4 Wicontrol

Name: wicontrol

Configure WaveLAN/IEEE devices.

Synopsis:


wicontrol -i iface [-o]

wicontrol -i iface -t tx_rate

wicontrol -i iface -n network_name

wicontrol -i iface -s station_name

wicontrol -i iface -c 0 | 1

wicontrol -i iface -q SSID

wicontrol -i iface -p port_type

wicontrol -i iface -a access_point_density

wicontrol -i iface -m mac_address

wicontrol -i iface -d max_data_length

wicontrol -i iface -e 0 | 1

wicontrol -i iface -k key [-v 1 | 2 | 3 | 4]

wicontrol -i iface -T 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

wicontrol -i iface -r RTS_threshold

wicontrol -i iface -f frequency

wicontrol -i iface -P 0 | 1

wicontrol -i iface -S max_sleep_duration

wicontrol -i iface -Z (zero signal cache)

wicontrol -i iface -C (display signal cache)

Description: The wicontrol command controls the operation of WaveLAN/IEEE wireless networking devices via the wi(4) driver. Most of the parameters that can be changed relate to the IEEE 802.11 protocol that the WaveLAN implements. This includes the station name, whether the station is operating in ad-hoc (point-to-point) or BSS (service set) mode, and the network name of a service set to join (IBSS) if BSS mode is enabled. The wicontrol command can also be used to view the current settings of these parameters and to dump out the values of the card's statistics counters.

The iface argument given to wicontrol should be the logical interface name associated with the WaveLAN/IEEE device (wi0, wi1, etc.). If none is specified then wi0 is used as the default.

Parameters

-i iface [-o]

Displays the current settings of the specified WaveLAN/IEEE interface. This retrieves the current card settings from the driver and prints them out. Using the additional -o flag will cause wicontrol to print out the statistics counters instead of the card settings. Encryption keys are only displayed if wicontrol is run as root.

-i iface -t tx_rate

Sets the transmit rate of the specified interface. The legal values for the transmit rate vary depending on whether the interface is a standard WaveLAN/IEEE or a WaveLAN/IEEE Turbo adapter. The standard NICs support a maximum transmit rate of 2Mbps while the turbo NICs support a maximum speed of 6Mbps. The following list shows the legal transmit rate settings and the corresponding transmit speeds:

TX rate
NIC speed
1
Fixed Low (1Mbps)
2
Fixed Standard (2Mbps)
3
Auto Rate Select (High)
4
Fixed Medium (4Mbps)
5
Fixed High (6Mbps)
6
Auto Rate Select (Standard)
7
Auto Rate Select (Medium)

The standard NICs support only settings 1 through 3. Turbo NICs support all the listed speed settings. The default driver setting is 3 (auto rate select).

-i iface -n network_name

Sets the name of the service set (IBSS) that this station wishes to join. The network_name can be any text string up to 30 characters in length. The default name is the string ANY, which should allow the station to connect to the first available access point. The interface should be set for BSS mode using the –p flag for this to work.

Note: The WaveLAN manual indicates that an empty string will allow the host to connect to any access point, however I have also seen a reference in another driver that indicates that the ANY string works as well.

-i iface -s station_name

Sets the station name for the specified interface. The station_name is used for diagnostic purposes. The Lucent WaveMANAGER software can poll the names of remote hosts.

-i iface -c 0 | 1

Allows the station to create a service set (IBSS). Permitted values are 0 (don't create IBSS) and 1 (enable creation of IBSS). The default is 0.

Note: This option is provided for experimental purposes only: enabling the creation of an IBSS on a host system doesn't appear to actually work.

-i iface -q SSID

Specifies the name of an IBSS (SSID) to create on a given interface. The SSID can be any text string up to 30 characters long.

Note: This option is provided for experimental purposes only: enabling the creation of an IBSS on a host system doesn't appear to actually work.

-i iface -p port_type

Sets the port type for a specified interface. The legal values for port_type are 1 (BSS mode) and 3 (ad-hoc) mode. In ad-hoc mode, the station can communicate directly with any other stations within direct radio range (provided that they are also operating in ad-hoc mode). In BSS mode, hosts must associate with a service set controlled by an access point, which relays traffic between end stations. The default setting is 3 (ad-hoc mode).

