NetBSD/usr.sbin/wiconfig/wiconfig.8

.\"	$NetBSD: wiconfig.8,v 1.27 2003/04/16 12:43:43 wiz Exp $
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.\"	Bill Paul <wpaul@ctr.columbia.edu> All rights reserved.
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.\"	From: wicontrol.8,v 1.6 1999/05/22 16:12:47 wpaul Exp $
.\"
.Dd March 31, 2003
.Dt WICONFIG 8
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm wiconfig
.Nd configure WaveLAN/IEEE devices
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm wiconfig
.Ar interface
.Op Fl \&Do
.Bk -words
.Op Fl a Ar access point density
.Ek
.Bk -words
.Op Fl d Ar max data length
.Ek
.Bk -words
.Op Fl M Ar 0|1
.Ek
.Bk -words
.Op Fl m Ar MAC address
.Ek
.Bk -words
.Op Fl R Ar 1|3
.Ek
.Bk -words
.Op Fl r Ar RTS threshold
.Ek
.Bk -words
.Op Fl s Ar station name
.Ek
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm
command controls the operation of
.Tn WaveLAN/IEEE
wireless networking devices via the
.Xr wi 4
and
.Xr awi 4
drivers.
The
.Nm
command can also be used to view the current settings of these parameters
and to dump out the values of the card's statistics counters.
.Pp
Most of the parameters that can be changed relate to the
.Tn IEEE
802.11 protocol which the
.Tn WaveLAN
implements.
This includes the station name, whether the station is operating
in ad-hoc (point to point) or BSS (service set) mode, and the
network name of a service set to join (IBSS) if BSS mode is enabled.
.Pp
The
.Ar interface
argument given to
.Nm
should be the logical interface name associated with the
.Tn WaveLAN/IEEE
device (e.g., wi0, wi1, etc.).
.Sh OPTIONS
With no extra options,
.Nm
will display the current settings of the specified
.Tn WaveLAN/IEEE
interface.
.Pp
The options are as follows:
.Pp
.Bl -tag -width Fl
.It Fl a Ar access_point_density
Specify the
.Ar access point density
for a given interface.
Legal values are 1 (low), 2 (medium), and 3 (high).
This setting influences some of the radio modem threshold settings.
.It Fl D
This forces the driver to initiate one round of access point scanning.
All of the access points found are displayed.
.It Fl d Ar max_data_length
Set the maximum receive and transmit frame size for a specified interface.
The
.Ar max data length
can be any number from 256 to 2346.
The default is 2304.
.It Fl M Ar 0|1
Enable or disable
.Qq microwave oven robustness
on a given interface.
This should only be used if needed.
.Pp
In cases of slow performance where there is a good quality signal but
also high levels of noise (i.e., the signal to noise ratio is bad but
the signal strength is good), and there is an operating microwave oven
in or near the signal path, this option may be of use.
.Pp
In bad signal-to-noise conditions, the link layer will switch to lower
transmit rates.
However at lower transmit rates, individual frames
take longer to transmit, making them more vulnerable to bursty
noise.
The option works by enabling data fragmentation in the link
layer as the transmit speed lowers in an attempt to shorten the
transmit time of each frame so that individual frames are more likely
to be transmitted without error.
.Pp
Note that this does not impact the visible MTU of the link.
.It Fl m Ar MAC address
Set the station address for the specified interface.
The
.Ar MAC address
is specified as a series of six hexadecimal values separated by colons,
e.g., 00:60:1d:12:34:56.
This programs the new address into the card and updates the interface as well.
.It Fl o
Print out the statistics counters instead of the card settings.
Note that, however, the statistics will only be updated every minute or so.
.It Fl R Ar 1|3
Enable or disable roaming function on a given interface.
The legal values are
.Ar 1
(Roaming handled by firmware) and
.Ar 3
(Roaming Disabled).
The default is 1.
.It Fl r Ar RTS threshold
Set the RTS/CTS threshold for a given interface.
This controls the number of bytes used for the RTS/CTS handshake boundary.
The
.Ar RTS threshold
can be any value between 0 and 2347.
The default is 2347, which indicates RTS/CTS mechanism never to be used.
.It Fl s Ar station name
Sets the
.Ar station name
for the specified interface.  The
.Ar station name
is used for diagnostic purposes.
The
.Tn Lucent
.Tn WaveMANAGER
software can poll the names of remote hosts.
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr awi 4 ,
.Xr wi 4 ,
.Xr ifconfig 8
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Nm
command first appeared in
.Fx 3.0 ,
as
.Ic wicontrol .
It was added to
.Nx 1.5
under its present name.
.Sh AUTHORS
The
.Nm
command was written by
.An Bill Paul Aq wpaul@ctr.columbia.edu .