1 .\" Copyright (c) 1997, 1998, 1999
2 .\" Bill Paul <wpaul@ctr.columbia.edu> All rights reserved.
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31 .\" $FreeBSD: src/usr.sbin/wicontrol/wicontrol.8,v 1.14.2.12 2003/01/31 11:16:16 dwmalone Exp $
38 .Nd configure WaveLAN/IEEE devices
45 .Ar iface Fl t Ar tx_rate
48 .Ar iface Fl n Ar network_name
51 .Ar iface Fl s Ar station_name
54 .Ar iface Fl c Cm 0 | 1
57 .Ar iface Fl q Ar SSID
60 .Ar iface Fl p Ar port_type
63 .Ar iface Fl a Ar access_point_density
66 .Ar iface Fl m Ar mac_address
69 .Ar iface Fl d Ar max_data_length
72 .Ar iface Fl e Cm 0 | 1
76 .Op Fl v Cm 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
79 .Ar iface Fl T Cm 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
82 .Ar iface Fl r Ar RTS_threshold
85 .Ar iface Fl f Ar frequency
88 .Ar iface Fl P Cm 0 | 1
91 .Ar iface Fl S Ar max_sleep_duration
99 (display signal cache)
103 (list avail access points)
107 (dump associated stations)
111 utility controls the operation of WaveLAN/IEEE wireless networking
115 Most of the parameters that can be changed relate to the
116 IEEE 802.11 protocol which the WaveLAN implements.
118 the station name, whether the station is operating in ad-hoc (point
119 to point) or BSS (service set) mode, and the network name of a service
120 set to join (IBSS) if BSS mode is enabled.
123 utility can also be used to view the current settings of these parameters
124 and to dump out the values of the card's statistics counters.
130 should be the logical interface name associated with the WaveLAN/IEEE
134 If none is specified then
138 The options are as follows:
139 .Bl -tag -width indent
140 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Op Fl o
141 Display the current settings of the specified WaveLAN/IEEE interface.
142 This retrieves the current card settings from the driver and prints them
148 to print out the statistics counters instead of the card settings.
149 Encryption keys are only displayed if
152 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl t Ar tx_rate
153 Set the transmit rate of the specified interface.
155 for the transmit rate vary depending on whether the interface is a
156 standard WaveLAN/IEEE or a WaveLAN/IEEE Turbo adapter.
158 NICs support a maximum transmit rate of 2Mbps while the turbo NICs
159 support a maximum speed of 6Mbps.
160 The following table shows the
161 legal transmit rate settings and the corresponding transmit speeds:
162 .Bl -column ".Em TX\ rate" ".Em NIC\ speed" -offset indent
163 .Em "TX rate NIC speed"
164 .It Cm 1 Ta "Fixed Low (1Mbps)"
165 .It Cm 2 Ta "Fixed Standard (2Mbps)"
166 .It Cm 3 Ta "Auto Rate Select (High)"
167 .It Cm 4 Ta "Fixed Medium (4Mbps)"
168 .It Cm 5 Ta "Fixed High (6Mbps)"
169 .It Cm 6 Ta "Auto Rate Select (Standard)"
170 .It Cm 7 Ta "Auto Rate Select (Medium)"
173 The standard NICs support only settings
177 Turbo NICs support all the above listed speed settings.
178 The default driver setting is
181 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl n Ar network_name
182 Set the name of the service set (IBSS) that this station wishes to
186 can be any text string up to 30 characters in length.
190 which should allow the station to connect to the first
191 available access point.
192 The interface should be set for BSS mode using
195 flag in order for this to work.
197 Note: the WaveLAN manual indicates that an empty string will allow the
198 host to connect to any access point, however I have also seen a reference
199 in another driver which indicates that the
201 string works as well.
202 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl s Ar station_name
205 for the specified interface.
208 is used for diagnostic purposes.
210 .Tn "Lucent WaveMANAGER"
212 poll the names of remote hosts.
213 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl c Cm 0 | 1
214 Allow the station to create a service set (IBSS).
217 (don't create IBSS) and
219 (enable creation of IBSS).
223 Note: this option is provided for experimental purposes only: enabling
224 the creation of an IBSS on a host system doesn't appear to actually work.
225 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl q Ar SSID
226 Specify the name of an IBSS (SSID) to create on a given interface.
229 can be any text string up to 30 characters long.
231 Note: this option is provided for experimental purposes only: enabling
232 the creation of an IBSS on a host system doesn't appear to actually work.
233 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl p Ar port_type
236 for a specified interface.
244 In ad-hoc mode, the station can
245 communicate directly with any other stations within direct radio range
246 (provided that they are also operating in ad-hoc mode).
248 hosts must associate with a service set controlled by an access point,
249 which relays traffic between end stations.
250 The default setting is
253 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl a Ar access_point_density
256 for a given interface.
264 This setting influences some of the radio modem threshold settings.
265 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl m Ar mac_address
266 Set the station address for the specified interface.
269 is specified as a series of six hexadecimal values separated by colons,
271 .Dq Li 00:60:1d:12:34:56 .
272 This programs the new address into the card
273 and updates the interface as well.
274 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl d Ar max_data_length
275 Set the maximum receive and transmit frame size for a specified interface.
278 can be any number from 350 to 2304.
280 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl e Cm 0 | 1
281 Enable or disable WEP encryption.
284 (encryption disabled) or
286 (encryption enabled).
