IEEE80211(4) | Device Drivers 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 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" */
    	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 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_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 setting 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. Many 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.

November 29, 2025 | NetBSD 11.99