linux-drivers/
drivers/net/wireless/marvell/mwifiex

Marvell and NXP 88W8xxx Wi-Fi Adapters (mwifiex)

A family of Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5 chipsets originally from Marvell and now sold by NXP, covering parts like the 88W8787, 8797, 8897, 8977, and 8997 over SDIO, USB, and PCIe. They are widely embedded in laptops, Chromebooks, Raspberry Pi-class boards, and industrial i.MX modules from the early 2010s through current 2025 designs.

keep conf=0.86 last_sold=2026 deploy=medium replacement=none subsystem=net category=networking-wireless
86%

recommendation

It should stay because the hardware is still actively sold: NXP currently lists the 88W8997 as an active product and ships partner modules built around it for embedded and industrial use. The driver also continues to receive real upstream attention, including a multi-patch cleanup series in March 2025 and bug fixes landing as recently as February 2026, with no in-tree replacement for these FullMAC parts.

repository signals

50 files
46,617 source lines
180 commits, 5y
+2,721 / −1,997 lines added / removed, 5y
65 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 180 total · active in 47/61 months
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sources

  1. spinics.net

    mwifiex received a functional bug-fix patch in February 2026, showing ongoing upstream maintenance.

  2. spinics.net

    mwifiex had an active 10-patch cleanup series posted to wireless-next in March 2025, indicating real subsystem attention rather than abandonment.

  3. nxp.com

    NXP listed the 88W8997 supported by mwifiex as Active, so at least part of the chipset family was still sold new in 2025/2026.

  4. nxp.com

    NXP still advertises multiple partner modules based on 88W8997 for i.MX and industrial/commercial use, supporting ongoing new embedded deployments.

  5. wireless.docs.kernel.org

    Linux Wireless documents mwifiex as the Marvell 802.11n SDIO/PCIe/USB FullMAC driver, confirming the driver family and supported bus/use-case scope.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Local shell `rg` inspection of sdio.c/usb.c/pcie.c showed active support for SDIO, USB, and PCIe Marvell/NXP 88W8xxx parts including 8787/8797/8801/8897/8977/8997. Local `git -c safe.directory=... log` showed recent 2025-2026 commits. Lore-specific search tooling was unavailable (`lei` missing), so lore history was approximated via web search hits on spinics/lkml mirrors obtained with the web search tool; those show active fixes and cleanup series, not removal work. NXP product/module pages were obtained via web search and show at least 88W8997 remains an active silicon/module ecosystem, so this is not legacy-only hardware. Because upstream activity is current and there is no natural in-tree replacement covering the same FullMAC device family, the driver should be kept.