xref: /netbsd-src/usr.sbin/wiconfig/wiconfig.8 (revision 1ffa7b76c40339c17a0fb2a09fac93f287cfc046)
1.\"	$NetBSD: wiconfig.8,v 1.27 2003/04/16 12:43:43 wiz Exp $
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3.\" Copyright (c) 1997, 1998, 1999
4.\"	Bill Paul <wpaul@ctr.columbia.edu> All rights reserved.
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33.\"	From: wicontrol.8,v 1.6 1999/05/22 16:12:47 wpaul Exp $
34.\"
35.Dd March 31, 2003
36.Dt WICONFIG 8
37.Os
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm wiconfig
40.Nd configure WaveLAN/IEEE devices
41.Sh SYNOPSIS
42.Nm wiconfig
43.Ar interface
44.Op Fl \&Do
45.Bk -words
46.Op Fl a Ar access point density
47.Ek
48.Bk -words
49.Op Fl d Ar max data length
50.Ek
51.Bk -words
52.Op Fl M Ar 0|1
53.Ek
54.Bk -words
55.Op Fl m Ar MAC address
56.Ek
57.Bk -words
58.Op Fl R Ar 1|3
59.Ek
60.Bk -words
61.Op Fl r Ar RTS threshold
62.Ek
63.Bk -words
64.Op Fl s Ar station name
65.Ek
66.Sh DESCRIPTION
67The
68.Nm
69command controls the operation of
70.Tn WaveLAN/IEEE
71wireless networking devices via the
72.Xr wi 4
73and
74.Xr awi 4
75drivers.
76The
77.Nm
78command can also be used to view the current settings of these parameters
79and to dump out the values of the card's statistics counters.
80.Pp
81Most of the parameters that can be changed relate to the
82.Tn IEEE
83802.11 protocol which the
84.Tn WaveLAN
85implements.
86This includes the station name, whether the station is operating
87in ad-hoc (point to point) or BSS (service set) mode, and the
88network name of a service set to join (IBSS) if BSS mode is enabled.
89.Pp
90The
91.Ar interface
92argument given to
93.Nm
94should be the logical interface name associated with the
95.Tn WaveLAN/IEEE
96device (e.g., wi0, wi1, etc.).
97.Sh OPTIONS
98With no extra options,
99.Nm
100will display the current settings of the specified
101.Tn WaveLAN/IEEE
102interface.
103.Pp
104The options are as follows:
105.Pp
106.Bl -tag -width Fl
107.It Fl a Ar access_point_density
108Specify the
109.Ar access point density
110for a given interface.
111Legal values are 1 (low), 2 (medium), and 3 (high).
112This setting influences some of the radio modem threshold settings.
113.It Fl D
114This forces the driver to initiate one round of access point scanning.
115All of the access points found are displayed.
116.It Fl d Ar max_data_length
117Set the maximum receive and transmit frame size for a specified interface.
118The
119.Ar max data length
120can be any number from 256 to 2346.
121The default is 2304.
122.It Fl M Ar 0|1
123Enable or disable
124.Qq microwave oven robustness
125on a given interface.
126This should only be used if needed.
127.Pp
128In cases of slow performance where there is a good quality signal but
129also high levels of noise (i.e., the signal to noise ratio is bad but
130the signal strength is good), and there is an operating microwave oven
131in or near the signal path, this option may be of use.
132.Pp
133In bad signal-to-noise conditions, the link layer will switch to lower
134transmit rates.
135However at lower transmit rates, individual frames
136take longer to transmit, making them more vulnerable to bursty
137noise.
138The option works by enabling data fragmentation in the link
139layer as the transmit speed lowers in an attempt to shorten the
140transmit time of each frame so that individual frames are more likely
141to be transmitted without error.
142.Pp
143Note that this does not impact the visible MTU of the link.
144.It Fl m Ar MAC address
145Set the station address for the specified interface.
146The
147.Ar MAC address
148is specified as a series of six hexadecimal values separated by colons,
149e.g., 00:60:1d:12:34:56.
150This programs the new address into the card and updates the interface as well.
151.It Fl o
152Print out the statistics counters instead of the card settings.
153Note that, however, the statistics will only be updated every minute or so.
154.It Fl R Ar 1|3
155Enable or disable roaming function on a given interface.
156The legal values are
157.Ar 1
158(Roaming handled by firmware) and
159.Ar 3
160(Roaming Disabled).
161The default is 1.
162.It Fl r Ar RTS threshold
163Set the RTS/CTS threshold for a given interface.
164This controls the number of bytes used for the RTS/CTS handshake boundary.
165The
166.Ar RTS threshold
167can be any value between 0 and 2347.
168The default is 2347, which indicates RTS/CTS mechanism never to be used.
169.It Fl s Ar station name
170Sets the
171.Ar station name
172for the specified interface.  The
173.Ar station name
174is used for diagnostic purposes.
175The
176.Tn Lucent
177.Tn WaveMANAGER
178software can poll the names of remote hosts.
179.El
180.Sh SEE ALSO
181.Xr awi 4 ,
182.Xr wi 4 ,
183.Xr ifconfig 8
184.Sh HISTORY
185The
186.Nm
187command first appeared in
188.Fx 3.0 ,
189as
190.Ic wicontrol .
191It was added to
192.Nx 1.5
193under its present name.
194.Sh AUTHORS
195The
196.Nm
197command was written by
198.An Bill Paul Aq wpaul@ctr.columbia.edu .
199