287 Encryption is off by default.
289 Both 128-bit and 64-bit WEP have been broken.
293 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl k Ar key Op Fl v Cm 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
294 Set WEP encryption keys.
295 There are four default encryption keys
296 that can be programmed.
297 A specific key can be set using
303 flag is not specified, the first key will be set.
305 can either be normal text (i.e.\&
307 or a series of hexadecimal digits (i.e.\&
308 .Dq Li 0x1234512345 ) .
310 WaveLAN Turbo Silver cards, the key is restricted to 40 bits, hence
311 the key can be either a 5 character text string or 10 hex digits.
312 For WaveLAN Turbo Gold cards, the key can also be 104 bits,
313 which means the key can be specified as either a 13 character text
314 string or 26 hex digits in addition to the formats supported by the
317 Note: Both 128-bit and 64-bit WEP have been broken.
321 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl T Cm 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
322 Specify which of the four WEP encryption keys will be used to
323 encrypt transmitted packets.
325 Note: Both 128-bit and 64-bit WEP have been broken.
329 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl r Ar RTS_threshold
330 Set the RTS/CTS threshold for a given interface.
332 number of bytes used for the RTS/CTS handshake boundary.
335 can be any value between 0 and 2347.
337 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl f Ar frequency
338 Set the radio frequency of a given interface.
341 should be specified as a channel ID as shown in the table below.
343 list of available frequencies is dependent on radio regulations specified
344 by regional authorities.
345 Recognized regulatory authorities include
346 the FCC (United States), ETSI (Europe), France and Japan.
348 in the table are specified in MHz.
349 .Bl -column ".Em Channel\ ID" ".Em FCC" ".Em ETSI" ".Em France" ".Em Japan" -offset indent
350 .Em "Channel ID FCC ETSI France Japan"
351 .It Cm 1 Ta "2412 2412 - 2412"
352 .It Cm 2 Ta "2417 2417 - 2417"
353 .It Cm 3 Ta "2422 2422 - 2422"
354 .It Cm 4 Ta "2427 2427 - 2427"
355 .It Cm 5 Ta "2432 2432 - 2432"
356 .It Cm 6 Ta "2437 2437 - 2437"
357 .It Cm 7 Ta "2442 2442 - 2442"
358 .It Cm 8 Ta "2447 2447 - 2447"
359 .It Cm 9 Ta "2452 2452 - 2452"
360 .It Cm 10 Ta "2457 2457 2457 2457"
361 .It Cm 11 Ta "2462 2462 2462 2462"
362 .It Cm 12 Ta "- 2467 2467 2467"
363 .It Cm 13 Ta "- 2472 2472 2472"
364 .It Cm 14 Ta "- - - 2484"
367 If an illegal channel is specified, the
368 NIC will revert to its default channel.
369 For NICs sold in the United States
370 and Europe, the default channel is
372 For NICs sold in France, the default channel is
374 For NICs sold in Japan, the default channel is
376 and it is the only available channel for pre-11Mbps NICs.
377 Note that two stations must be set to the same channel in order to
379 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl P Cm 0 | 1
380 Enable or disable power management on a given interface.
382 power management uses an alternating sleep/wake protocol to help
383 conserve power on mobile stations, at the cost of some increased
385 Power management is off by default.
387 management requires the cooperation of an access point in order to
388 function; it is not functional in ad-hoc mode.
389 Also, power management
390 is only implemented in Lucent WavePOINT firmware version 2.03 or
391 later, and in WaveLAN PCMCIA adapter firmware 2.00 or later.
393 revisions will silently ignore the power management setting.
395 values for this parameter are
400 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl S Ar max_sleep_interval
401 Specify the sleep interval to use when power management is enabled.
403 .Ar max_sleep_interval
404 is specified in milliseconds.
406 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl Z
407 Clear the signal strength cache maintained internally by the
410 .It Oo Fl i Oc Ar iface Fl C
411 Display the cached signal strength information maintained by the
414 The driver retains information about signal strength and
415 noise level for packets received from different hosts.
417 strength and noise level values are displayed in units of dBms.
418 The signal quality values is produced by subtracting the noise level
419 from the signal strength (i.e. less noise and better signal yields
420 better signal quality).
427 The WEP encryption method has been broken so that third parties
428 can recover the keys in use relatively quickly at distances that are
429 surprising to most people.
430 Do not rely on WEP for anything but the most basic, remedial security.
431 IPSEC will give you a higher level of security and should be used
433 Do not trust access points or wireless machines that connect through
434 them as they can provide no assurance that the traffic is legitimate.
435 MAC addresses can easily be forged and should therefore not be used as
436 the only access control.
438 The attack on WEP is a passive attack, requiring only the ability to
439 sniff packets on the network.
440 The passive attack can be launched at a distance larger, up to many
441 miles, than one might otherwise expect given a specialized antenna
442 used in point to point applications.
443 The attacker can recover the keys from a 128-bit WEP network with only
444 5,000,000 to 6,000,000 packets.
445 While this may sound like a large number of packets, empirical
446 evidence suggests that this amount of traffic is generated in a few
447 hours on a partially loaded network.
448 Once a key has been compromised, the only remedial action is to
449 discontinue it and use a new key.
452 .Pa http://www.cs.rice.edu/~astubble/wep/wep_attack.html
453 for details of the attack.
455 If you must use WEP, you are strongly encouraged to pick keys whose
456 bytes are random and not confined to ASCII characters.
460 utility first appeared in
465 utility was written by
466 .An Bill Paul Aq wpaul@ctr.columbia.edu .