", 
                            Buffer (0x23)
                            {
                                "AzureWare AW-NB290H b/g/n Wireless"
                            }, 
                            "device_type", 
                            Buffer (0x08)
                            {
                                "AirPort"
                            }, 
                            "built-in", 
                            Buffer (One)
                            {
                                0x00
                            }, 
                            "name", 
                            Buffer (0x10)
                            {
                                "AirPort Extreme"
                            }, 
                            "AAPL,slot-name", 
                            Buffer (0x09)
                            {
                                "Internal"
                            }, 
                            "compatible",      // Declares compatibility with a device
                            Buffer (0x0B)
                            {
                                "pci14e4,43a0" // PCI id of device supported OOB
                            }
                        }, Local0)
                        DTGP (Arg0, Arg1, Arg2, Arg3, RefOf (Local0))
                        Return (Local0)
                    }
                }

`
Broadcom BCM43224-based cards with id 14e4:4353 (e.g. DW1520) are subject to whitelisting in AirPortBrcm4360 kext. Wireless will only work if using the SMBIOS of a supported Mac Model or after binary patching the kext to inject the Mac board-id of the desired SMBIOS. See our patching guide on the matter.

^{________________}
¹ issues with 10.8.4/10.8.5: med/high-secured networks (eg: AES) unsupported, only clear/low-secured (eg: WEP) networks supported. For ML, revert to pre-10.8.4 airportd file to fix issue and apply following Terminal commands:
          sudo chmod 755 /usr/libexec/airportd
          sudo chown 0:0 /usr/libexec/airportd
          xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /usr/libexec/airportd
          Pre-ML10.8.4 airportd.zip

² issues with 10.9: secured networks (eg: AES (& WEP?)) unsupported, only clear (& WEP?) networks. ML fix not successful, so no fix available yet. According to forum member javamocha2000, DW1390 and DW1505 both operate OOB under Mavericks with WPA2-PSK encryption.

³Some BCM4311-based cards with PCI id 14e4-4311 and some Atheros AR9380-based cards are reported non-functional -> the affected devices are half-size mini PCIe models, full-size mini PCIe models being Ok.

⁴AR946x (168c,34), AR9485 (168c,32) and AR9565 (168c,36) work to some degree (i.e. not 100%) with alternative (re-written) Atheros40 driver as posted at InsanelyMac by Chunnann. Further patching facility posted here. These cards are NOT recommended.

⁵DW1520 (14e4,4353) is known to suffer from frequent and repeated wireless disconnections when plugged into mini PCIe-only slot and built-in Bluetooth is enabled. This may even lead to wireless turning off. This has been noticed on Dell Latitude E6x20 and E6x30. Wireless works Ok once built-in Bluetooth is disabled in BIOS or, as stated by wl_michael, if the card is fitted into combo PCIe/USB slot such as WWAN.

⁶DW1820A and other BCM4350-based cards should all be supported. See our BCM4350 guide for these cards.

rrtn · November 3, 2013

² issues with 10.9: secured networks (eg: AES (& WEP?)) unsupported, only clear (& WEP?) networks. ML fix not successful, so no fix available yet. Some BCM4311-based cards with PCI id 14e4-4311 have also been reported non-functional despite id match in IO80211Family Broadcom4331 PlugIn.

i have yet to find a fix but heres a temp work around for users with old pci wifi adapter on Mavericks 10.9

(you need to apply the Pre-ML10.8.4 airportd fix and dont touch the wifi icon)

System Preferences -> Network -> Assist me... -> Assistant... -> (Continue) -> I use AirPort to connect to the Internet wirelessly & add your network manually.

my card: D-Link DWL-AG530 Rev.A PCI 168c-0013 Atheros AR5212 A/B/G

it would appear all pci cards are unsupported in mavericks, pci-e only. trying to get my pci adapter working too ...my hackintosh build has 1 pci-e slot and its covered by my video card

Hervé · March 10, 2014

Added D-Link DWA-121 rev A1.

Added Tenda W522U 802.11a/b/g/n USB dongle. Operates at 300Mbps.

Added NetGear WNA3100M 802.11b/g/n USB dongle. Operates at 300Mbps. On-Networks N300 is the exact same device.

oldlight · May 12, 2014

I've just bought an ASUS USB-N10. Wifi works flawlessly in Mavericks.

Hervé · May 14, 2014

Added Lafalink LF-D10 & LF-D12 150Mbps Nano wireless USB adapters.

NB: some confusion on the Internet for these 2 models. Lafalink web site makes no reference to LF-D12 model, only to LF-D10 with MT7601 chip. However, commercial sites do list LF-D10 with RT5370 chip and LF-D12 with MT7601 chip. I have both models but they cannot be physically distinguished as there are no indications on the adapters...

Hervé · July 8, 2014

Added Asus USB-AC51 and USB-AC56 wireless USB adapters.

djblastyfone · November 12, 2014

A warning to anyone thinking of picking up the Atheros AR5BXB112 (which seems to be the only 802.11n option for laptops with a full-height slot and 3 antennas): some of the cards being sold on eBay have defective firmware and will not work properly in OS X (they will, however, work in Windows, making the case for a getting a replacement card to the seller difficult). They show up as "{none}" under Wi-Fi device in BIOS (D630n, A17) and gives the device ID "168c:abcd" in DPCIManager (should be 168c:0030), and are not recognized even when the device ID is edited into the relevant kext.

A quick Google search of the defective Device ID shows several threads with people encountering the same problem on both hackintosh and linux forums with this card. It seems to be an issue with the BIOS not properly initializing it. Also, from what I've read, I don't think it's possible to flash them with the correct EEPROM either, as the tools to do this don't appear to support the AR93xx chipset.

Just a heads-up!

Jake Lo · December 31, 2014

Dell     DW1520          Half Mini PCIe    14e4-4353    BCM43224      A/B/G/N

It's now supported from ML 10.8.5 or newer.

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/292542-airport-pcie-half-mini/

Personally tested on 10.8.5 & 10.9.5 with kext injection (WifiInjector.kext)

For Yosemite, just needed to set SMBios.plist to MacBookAir 5.1 or 5.2.

If you prefer to use a different SMBios, then you need to patch AirportBrcm4360 replacing MBA 5.2 with model you prefer.

Hervé · January 29, 2016

AirPortBrcm4360 patch detailed here.

Hervé · March 6, 2016

Added AzureWave AW-CE123H combo Wifi ac/BT 4.0 1/2 mini-PCIe card.

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Inventory of supported/unsupported wireless cards #1, Snow Leopard -> El Capitan

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