FreeBSD Man Pages

wicontrol(8)

NAME

     wicontrol -- configure Lucent, Intersil, and Atheros wireless devices

SYNOPSIS

     wicontrol [-i] iface [-o]
     wicontrol [-i] iface -l (dump associated stations)
     wicontrol [-i] iface -L (list available access points)
     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 utility controls the operation of Lucent, Intersil, and
     Atheros-based wireless networking devices via wi(4) or ath(4) driver.

     You should not use this program to configure IEEE 802.11 parameters.  Use
     ifconfig(8) instead to do those tasks (i.e., set SSID, WEP key, etc.).

     The wicontrol utility can also be used to view the current settings of
     these parameters, dump out the values of the card's statistics counters,
     list associated stations (in HostAP mode), and scan for available access
     points.

     The iface argument given to wicontrol should be the logical interface
     name associated with the Lucent, Intersil, and Atheros device (wi0, wi1,
     ath0, etc.).  If none is specified then ``wi0'' is used as default.

OPTIONS

     The options are as follows:

     [-i] iface [-o]
	     Display the current settings of the specified wireless 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 -a access_point_density
	     Specify the access point density for a given interface.  Legal
	     values are 1 (low), 2 (medium) and 3 (high).  This setting influ-
	     ences some of the radio modem threshold settings.
	     Set 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 -r RTS_threshold
	     Set 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 -Z
	     Clear the signal strength cache maintained internally by the
	     wi(4) driver.

     [-i] iface -C
	     Display 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 sub-
	     tracting the noise level from the signal strength (i.e., less
	     noise and better signal yields better signal quality).

DEPRECATED AND OBSOLETE OPTIONS

     The wicontrol utility has a number of options that are now deprecated or
     obsolete, as they have been overtaken by extensions to ifconfig(8) and
     changes to the driver.  The deprecated and obsolete options are as fol-
     lows:

     [-i] iface -t tx_rate
	     This flag is deprecated.  Use ifconfig(8) mediaopt instead.

	     Set the transmit rate of the specified interface.	The legal val-
	     ues 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 table
	     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 default driver setting is 3 (auto rate select).  The numbers
	     vary from card to card.

     [-i] iface -n network_name
	     This flag is deprecated.  Use ifconfig(8) ssid or nwid instead.

	     Set the name of the service set (IBSS) that this station wishes
	     to join.  The network_name can be any text string up to 30 char-
	     acters in length.	The default name is the string ``ANY'' which

     [-i] iface -s station_name
	     This flag is deprecated.  Use ifconfig(8) stationname or station
	     instead.

	     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
	     This flag is deprecated.  IBSS networks are automatically created
	     on those cards whose firmware supports it while in IBSS mode.

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

	     Only newer versions of the Lucent firmware support this.

     [-i] iface -q SSID
	     This flag is deprecated.  The ssid setting from ifconfig(8) is
	     the current preferred way of setting this parameter.

	     Specify the name of an IBSS (SSID) to create on a given inter-
	     face.  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
	     This flag is deprecated.  It should never be used.  Do not use
	     this flag.  Its meaning depends on the type of card you are
	     using, as well as the firmware you have installed in the card in
	     some cases.  Beware.  Danger.  Do not use.  Instead, use the
	     ifconfig(8) media and mediaopt commands.

	     Set 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 sta-
	     tions 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 1 (BSS
	     mode).  Lucent cards have one set of meanings.  Prism cards have
	     another.  Symbol cards have a third.  Do not use this flag.

     [-i] iface -e 0 | 1
	     This flag is deprecated.  It has been replaced by the ifconfig(8)
	     wepmode option.

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

	     Both 128-bit and 64-bit WEP have been broken.  See the BUGS sec-
	     tion for details.

	     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 charac-
	     ter text string or 26 hex digits in addition to the formats sup-
	     ported by the Silver cards.

	     For maximum portability, hex keys are recommended; the mapping of
	     text keys to WEP encryption is usually driver-specific.  In par-
	     ticular, the Windows drivers do this mapping differently to
	     FreeBSD.

	     Note: Both 128-bit and 64-bit WEP encryption have been broken.
	     See the BUGS section for details.

     [-i] iface -T 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
	     This flag is obsolete.  The ifconfig(8) weptxkey should be used
	     instead.

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

	     Note: Both 128-bit and 64-bit WEP have been broken.  See the BUGS
	     section for details.

     [-i] iface -f frequency
	     This flag is deprecated.  Use ifconfig(8) channel instead.

	     Set the radio frequency of a given interface.  The frequency
	     should be specified as a channel ID as shown in the table below.
	     The list of available frequencies is dependent on radio regula-
	     tions 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 in order
	     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 in order 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
	     This flag is obsolete.  The ifconfig(8) powersleep should be used
	     instead.

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

SEE ALSO

     ath(4), awi(4), ipsec(4), wi(4), ifconfig(8)

BUGS

     There are deprecated flags here that duplicate functionality of
     ifconfig(8).  These flags were deprecated in FreeBSD 5.1 and will be
     removed in a future release.

     The WEP encryption method has been broken so that third parties can
     recover the keys in use relatively quickly at distances that are surpris-
     ing to most people.  Do not rely on WEP for anything but the most basic,
     remedial security.  IPSEC will give you a higher level of security and
     should be used whenever possible.	Do not trust access points or wireless
     machines that connect through them as they can provide no assurance that
     the traffic is legitimate.  MAC addresses can easily be forged and should
     therefore not be used as the only access control.

     The attack on WEP is a passive attack, requiring only the ability to
     sniff packets on the network.  The passive attack can be launched at a
     distance larger, up to many miles, than one might otherwise expect given
     a specialized antenna used in point to point applications.  The attacker
     can recover the keys from a 128-bit WEP network with only 5,000,000 to
     6,000,000 packets.  While this may sound like a large number of packets,
     empirical evidence suggests that this amount of traffic is generated in a
     few hours on a partially loaded network.  Once a key has been compro-
     mised, the only remedial action is to discontinue it and use a new key.

     See http://www.cs.rice.edu/~astubble/wep/wep_attack.html for details of
     the attack.  Many programs to assist in cracking WEP keys are widely
     available.

     If you must use WEP, you are strongly encouraged to pick keys whose bytes
     are random and not confined to ASCII characters.  Brute force attacks on
     WEP keys are also possible.  Experience has showns that ASCII keys can be
     cracked in less than a day.  Even random bytes can be cracked in less
     than two weeks.

     Signal cache is broken right now.

HISTORY

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