4 This package contains the Wireless tools, used to manipulate
5 the Wireless Extensions. The Wireless Extensions is an interface
6 allowing you to set Wireless LAN specific parameters and get the
11 You'll find a lot of useful info on :
12 http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/Tools.html
13 http://web.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/
17 Most Linux distributions offer precompiled package containing
18 these tools. And many of them preinstall them by default. On the other
19 hand, installation of this package is (now) easy and allows you to get
20 a more up-to-date version.
24 This file contains installation instructions and requirements.
29 This file documents how to configure wireless cards at
30 boot time with various Linux distributions (using Wireless
31 Extensions). Please read it carefully before asking questions.
32 In this file, I try to collect all the specifics of Wireless
33 Extensions integration in the most common Linux distributions. I need
34 your help to complete this file.
38 This file documents how to manage and configure removable
39 wireless cards using Hotplug. This is more advanced than the simple
40 procedures of DISTRIBUTION.txt. This is currently mostly Debian
41 specific, but I hope you will contribute for other distributions.
45 This file describes how to use PCMCIA init script to configure
46 Wireless Extensions and how to use PCMCIA schemes.
48 man pages (iwconfig.8, iwlist.8, iwpriv.8, iwspy.8)
50 VERY IMPORTANT : I try to keep the man pages up to date, so
51 you'd better read them before asking questions.
52 ALSO IMPORTANT : Those man pages describe the capacities of
53 the tools, no device implements the full range (and drivers usually
56 As far as I know, the man pages are the most complete, up to
57 date and accurate documentation of the wireless tools. An update of
58 the web page related to Wireless Extensions is long overdue. Send
60 The man pages can either be copied into a location where the
61 command "man" will find them, such as /usr/local/man/man8, or can be
62 read locally with the command :
63 nroff -man xxx.8 | less
65 localised man pages (fr/*)
67 Localised man pages are not made by me, therefore the only
68 localisations available are those sent to me by courageous volonteers,
69 and I expect those man pages to 'lag' compared to the english
70 version (i.e. not have all the latest updates). Translating man pages
71 is not a very gratifying task, especially due to my broken english,
72 and many technical terms don't translate well to other languages, so
73 refer to the english version when in doubt.
77 The main wireless tool. Used for device configuration and to see
78 the most common wireless parameters.
82 Display some large chunk of information not displayed by iwconfig.
83 For example, all bit rates, all frequencies, all keys...
87 Mobile IP support test and allows to get stats per MAC
88 address (instead of globally). Also, for some drivers/devices, this is
89 the only way to get stats in Ad-Hoc mode.
93 Manipulate driver private ioctls : all parameters that are
94 specific to a driver or a device and therefore not part of iwconfig.
98 Output the ESSID or NWID of the specified device.
99 Can also output it in a form that can be used as a PCMCIA Scheme.
103 Display Wireless Events. Most recent drivers will support this
104 relatively new feature, but some older drivers may not support it.
108 Rename network interfaces based on various selectors.
112 The Wireless Tools helper library. May be useful if you want
113 to create your own applications using Wireless Extensions.
115 Changelog, contributions :
116 ------------------------
121 Definition of the Wireless Extensions. Remember that the
122 definition used by the drivers and the tools must match, otherwise
123 funny things may happen. The tools try to check for that.
124 Since Wireless Extensions v12, you can no longer drop this
125 file into your kernel headers to update the Wireless Extensions, you
126 need to use the full patches available on my web page. So, the use is
127 more if you plan to do some cross compile or something similar.
128 Just for your enjoyment, there are various releases of it. If
129 your kernel/drivers are old, you may want to try the older releases...
133 Various samples of code showing how to implement some of the
134 more tricky features of Wireless Extensions in your driver.
135 Note that there is no guarantee that this code compiles, let
136 alone works, but it should point you in the proper direction.
137 Also, have a look at existing drivers in the Linux kernel.
141 My web page lists many other tools using Wireless
142 Extensions that you may find useful...
143 http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/Tools.html#links
147 You have the source, and it is documented. In 99% of cases,
148 you will find your answer there.