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 configura

tion 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

following
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" */
u_int16_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 da

ta */

};

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 in

terfaces 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 val

ues 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 de

vice, generally 4. A device that does not support WEP may ei

ther report 0
or simply 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_POWER

SAVE_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. De

vices 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 giv

en 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 setting transmit keys due to strange device interfaces.

IEEE80211_IOC_AUTHMODE

Set the current authorization mode to the value giv

en in i_val.
Valid values are given above. Not all devices sup

port 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 sup

port this
directly by converting any invalid value to the de

fault 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) set

ting. 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), ancontrol(8), ifconfig(8),

raycontrol(8),
wicontrol(8)

HISTORY

The ieee80211 manual appeared in FreeBSD 4.3.

BSD February 23, 2001

BSD