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lwfinger/rtw88

A backport of the Realtek Wifi 5 drivers from the wireless-next repo. observed · 2026-08-28

github.com/lwfinger/rtw88 · C observed · 2026-08-28

Health v2 · maintenance only

70/100

  • Activity 83
  • Release rhythm 35
  • Longevity 100

Flags: no_releases no_license

How is this computed?

round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-03. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.

  • gap_med: n/a
  • age_days: 2249
  • days_rel: n/a
  • days_push: 104
  • n_releases_24m: 0

Full methodology

Adoption not part of the score

1632 stars · 308 forks observed · 2026-08-28

What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded

A downstream backport of the Realtek rtw88 series WiFi 5 drivers from the Linux wireless-next repository, supporting PCIe, SDIO, and USB chipsets. It keeps the driver code in sync with upstream kernel development while accommodating kernel API changes for kernels 5.4 and newer.

Use cases

  • get a Realtek RTL8822BU USB wifi adapter working on Linux
  • install drivers for RTL8821CE PCIe wifi card on Fedora
  • fix wifi not working after kernel update on Ubuntu
  • enable RTL8723DS SDIO wifi on a Raspberry Pi
  • build Realtek wifi drivers with DKMS for Secure Boot systems
  • test the new RTL8814AU chipset driver

When to choose

  • your Realtek WiFi 5 chipset is not working with your distro's built-in driver
  • you need the latest upstream rtw88 fixes on an older kernel (5.4+)
  • you use a supported USB, SDIO, or PCIe Realtek adapter on a mainstream distro

When to avoid

  • you run RHEL or an RHEL-based distro with modified kernel APIs
  • you need WiFi 6 (rtw89) chipsets rather than WiFi 5
  • your distro already ships a working rtw88 driver for your kernel

Facets

library · maturity active

networking developer-tools operating-systems hardware developer-tools c wifi-driver realtek kernel-module dkms wireless backport rtw88 linux

1 source

Member repositories

RepositoryRoleHealth v2
lwfinger/rtw88main70

For agents

markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="lwfinger/rtw88")

Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem