Lint-wifi

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lint-wifi now has a project page[http://lint-wifi.projects.openmoko.org/].  Those who wish to beta test, please go to the forums there and make a post to that effect -- please have a working knowledge of Linux at a minimum.
 
lint-wifi now has a project page[http://lint-wifi.projects.openmoko.org/].  Those who wish to beta test, please go to the forums there and make a post to that effect -- please have a working knowledge of Linux at a minimum.
  
 +
svn help <br>http://projects.openmoko.org/scm/?group_id=167
  
 
==Requirements==
 
==Requirements==

Revision as of 19:23, 27 July 2008

Contents

Introduction

Description

lint-wifi is a relatively simplistic application written in PyGTK for the Neo Freerunner. It aims to create a GUI-based method for associating with wireless networks, and provide various bits of connection-related information and control. It is designed to work without a stylus, except when entering passwords (which are normally stored). It is at the moment intended to do nothing unless a button is pushed.

It will be released soon.

Beta Testing

lint-wifi now has a project page[1]. Those who wish to beta test, please go to the forums there and make a post to that effect -- please have a working knowledge of Linux at a minimum.

svn help
http://projects.openmoko.org/scm/?group_id=167

Requirements

There are several requirements needed to run lint-wifi:

  • PyGTK
  • A valid wpa_supplicant.conf in /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf


Tour

Layout

lint-wifi is broken into pages, each page offering various bits of information or control. Below are the pages, as they exist at version .1A

AP List

Aplist.png

AP List will show APs that can currently be seen. They will initially be ordered by how wpa_supplicant feels are best. Columns include:

  • essid
  • Enc -- Consisting of "WPA", "WEP" and "off"
  • Signal
  • Chan
  • S -- indicating State or Status:
    • C: Connected
    • K: Known/configured (eg, password is stored) and enabled
    • D: Known/configured and disabled
    • -: Unknown
  • Mode -- At present is unused, will indicate Managed/Infrastructure vs Ad-Hoc

Buttons:

  • Scan
  • Dis/Connect -- Dis/connect to selected AP (See Auto Mode for an important usage note!)
  • New/Del -- Presently unused, will support defining and deleting networks
  • Exit

Status

Status.png

The Status page will primarily indicate the configured status of eth0.

The Renew DHCP button can be used to nudge udhcpc into renewing. For a description of Auto Mode, see below.

Conn

Conn.png

The Conn page shows information related to the associated AP.

Config

Config is at present empty, but will contain various lint-wifi configuration options, such as support for hiding certain columns in the AP List.

Auto Mode

Auto Mode (my name for it) is wpa_supplicant's default mode of operation, and allows it to connect to any network it sees available.

The Dis/connect button on the AP List page can disable Auto Mode if you tell it to connect to a known AP (connecting to an unknown one will not disable it). This is due to the fact that wpa_supplicant assumes it knows best in selecting an AP, and by you telling it otherwise, it will only connect to that one AP until you allow it to connect elsewhere.

It is best to simply leave it on. Odds are, you will not connect to a network you don't intend to -- wpa_supplicant will default to networks with encryption that it knows before it ventures to unencrypted (it will also pick the strongest encryption method first), so you're not likely to end up on a neighbour's wifi just because it can see it. This can be further dictated by setting priorities in your wpa_supplicant.conf (a feature to be added later to lint-wifi).


A couple other screenshots:

Aplist pass.png Aplist disc.png

Personal tools

Introduction

Description

lint-wifi is a relatively simplistic application written in PyGTK for the Neo Freerunner. It aims to create a GUI-based method for associating with wireless networks, and provide various bits of connection-related information and control. It is designed to work without a stylus, except when entering passwords (which are normally stored). It is at the moment intended to do nothing unless a button is pushed.

It will be released soon.

Beta Testing

lint-wifi now has a project page[1]. Those who wish to beta test, please go to the forums there and make a post to that effect -- please have a working knowledge of Linux at a minimum.


Requirements

There are several requirements needed to run lint-wifi:

  • PyGTK
  • A valid wpa_supplicant.conf in /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf


Tour

Layout

lint-wifi is broken into pages, each page offering various bits of information or control. Below are the pages, as they exist at version .1A

AP List

Aplist.png

AP List will show APs that can currently be seen. They will initially be ordered by how wpa_supplicant feels are best. Columns include:

  • essid
  • Enc -- Consisting of "WPA", "WEP" and "off"
  • Signal
  • Chan
  • S -- indicating State or Status:
    • C: Connected
    • K: Known/configured (eg, password is stored) and enabled
    • D: Known/configured and disabled
    • -: Unknown
  • Mode -- At present is unused, will indicate Managed/Infrastructure vs Ad-Hoc

Buttons:

  • Scan
  • Dis/Connect -- Dis/connect to selected AP (See Auto Mode for an important usage note!)
  • New/Del -- Presently unused, will support defining and deleting networks
  • Exit

Status

Status.png

The Status page will primarily indicate the configured status of eth0.

The Renew DHCP button can be used to nudge udhcpc into renewing. For a description of Auto Mode, see below.

Conn

Conn.png

The Conn page shows information related to the associated AP.

Config

Config is at present empty, but will contain various lint-wifi configuration options, such as support for hiding certain columns in the AP List.

Auto Mode

Auto Mode (my name for it) is wpa_supplicant's default mode of operation, and allows it to connect to any network it sees available.

The Dis/connect button on the AP List page can disable Auto Mode if you tell it to connect to a known AP (connecting to an unknown one will not disable it). This is due to the fact that wpa_supplicant assumes it knows best in selecting an AP, and by you telling it otherwise, it will only connect to that one AP until you allow it to connect elsewhere.

It is best to simply leave it on. Odds are, you will not connect to a network you don't intend to -- wpa_supplicant will default to networks with encryption that it knows before it ventures to unencrypted (it will also pick the strongest encryption method first), so you're not likely to end up on a neighbour's wifi just because it can see it. This can be further dictated by setting priorities in your wpa_supplicant.conf (a feature to be added later to lint-wifi).


A couple other screenshots:

Aplist pass.png Aplist disc.png