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josephnef merged 1 commit into from
Jun 1, 2026
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docs: split README 5GHz chip status into UNII-1 vs UNII-2/3 #63

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26 changes: 13 additions & 13 deletions README.md
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Expand Up @@ -3,13 +3,13 @@
The Realtek 11ac driver that simply devours its competitors.

Devourer is a userspace re-implementation of Realtek's RTL88xxAU Wi-Fi
driver (Jaguar family: RTL8812AU shipping on both bands, RTL8821AU
shipping at 2.4 GHz, RTL8811AU supported via the 8812 code path,
RTL8814AU RX-only), speaking to the chip directly through libusb. No
kernel module, no `rtl8812au` DKMS tree — just a C++20 static library
(`WiFiDriver`) plus two demo executables for RX and TX. It is the
OpenIPC project's driver of choice for long-range video links built on
top of cheap Realtek 11ac USB radios.
driver (Jaguar family: RTL8812AU shipping on every band/channel,
RTL8821AU shipping at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz UNII-1 RX, RTL8811AU supported
via the 8812 code path, RTL8814AU RX-only), speaking to the chip
directly through libusb. No kernel module, no `rtl8812au` DKMS tree —
just a C++20 static library (`WiFiDriver`) plus two demo executables
for RX and TX. It is the OpenIPC project's driver of choice for
long-range video links built on top of cheap Realtek 11ac USB radios.

## Hardware landscape

Expand All @@ -21,12 +21,12 @@ register-table layout, firmware-download plumbing, and
family; chip-specific EEPROM handling, firmware blobs, and RF tables are
layered on top.

| Part | RF / streams | 2.4 GHz | 5 GHz | Notes |
| -------------- | --------------- | ------------- | ------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| **RTL8812AU** | 2T2R | TX + RX | TX + RX | VID/PID `0bda:8812`; reference part |
| **RTL8811AU** | 1T1R | TX + RX | TX + RX | 1T1R cut of 8812 silicon; rides 8812 code path with `RFType=RF_TYPE_1T1R` selected from `REG_SYS_CFG` bit 27 |
| **RTL8814AU** | 4T4R, 3-SS max | RX only | RX only | VID/PID `0bda:8813`; 2-SS effective on USB-2. TX submits succeed on the bulk pipe but nothing reaches the air at any band — see issue #36 |
| **RTL8821AU** | 1T1R AC + BT | TX + RX | RX only | OEM-rebadged as TP-Link Archer T2U Plus (`2357:0120`) etc; Android hotplug works end-to-end. 5 GHz TX needs the per-channel IQK calibration ported from upstream `halrf_iqk_8821a_ce.c` — see issue #59 |
| Part | RF / streams | 2.4 GHz | 5 GHz UNII-1 (ch36-48) | 5 GHz UNII-2/3 (ch52+) | Notes |
| -------------- | --------------- | ------------- | ---------------------- | ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| **RTL8812AU** | 2T2R | TX + RX | TX + RX | TX + RX | VID/PID `0bda:8812`; reference part — works on every channel/band combo |
| **RTL8811AU** | 1T1R | TX + RX | TX + RX | TX + RX | 1T1R cut of 8812 silicon; rides 8812 code path with `RFType=RF_TYPE_1T1R` selected from `REG_SYS_CFG` bit 27. Status mirrored from 8812 — no 8811AU DUT in the test rig |
| **RTL8814AU** | 4T4R, 3-SS max | RX only | RX only | RX only | VID/PID `0bda:8813`; 2-SS effective on USB-2. TX submits succeed on the bulk pipe but nothing reaches the air at any band — see issue #36 |
| **RTL8821AU** | 1T1R AC + BT | TX + RX | RX only | none | OEM-rebadged as TP-Link Archer T2U Plus (`2357:0120`) etc; Android hotplug works end-to-end. 5 GHz UNII-1 RX works on this chip but TX is silently gated — sweep `--channel 36/40/44/48` to verify on your hardware. UNII-2 / UNII-3 (ch100, 149, 161, …) are completely broken — both TX and RX. Five hypotheses tested + refuted to date (IQK port, BB-divergence overrides, missing init writes, post-channel-set delay, TX power cap) — see issue #59 |

Successor families (`Jaguar2` / `Jaguar+` — 8812BU, 8822BU/BE, etc., and
the later `Kestrel` 11ax generation) are **out of scope**: they share
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