Wireless Tools is a toolset for the manipulation of the Linux Wireless Extensions. It enables the management of wireless devices and networks through a variety of tools.
I recently had the opportunity to try out the Linux Wireless Extension and Wireless Tools, and I must say that I was impressed with what I found. This Open Source project, which has been sponsored by Hewlett Packard since 1996, has been built with the input of many Linux users from all over the world.
The Wireless Extension (WE) is an API that is generic enough to allow a driver to show to the user space configuration and statistics that are specific to the most common Wireless LANs. One of the things I appreciated is that a single set of tools can support all variations of Wireless LANs, regardless of their type - as long as the driver supports Wireless Extension.
One of the key features of Wireless Extension is that you can change parameters without restarting the driver or Linux, making it easy to adapt to any situation that may arise. The Wireless Tools (WT) are a set of tools that allow you to manipulate the Wireless Extensions. They use a textual interface and are somewhat basic by design but are meant to support the entire Wireless Extension.
While there are other tools you can use with Wireless Extensions, Wireless Tools is considered to be the reference implementation. iwconfig is a tool that manipulates the basic wireless parameters, iwlist allows you to scan and list frequencies, bit-rates, encryption keys, and more. iwspy lets you get per node link quality, and iwpriv lets you manipulate the Wireless Extensions specific to a driver. Ifrename lets you rename interfaces based on a variety of static criteria.
Most Linux distributions come with integrated Wireless Extension support in their networking initialization scripts, which makes configuring wireless interfaces at boot time a breeze. They also include Wireless Tools as part of their standard packages. It's worth noting that wireless configuration can also be done using the Hotplug scripts and distribution-specific support, which ensures proper support for any removable wireless interface such as Pcmcia, CardBus, USB, and more.
Any version of the Pcmcia package also offers the possibility to do wireless configuration of Pcmcia and Cardbus cards through the file wireless.opts. This tool enables the full integration of wireless settings into the Pcmcia scheme mechanism. However, I found that this method is now deprecated in favor of distribution-specific methods.
It's important to keep in mind that the Wireless Tools, starting from version 19, support fully IEEE 802.11 parameters and devices, support for older-style devices, most proprietary protocols, and are even prepared to handle HiperLan. More recent versions, of course, add more 802.11 support. However, it is worth noting that not all drivers support all of these features.
Overall, I highly recommend the Linux Wireless Extension and Wireless Tools to anyone who needs to work with wireless networks on Linux. The versatile and user-friendly tools make the process easy and efficient, and they are well-supported by the Linux community.
The Wireless Extension (WE) is an API that is generic enough to allow a driver to show to the user space configuration and statistics that are specific to the most common Wireless LANs. One of the things I appreciated is that a single set of tools can support all variations of Wireless LANs, regardless of their type - as long as the driver supports Wireless Extension.
One of the key features of Wireless Extension is that you can change parameters without restarting the driver or Linux, making it easy to adapt to any situation that may arise. The Wireless Tools (WT) are a set of tools that allow you to manipulate the Wireless Extensions. They use a textual interface and are somewhat basic by design but are meant to support the entire Wireless Extension.
While there are other tools you can use with Wireless Extensions, Wireless Tools is considered to be the reference implementation. iwconfig is a tool that manipulates the basic wireless parameters, iwlist allows you to scan and list frequencies, bit-rates, encryption keys, and more. iwspy lets you get per node link quality, and iwpriv lets you manipulate the Wireless Extensions specific to a driver. Ifrename lets you rename interfaces based on a variety of static criteria.
Most Linux distributions come with integrated Wireless Extension support in their networking initialization scripts, which makes configuring wireless interfaces at boot time a breeze. They also include Wireless Tools as part of their standard packages. It's worth noting that wireless configuration can also be done using the Hotplug scripts and distribution-specific support, which ensures proper support for any removable wireless interface such as Pcmcia, CardBus, USB, and more.
Any version of the Pcmcia package also offers the possibility to do wireless configuration of Pcmcia and Cardbus cards through the file wireless.opts. This tool enables the full integration of wireless settings into the Pcmcia scheme mechanism. However, I found that this method is now deprecated in favor of distribution-specific methods.
It's important to keep in mind that the Wireless Tools, starting from version 19, support fully IEEE 802.11 parameters and devices, support for older-style devices, most proprietary protocols, and are even prepared to handle HiperLan. More recent versions, of course, add more 802.11 support. However, it is worth noting that not all drivers support all of these features.
Overall, I highly recommend the Linux Wireless Extension and Wireless Tools to anyone who needs to work with wireless networks on Linux. The versatile and user-friendly tools make the process easy and efficient, and they are well-supported by the Linux community.
What's New
Version 27: N/A