Operating system Wi-Fi support

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Operating system Wi-Fi support is defined as the facilities an operating system may include for Wi-Fi networking. It usually consists of two pieces of software; device drivers; and applications for configuration and management.[1]

Driver support is typically provided by manufacturers of the chipset hardware or end manufacturers. Unix clones such as Linux, sometimes through open-source projects are also available.

Configuration and management support consists of software to enumerate, join, and check the status of available Wi-Fi networks. This also includes support for various encryption methods. These systems are often provided by the operating system backed by a standard driver model. In most cases, drivers emulate an Ethernet device and use the configuration and management utilities built into the operating system. In cases where built-in configuration and management support is non-existent or inadequate, hardware manufacturers may include software to handle those tasks.

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows has comprehensive driver-level support for Wi-Fi, the quality of which depends on the hardware manufacturer. Hardware manufacturers almost always ship Windows drivers with their products. Windows ships with very few Wi-Fi drivers and depends on the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and device manufacturers to make sure users get drivers. Configuration and management depend on the version of Windows.

  • Earlier versions of Windows, such as 98, ME, and 2000 do not have built-in configuration and management support and must depend on software provided by the manufacturer
  • WPA2
    and some other security protocols require updates from Microsoft. Many hardware manufacturers include their software and require the user to disable Windows’ built-in Wi-Fi support.
  • Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 have improved Wi-Fi support over Windows XP with a better interface and a suggestion to connect to a public Wi-Fi when no other connection is available.[2]

macOS and Classic Mac OS

Apple was an early adopter of Wi-Fi, introducing its

Macworld Expo
, Apple announced that their computers would begin shipping with Draft 802.11n support.

Apple produces the operating system, computer hardware, accompanying drivers, AirPort Wi-Fi base stations, and configuration and management software. The built-in configuration and management are integrated throughout many of the operating system's applications and utilities.

Mac OS X has Wi-Fi support, including WPA2, and ships with drivers for all of Apple's current and past AirPort Extreme and AirPort cards. Many third-party manufacturers make compatible hardware along with the appropriate drivers that work with Mac OS X's built-in configuration and management software.[importance?
]

Mac OS 9 supported AirPort and AirPort Extreme as well, and drivers exist for other equipment from other manufacturers, providing Wi-Fi options for earlier systems not designed for AirPort cards. Versions of Mac OS before Mac OS 9 predate Wi-Fi and do not have any Wi-Fi support, although some third-party hardware manufacturers have made drivers and connection software that allow earlier versions to use Wi-Fi.[3]

Open-source Unix-like systems

Linux, FreeBSD and similar Unix-like clones have much coarser support for Wi-Fi. Due to the open source nature of these operating systems[citation needed], many different standards have been developed for configuring and managing Wi-Fi devices. The open source nature also fosters open source drivers which have enabled many third party and proprietary devices to work under these operating systems. See

Comparison of Open Source Wireless Drivers
for more information on those drivers.

See also

References

  1. PMC 8785038
    .
  2. ^ "Wi-Fi Sense FAQ - Windows Help". windows.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
  3. ^ "Wirelessly Networking a PowerBook 1400 or Other Old Apple Laptop: Step By Step". Archived from the original on 2019-06-14. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  4. ^ "Move to push Wi-Fi into Linux kernel". Techworld. May 3, 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  5. ^ Jean Tourrilhes (July 25, 2007). "Wireless LAN resources for Linux". Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  6. ^ "Driverloader for Wireless LAN Devices". linuxant.com. Retrieved 2008-02-08.
  7. ^ "Quick HOWTO : Ch13 : Linux Wireless Networking". Linux home networking. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  8. ^ "Haiku Wi-Fi support — Call for testers". Colin Günther. September 14, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
  9. ^ "Wireless Networking for OpenSolaris". Sun Microsystems. March 10, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-10.

External links

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Nets, Webs and the Information Infrastructure
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