IEEE80211(4) BSD Kernel Interfaces Manual IEEE80211(4)
NAME
ieee80211 -- standard interface to IEEE 802.11 devices
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <net/if.h>
#include <net/ethernet.h>
#include <net/if_ieee80211.h>
DESCRIPTION
This section describes the standard interface to configuration and status information on IEEE 802.11 devices. Most devices support options
not configurable by this interface. They must be set by their respective, specific control program. The interface is via one of the follow-
ing ioctl(2) calls on a socket:
SIOCG80211 Get configuration or status information.
SIOCS80211 Set configuration information.
These requests are made via a modified ifreq structure. This structure is defined as follows:
struct ieee80211req {
char i_name[IFNAMSIZ]; /* if_name, e.g. "wi0" */
uint16_t i_type; /* req type */
int16_t i_val; /* Index or simple value */
int16_t i_len; /* Index or simple value */
void *i_data; /* Extra data */
};
For SIOCG80211 the following values of i_type are valid:
IEEE80211_IOC_SSID
Returns the requested SSID by copying it into the buffer pointed to by i_data and setting i_len to the length. If i_val is >= 0 then
the request refers to the configured value for that slot. Generally, 0 is the only valid value, but some interfaces support more
SSIDs. If i_val is -1 then the request refers to the currently active value.
IEEE80211_IOC_NUMSSIDS
Returns the number of SSIDs this card supports. In most cases, this is 1, but some devices such as an(4) support more.
IEEE80211_IOC_WEP
Returns the current WEP status in i_val. Valid values are IEEE80211_WEP_NOSUP, IEEE80211_WEP_ON, IEEE80211_WEP_OFF, and
IEEE80211_WEP_MIXED. Respectively, these values mean unsupported, mandatory for all devices, off, and on, but not required for all
devices.
IEEE80211_IOC_WEPKEY
Returns the requested WEP key via i_data and its length via i_len. If the device does not support returning the WEP key or the user
is not root then the key may be returned as all zeros. Technically this is a valid key, but it is the kind of key an idiot would put
on his luggage so we use it as a special value. Generally, only four WEP keys are allowed, but some devices support more. If so,
the first four (0-3) are the standard keys stored in volatile storage and the others are device specific.
IEEE80211_IOC_NUMWEPKEYS
Returns the number of WEP keys supported by this device, generally 4. A device that does not support WEP may either report 0 or sim-
ply return EINVAL.
IEEE80211_IOC_WEPTXKEY
Returns the WEP key used for transmission.
IEEE80211_IOC_AUTHMODE
Returns the current authentication mode in i_val. Valid values are IEEE80211_AUTH_NONE, IEEE80211_AUTH_OPEN, and
IEEE80211_AUTH_SHARED.
IEEE80211_IOC_STATIONNAME
Returns the station name via i_data and its length via i_len. While all known devices seem to support this in some way or another,
they all do it differently and it appears to not have anything to do with the actual IEEE 802.11 standard so making up an answer may
be necessary for future devices.
IEEE80211_IOC_CHANNEL
Returns the current direct sequence spread spectrum channel in use.
IEEE80211_IOC_POWERSAVE
Returns the current powersaving mode. Valid values are IEEE80211_POWERSAVE_NOSUP, IEEE80211_POWERSAVE_OFF, IEEE80211_POWERSAVE_ON,
IEEE80211_POWERSAVE_CAM, IEEE80211_POWERSAVE_PSP, and IEEE80211_POWERSAVE_PSP_CAM. Currently, IEEE80211_POWERSAVE_ON is defined to
be equal to IEEE80211_POWERSAVE_CAM, but this may be incorrect.
IEEE80211_IOC_POWERSAVESLEEP
Returns the powersave sleep time in msec in i_val.
For SIOCS80211 the following values of i_type are valid:
IEEE80211_IOC_SSID
Set the desired SSID for infrastructure and ad-hoc modes to value given by i_data and i_len. The length should be no longer than 32
characters.
IEEE80211_IOC_WEP
Set the current WEP mode to the value given in i_val. Valid values are the same as those for this value above. Devices which do not
support all modes may choose to either return EINVAL or choose a reasonable alternate (supported) setting.
IEEE80211_IOC_WEPKEY
Set the WEP key indicated by i_val to the value given by i_data and i_len. Generally, valid values of i_len are 0, 5, and 13 though
not all devices with WEP support have support for 13-byte keys.
IEEE80211_IOC_WEPTXKEY
Set the WEP key used for transmission to the value in i_val. Not all values which are valid for setting keys may be valid for set-
ting transmit keys due to strange device interfaces.
IEEE80211_IOC_AUTHMODE
Set the current authorization mode to the value given in i_val. Valid values are given above. Not all devices support this.
IEEE80211_IOC_STATIONNAME
Set the station name to the value given by i_data and i_len. The standard does not appear to deal with this feature so the range of
valid values may vary from device to device.
IEEE80211_IOC_CHANNEL
Set the desired ad-hoc channel to the value given by i_val. On some devices this has an impact on infrastructure mode as well.
Valid values are 1-14, but 0 should be allowed and should return the device to the default value. May devices support this directly
by converting any invalid value to the default value.
IEEE80211_IOC_POWERSAVE
Set the current powersaving mode to the value given in i_val. Valid values are the same as those for this value above. Devices
which do not support all modes may choose to either return EINVAL or choose a reasonable alternate (supported) setting. Most devices
only support CAM mode.
IEEE80211_IOC_POWERSAVESLEEP
Set the powersave sleep time in msec to the value in i_val.
SEE ALSO
ioctl(2), an(4), ray(4), wi(4), ifconfig(8)
HISTORY
The ieee80211 manual appeared in FreeBSD 4.3.
BSD
February 23, 2001 BSD