Airwall Gateway 175e USB Serial Console Driver Setup

Issue

When connecting the Airwall Gateway 175e via micro USB, the device may appear as unidentified device in Windows Device Manager or Linux USB diagnostics (lsusb, dmesg). This occurs because the required driver for the PL2303GL USB-to-UART chip is not automatically installed on all systems.

Solution

  • On Windows 11 version 24H2 and newer, the PL2303GL driver is included by default. Once the device is connected, it should automatically appear under Ports (COM & LPT) as Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port, and no manual installation is needed.

  • On earlier versions of Windows 11, download and install the driver manually from Prolific USA – PL2303GL USB to UART Bridge Controller. Ensure the device is recognized correctly and the serial console becomes accessible.

  • On macOS version 26, the PL2303GL driver is not included. To enable the serial console, download and install the driver from Prolific USA – PL2303GL USB to UART Bridge Controller

  • On Linux systems with recent kernel versions, the PL2303GL driver is already included. The device should be recognized automatically when connected. If the driver is not present, consult your Linux distribution vendor or documentation for installation instructions.

Verify the Device on Windows

After installing the driver:

  1. Open Device Manager.

  2. Expand Ports (COM & LPT).

  3. Confirm the device appears as Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port.

Verify the Device on Linux

After installing the driver:

  1. Open a terminal.
  2. Run dmesg | tail to check kernel messages for USB recognition.
  3. Run lsusb to confirm the device is listed (look for a Prolific Technology entry).
  4. Run dmesg | grep tty or ls /dev/ttyUSB* to identify the assigned serial port (for example /dev/ttyUSB0).
  5. Confirm the device is recognized as a Prolific USB-to-Serial adapter.