linux-drivers/
drivers/net/usb

USB Ethernet and Mobile Broadband Network Adapters

A broad family of USB-attached network adapters, from cheap USB-to-Ethernet dongles (Realtek RTL8152/8153, ASIX AX88xxx, Microchip LAN78xx) to standards-based USB networking classes (CDC Ethernet, NCM, EEM) used by phone tethering, docking stations, and USB mobile broadband modems. Common since the early 2000s and still the usual way to add wired networking to laptops in 2025.

keep-annotate conf=0.85 last_sold=2025 deploy=medium replacement=none subsystem=net category=networking-ethernet
85%

recommendation

It should stay because the directory is the umbrella for many USB networking chips still shipping new in 2025, including Realtek RTL8152/8153 dongles, Microchip LAN78xx (still listed as in production with an actively sold evaluation board), ASIX AX88xxx, and the standard CDC Ethernet/NCM/EEM classes used by USB tethering and WWAN modems. The annotation is warranted because the subtree also still carries support for some very old 10 Mbps and early-USB adapters that may merit individual review.

repository signals

50 files
54,042 source lines
521 commits, 5y
+7,611 / −5,022 lines added / removed, 5y
185 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 521 total · active in 60/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 5 commits · +36 −53 2021-05: 14 commits · +113 −63 2021-06: 20 commits · +368 −165 2021-07: 12 commits · +98 −63 2021-08: 24 commits · +1,175 −523 2021-09: 5 commits · +22 −10 2021-10: 17 commits · +123 −60 2021-11: 12 commits · +878 −549 2021-12: 8 commits · +55 −9 2022-01: 8 commits · +64 −36 2022-02: 13 commits · +122 −81 2022-03: 7 commits · +125 −62 2022-04: 10 commits · +61 −17 2022-05: 9 commits · +108 −106 2022-06: 11 commits · +106 −56 2022-07: 18 commits · +322 −431 2022-08: 11 commits · +213 −64 2022-09: 5 commits · +11 −2 2022-10: 2 commits · +5 −3 2022-11: 7 commits · +56 −8 2022-12: 2 commits · +19 −1 2023-01: 10 commits · +131 −205 2023-02: 2 commits · +5 −7 2023-03: 9 commits · +67 −41 2023-04: 4 commits · +59 −27 2023-05: 3 commits · +17 −10 2023-06: 8 commits · +171 −35 2023-07: 6 commits · +94 −66 2023-08: 5 commits · +10 −16 2023-09: 4 commits · +69 −23 2023-10: 13 commits · +252 −88 2023-11: 11 commits · +28 −25 2023-12: 3 commits · +26 −14 2024-01: 4 commits · +29 −29 2024-02: 10 commits · +38 −29 2024-03: 4 commits · +5 −10 2024-04: 12 commits · +42 −42 2024-05: 12 commits · +84 −62 2024-06: 6 commits · +69 −8 2024-07: 1 commit · +9 −2 2024-08: 9 commits · +19 −19 2024-09: 2 commits · +41 −13 2024-10: 7 commits · +13 −8 2024-11: 3 commits · +21 −19 2024-12: 25 commits · +546 −430 2025-01: 8 commits · +74 −31 2025-02: 10 commits · +26 −9 2025-03: 6 commits · +62 −19 2025-04: 5 commits · +25 −103 2025-05: 14 commits · +416 −181 2025-06: 13 commits · +381 −415 2025-07: 8 commits · +106 −14 2025-08: 7 commits · +23 −4 2025-09: 2 commits · +7 −6 2025-10: 11 commits · +99 −39 2025-11: 2 commits · +131 −113 2025-12: 6 commits · +19 −8 2026-01: 15 commits · +130 −337 2026-02: 13 commits · +158 −134 2026-03: 8 commits · +29 −19 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. git.kernel.org

    Upstream Kconfig shows this directory is a live umbrella for many still-relevant USB NIC classes, including Realtek RTL8152/8153, Microchip LAN78xx, ASIX AX88xxx, CDC Ethernet/NCM/EEM, and WWAN-style USB networking support.

  2. git.kernel.org

    Canonical upstream history location for the directory; local git history in this checkout shows touches reaching 2026 and no deprecation/removal-subject hits for the directory in recent history.

  3. microchip.com

    Microchip lists LAN7800 as 'In Production', indicating at least one major USB Ethernet family in this directory is still an active product.

  4. microchip.com

    Microchip still offers the EVB-LAN7800 evaluation board, evidence of ongoing new-hardware availability around the LAN78xx support in this directory.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Directory is unquestionably a real driver subtree. `lore_file_timeline` on the bare directory path returned no matches, so I fell back to local `git log` over `drivers/net/usb` and representative files; that showed recent 2026 activity and no removal/deprecation grep hits. Kconfig URL is canonical recall for subsystem scope; Microchip URLs were obtained via `web.search_query`. Recommendation is `keep-annotate` because the subtree is active and still covers shipping hardware, but it also contains clearly legacy leaf drivers (older 10Mbps/early USB NICs) that may merit per-driver review rather than subtree deprecation.