wlanconfig(8)

NAME

wlanconfig - Create, destroy and manipulate madwifi VAPs

SYNOPSIS

wlanconfig <vap> create wlandev <base device> wlanmode <mode>
wlanconfig <vap> destroy
wlanconfig <vap> list <list item>

DESCRIPTION

The current MadWifi driver supports multiple APs and concurrent AP/Station mode operation on the same device. The devices are restricted to using the same underlying hardware, thus are limited to coexisting on the same channel and using the same physical layer features. Each instance of an AP or station is called a Virtual AP (or VAP). Each VAP can be in either AP mode, Station Mode, "special" station mode, and Monitor mode. Every VAP has an associated underlying base device which is created when the driver is loaded.

ARGUMENTS

<vap> create [nounit] wlandev <base device> wlanmode <mode> [uniquebssid]

Create the interface <vap> using the specified <base device> and <mode>. <vap> can either be a full interface name (e.g. 'ath0'), or just the suffix (e.g. 'ath'), in which case, the kernel will automatically append the next vacant integer. [nounit] will turn off the automatic integer increments.

<vap> destroy

Removes the given VAP interface. You must specify the full interface name. I.e 'ath0' rather than just 'ath'.

<vap> list <list item>

Show information about connected peers, keys, channels etc.

AVAILABLE MODES

ahdemo Create the station in ad-hoc demo (aka pseudo IBSS) mode.

adhoc Create the station in ad-hoc mode.

ap Create the VAP in AP mode.

monitor

Create the station in monitor mode.

sta Create the VAP in station mode.

wds Create the station in WDS mode.

OPTIONS

uniquebssid

Create the VAP using a new unique MAC address, different from the underlying device.

bssid Synonym for uniquebssid, for backward compatibility.

-bssid Ignored for backward compatibility.

nosbeacon

Ignored for backward compatibility.

LIST ITEMS

sta or no parameters.

Show information on associated stations.

scan or ap

List all visible stations.

chan or freq

List all channels and frequencies.

active List all available channels and frequencies.

keys List all of the keys associated with the VAP

caps List the capabilities of the given VAP.

wme List WME (Wireless multimedia extensions, aka WMM) parameters.

EXAMPLES

wlanconfig ath create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode sta

Create a station mode VAP, using wifi0 as the underlying device. The interface wil be called athN, where N is the first free integer. The MAC address will be the same as the underlying device.

wlanconfig ath0 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode sta

Create a station mode VAP (ath0) using wifi0 as the underlying device. The MAC address will be the same as the underlying device.

wlanconfig ath0 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode ap wlanconfig ath1 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode sta nosbeacon

Create both an AP and a station mode interface.

wlanconfig ath0 destroy

Destroy VAP ath0.

wlanconfig ath0 list scan

Scan for local stations and access points.

wlanconfig ath0 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode ap wlanconfig ath1 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode wds iwconfig ath0 essid "Normal atheros AP" channel 1 iwpriv ath1 wds_add <mac of the peer wds ap> iwpriv ath1 wds 1
ifconfig ath1 up
ifconfig ath0 up
brctl addbr br0
brctl addif br0 ath1
brctl addif br0 ath0
ifconfig br0 up

Create a WDS bridge. See http://madwifi.org/ for more information.

AUTHOR

This manual page was written by Matt Foster <mattfoster@clara.co.uk>, using information from the Atheros user documentation, and MadWiFi users mailing list.

October 2005 WLANCONFIG(8)