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NAME

raycontrol — configure Raytheon Raylink/Webgear Aviator devices

SYNOPSIS

raycontrol −i iface [−o]
raycontrol −i iface −t tx rate
raycontrol −i iface −n network name
raycontrol −i iface −c ap status
raycontrol −i iface −p port type
raycontrol −i iface −m mac address
raycontrol −i iface −d max data length
raycontrol −i iface −r RTS threshold
raycontrol −i iface −f hopset
raycontrol −i iface −P 0|1
raycontrol −i iface −S max_sleep_duration
raycontrol −i iface −Z zero signal cache
raycontrol −i iface −C display signal cache

DESCRIPTION

The raycontrol utility controls the operation of Raylink/Webgear wireless networking devices via the ray(4) driver. Most of the parameters that can be changed relate to the IEEE 802.11 protocol which the card implements. This includes the station name, whether the station is operating in ad-hoc or infrastructure mode, and the network name of a service set to join - the BSS in ad-hoc mode or ESS if infrastructure mode is enabled. The raycontrol utility can also be used to view the current settings of these parameters and to dump out the values of the card’s statistics counters.

The iface argument given to raycontrol should be the logical interface name associated with the Raylink/Webgear device (ray0, ray1, ...).

OPTIONS

The options are as follows:

−i iface [−o]

Display the current settings of the specified Raylink/Webgear interface. This retrieves the current card settings from the driver and prints them out. The results from this command are a snapshot of the card settings. Using the additional −o flag will cause raycontrol to print out the statistics counters instead of the card settings.

−i iface −t tx rate

Set the transmit rate of the specified interface. The NICs support a maximum transmit rate of 2Mbps. The following table shows the legal transmit rate settings and the corresponding transmit speeds:

The version 4 firmware may ignore this setting. Note, that the IEEE 802.11 standard only allows 1Mbps or 2Mbps operation, and that the generally accepted reading of the IEEE 802.11 standard is that 2Mbps is only allowed in infrastructure mode.

−i iface −n network name

Set the name of the service set that this station wishes to join. The network name can be any text string up to 32 characters in length. The default name is the string "NETWORK_NAME" which should allow the station to connect to the default Webgear ad-hoc network.

−i iface −p port type

Set the port type for a specified interface. The legal values for port type are 0 (ad-hoc mode) and 1 (infrastructure mode). In ad-hoc mode, the station can communicate directly with any other stations within direct radio range (provided that they are also operating in ad-hoc mode). In infrastructure mode, hosts must associate with a service set controlled by an access point, that relays traffic between end stations. The default setting is 0 (ad-hoc mode).

When in ad-hoc mode the station will create a BSS with the network name specified by the −n option if it cannot find an existing network of that name on the currently configured hopset (see the −f option).

−i iface −m mac address

Set the station address for the specified interface. The 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.

−i iface −d max_data_length

Set the maximum transmit frame size for a specified interface. The max data length can be any number from 350 to 2304 or -1 to disable fragmentation. The default is -1.

−i iface −r 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 RTS threshold can be any value between -1 and 2047. The default is -1 (disable).

−i iface −f hopset

Set the radio hopset of a given interface. The hopset should be specified as a country code as shown in the table below. The hopset varies both the number of RF channels and their frequencies and is dependent on radio regulations specified by regional authorities.

Whilst the card can be programmed to work with any hopset it makes sense to use the hopset for your own region to avoid interference from and interfering with other users of the RF spectrum (in places like France this is the military).

Note that all stations must be set to the same hopset in order to communicate.

−i iface −P 0|1

Enable or disable power management on a given interface. Enabling power management uses an alternating sleep/wake protocol to help conserve power on mobile stations, at the cost of some increased receive latency. Power management is off by default.

Note that power management requires the cooperation of an access point in order to function; it is not functional in ad-hoc mode. Legal values for this parameter are 0 (off) and 1 (on).

−i iface −S max_sleep_interval

Specify the sleep interval to use when power management is enabled. The max_sleep_interval is specified in milliseconds. The default is 100.

−i iface −Z

Clear the signal strength cache maintained internally by the ray(4) driver.

−i iface −C

Display the cached signal strength information maintained by the ray(4) driver. The driver retains information about signal strength and noise level for packets received from different hosts. For infrastructure networks the cache stores the signal strength of the access point.

The driver also uses the cache to pick the best antenna when transmitting.

SEE ALSO

ray(4), ifconfig(8)

HISTORY

The raycontrol utility first appeared in FreeBSD 4.0.

AUTHORS

The raycontrol utility was written by Duncan Barclay <dmlb [AT] ragnet.uk> and based on the wicontrol utility by Bill Paul <wpaul [AT] ctr.edu>.

BUGS

The −m, −P, −S and −Z options aren’t implemented yet. No access point was available for testing against.

Not tested with Version 5 firmware.

Hopset changing may not work with version 4 firmware.

The −W option is un-documented on purpose.

BSD March 21, 2000 BSD