QWX(4) | Device Drivers Manual | QWX(4)

# NAME

`qwx` — Qualcomm IEEE 802.11a/ac/ax/b/g/n wireless network device

# SYNOPSIS

`qwx* at pci?`

# DESCRIPTION

The `qwx` driver provides support for Qualcomm Technologies QCNFA765 802.11ax devices.

These are the modes the `qwx` driver can operate in:

BSS mode
  Also known as infrastructure mode, this is used when associating with an access point, through which all traffic passes. This mode is the default.

The `qwx` driver can be configured to use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) or Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA1 and WPA2). WPA2 is currently the most secure encryption standard for wireless networks supported by OpenBSD. It is strongly recommended that neither WEP nor WPA1 are used as the sole mechanism to secure wireless communication, due to serious weaknesses. WPA1 is disabled by default and may be enabled using the option "`wpaprotos` wpa1,wpa2". For standard WPA networks which use pre-shared keys (PSK), keys are configured using the "`wpakey`" option. WPA-Enterprise networks require use of the wpa_supplicant package. The `qwx` driver offloads both encryption and decryption of unicast data frames to the hardware for the CCMP cipher.

The `qwx` driver can be configured at runtime with ifconfig(8) or on boot with hostname.if(5).

# FILES

The driver needs the following firmware files, which are loaded when an interface is brought up:

/etc/firmware/qwx-wcn6855-hw2.0-amss
/etc/firmware/qwx-wcn6855-hw2.0-board-2
/etc/firmware/qwx-wcn6855-hw2.0-m3
/etc/firmware/qwx-wcn6855-hw2.0-regdb
/etc/firmware/qwx-wcn6855-hw2.1-amss
/etc/firmware/qwx-wcn6855-hw2.1-board-2
/etc/firmware/qwx-wcn6855-hw2.1-m3
/etc/firmware/qwx-wcn6855-hw2.1-regdb

These firmware files are not free because Qualcomm refuses to grant distribution rights without contractual obligations. As a result, even though OpenBSD includes the driver, the firmware files cannot be included and users have to download these files on their own.

A prepackaged version of the firmware can be installed using fw_update(8).

# EXAMPLES

The following example scans for available networks:

`# ifconfig qwx0 scan`

The following hostname.if(5) example configures qwx0 to join network “mynwid”, using WPA key “mywpakey”, obtaining an IP address using DHCP:

    join mynwid wpakey mywpakey
    inet autoconf

# SEE ALSO

arp(4), ifmedia(4), intro(4), netintro(4), pci(4), hostname.if(5), ifconfig(8)

# HISTORY

The `qwx` driver first appeared in OpenBSD 7.5.

# CAVEATS

The `qwx` driver does not support any of the 802.11ac and 802.11ax capabilities offered by the hardware.

# BUGS

Broadcast and Multicast frames are only received on networks which do not use encryption or which use WPA. This prevents ARP and IPv6 from working correctly on networks which use WEP encryption.

August 4, 2025 | Debian