---
name: "mwx"
section: "4"
platform: "openbsd"
package: "man"
version: "8.0-current-20261101"
release: "OpenBSD 8.0-current (2026-11-01)"
platforms: ["openbsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/mwx"
---

# mwx(4)

MediaTek IEEE 802.11a/ac/ax/b/g/n wireless network device

## NAME

**mwx** – MediaTek IEEE 802.11a/ac/ax/b/g/n wireless network device

## SYNOPSIS

**mwx\* at pci?**

## DESCRIPTION

The **mwx** driver provides support for MediaTek MT7920, MT7921, MT7922, and MT7925 WI-FI 6 and WI-FI 7 devices.

These are the modes the **mwx** 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.

- monitor mode

  In this mode the driver is able to receive packets without associating with an access point. This disables the internal receive filter and enables the card to capture packets from networks which it wouldn't normally have access to, or to scan for access points.

The **mwx** 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 **mwx** driver offloads both encryption and decryption of unicast data frames to the hardware for all ciphers.

In BSS mode the driver supports background scanning; see [ifconfig(8)](/ifconfig/8.md).

The **mwx** driver can be configured at runtime with [ifconfig(8)](/ifconfig/8.md) or on boot with [hostname.if(5)](/hostname.if/5.md).

## FILES

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

- */etc/firmware/mwx-mt7922\_patch\_mcu\_1\_1\_hdr*

  - */etc/firmware/mwx-mt7922\_ram\_code\_1*

  - */etc/firmware/mwx-mt7925\_patch\_mcu\_1\_1\_hdr*

  - */etc/firmware/mwx-mt7925\_ram\_code\_1\_1*

  - */etc/firmware/mwx-mt7961\_patch\_mcu\_1\_2\_hdr*

  - */etc/firmware/mwx-mt7961\_patch\_mcu\_1a\_2\_hdr*

  - */etc/firmware/mwx-mt7961\_ram\_code\_1*

  - */etc/firmware/mwx-mt7961\_ram\_code\_1a*

  A prepackaged version of the firmware can be installed using [fw\_update(8)](/fw_update/8.md).

## EXAMPLES

The following example scans for available networks:

```
# ifconfig mwx0 scan
```

The following [hostname.if(5)](/hostname.if/5.md) example configures mwx0 to join network “mynwid”, using WPA key “mywpakey”, obtaining an IP address using DHCP:

```
join mynwid wpakey mywpakey
inet autoconf
```

## SEE ALSO

[arp(4)](/arp/4.md), [ifmedia(4)](/ifmedia/4.md), [intro(4)](/intro/4.md), [netintro(4)](/netintro/4.md), [pci(4)](/pci/4.md), [hostname.if(5)](/hostname.if/5.md), [ifconfig(8)](/ifconfig/8.md)

## HISTORY

The **mwx** driver first appeared in OpenBSD 8.1.

## AUTHORS

The **mwx** driver was written by Claudio Jeker ⟨*claudio@openbsd.org*⟩.

## CAVEATS

The **mwx** driver does not support any of the 802.11n, 802.11ac and 802.11ax capabilities offered by the hardware.