IEEE 802.11 AP and IEEE 802.1X/WPA/WPA2/EAP Authenticator

 Originally, hostapd was an optional user space component for Host AP
 driver. It adds more features to the basic IEEE 802.11 management
 included in the kernel driver: using external RADIUS authentication
 server for MAC address based access control, IEEE 802.1X Authenticator
 and dynamic WEP keying, RADIUS accounting, WPA/WPA2 (IEEE 802.11i/RSN)
 Authenticator and dynamic TKIP/CCMP keying.
 .
 The current version includes support for other drivers, an integrated
 EAP authenticator (i.e., allow full authentication without requiring
 an external RADIUS authentication server), and RADIUS authentication
 server for EAP authentication.
 .
 hostapd works with the following drivers:
 .
  * mac80211 based drivers with support for master mode [linux]
  * Host AP driver for Prism2/2.5/3 [linux]
  * Driver interface for FreeBSD net80211 layer [kfreebsd]
  * Any wired Ethernet driver for wired IEEE 802.1X authentication.