-i iface -a access_point_density

Specifies the access point density for a given interface. Legal values are 1 (low), 2 (medium), and 3 (high). This setting influences some of the radio modem threshold settings.

-i iface -m mac_address

Sets the station address for the specified interface. The mac_address is specified as a series of six hexadecimal values separated by colons (e.g., 00:60:1d:12:34:56). This programs the new address into the card and updates the interface as well.

-i iface -d max_data_length

Sets the maximum receive and transmit frame size for a specified interface. The max_data_length can be any number from 350 to 2304. The default is 2304.

-i iface -e 0 | 1

Enables or disables WEP encryption. Permitted values are 0 (encryption disabled) or 1 (encryption enabled). Encryption is off by default.

-i iface -k key [-v 1|2|3|4]

Sets WEP encryption keys. There are four default encryption keys that can be programmed. A specific key can be set using the –v flag. If the -v flag is not specified, the first key will be set. Encryption keys can either be normal text (i.e., hello) or a series of hexadecimal digits (i.e., 0x1234512345). For WaveLAN Turbo Silver cards, the key is restricted to 40 bits, hence the key can be either a 5-character text string or 10 hex digits. For WaveLAN Turbo Gold cards, the key can also be 104 bits, which means the key can be specified as either a 13-character text string or 26 hex digits in addition to the formats supported by the Silver cards.

-i iface -T 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Specifies which of the four WEP encryption keys will be used to encrypt transmitted packets.

-i iface -r RTS_threshold

Sets the RTS/CTS threshold for a given interface. This controls the number of bytes used for the RTS/CTS handshake boundary. The RTS_threshold can be any value between 0 and 2347. The default is 2347.

-i iface -f frequency

Sets the radio frequency of a given interface. The frequency should be specified as a channel ID as shown in the list below. The list of available frequencies is dependent on radio regulations specified by regional authorities. Recognized regulatory authorities include the FCC (United States), ETSI (Europe), France, and Japan. Frequencies in the table are specified in Mhz.

Channel ID
FCC
ETSI
France
Japan
1
2412
2412
-
2412
2
2417
2417
-
2417
3
2422
2422
-
2422
4
2427
2427
-
2427
5
2432
2432
-
2432
6
2437
2437
-
2437
7
2442
2442
-
2442
8
2447
2447
-
2447
9
2452
2452
-
2452
10
2457
2457
2457
2457
11
2462
2462
2462
2462
12
-
2467
2467
2467
13
-
2472
2472
2472
14
-
-
-
2484

If an illegal channel is specified, the NIC will revert to its default channel. For NICs sold in the United States and Europe, the default channel is 3. For NICs sold in France, the default channel is 11. For NICs sold in Japan, the default channel is 14, and it is the only available channel for pre-11Mbps NICs. Note that two stations must be set to the same channel to communicate.

-i iface -P 0 | 1

Enables or disables power management on a given interface. Enabling power management uses an alternating sleep/wake protocol to help conserve power on mobile stations, at the cost of some increased receive latency. Power management is off by default. Note that power management requires the cooperation of an access point to function; it is not functional in ad-hoc mode. Also, power management is only implemented in Lucent WavePOINT firmware version 2.03 or later, and in WaveLAN PCMCIA adapter firmware 2.00 or later. Older revisions will silently ignore the power management setting. Legal values for this parameter are 0 (off) and 1 (on).

-i iface -S max_sleep_interval

Specifies the sleep interval to use when power management is enabled. The max_sleep_interval is specified in milliseconds. The default is 100.

-i iface –Z

Clears the signal strength cache maintained internally by the wi(4) driver.

-i iface -C

Displays the cached signal strength information maintained by the wi(4) driver. The driver retains information about signal strength and noise level for packets received from different hosts. The signal strength and noise level values are displayed in units of dBms. The signal quality value is produced by subtracting the noise level from the signal strength (i.e., less noise and better signal yields better signal quality).