Free wireless connections software for linux

The Linux Wireless Extension and the Wireless Tools are an Open Source project sponsored by Hewlett Packard (through my contribution) since 1996, and build with the contribution of many Linux users all over the world.

The Wireless Extension (WE) is a generic API allowing a driver to expose to the user space configuration and statistics specific to common Wireless LANs. The beauty of it is that a single set of tool can support all the variations of Wireless LANs, regardless of their type (as long as the driver support Wireless Extension).

Another advantage is these parameters may be changed on the fly without restarting the driver (or Linux).

The Wireless Tools (WT) is a set of tools allowing to manipulate the Wireless Extensions. They use a textual interface and are rather crude, but aim to support the full Wireless Extension. There are many other tools you can use with Wireless Extensions, however Wireless Tools is the reference implementation.

iwconfig manipulate the basic wireless parameters
iwlist allow to initiate scanning and list frequencies, bit-rates, encryption keys...
iwspy allow to get per node link quality
iwpriv allow to manipulate the Wireless Extensions specific to a driver (private)
ifrename allow to name interfaces based on various static criteria

Most Linux distributions also have integrated Wireless Extensions support in their networking initialisation scripts, for easier boot-time configuration of wireless interfaces. They also include Wireless Tools as part of their standard packages.
Wireless configuration can also be done using the Hotplug scripts and distribution specific support, this enable the proper support of any removable wireless interface (Pcmcia, CardBus, USB...).

Any versions of the Pcmcia package offer the possibility to do wireless configuration of Pcmcia and Cardbus card through thefile wireless.opts. This allow to fully integrate wireless settings in the Pcmcia scheme mechansism. However, this method is now deprecated in favor of distribution specific methods.

Please note that the Wireless Tools (starting with version 19) supports fully IEEE 802.11 parameters and devices, support older style of devices and most proprietary protocols, and are prepared to handle HiperLan as well. More recent versions of course adds more 802.11 support.

But, unfortunately not all drivers support all these features...

PyWireless is a basic wireless connection monitor with DCOP support.
This is written because:
- KWifiManager seems like disaster (sorry guys!),
- Karamba eats my CPU,
- And there is no (or i cant find) KDE integrated wifi monitor tool
Enhancements:
- Program crashes at Shutdown problem solved.

Gnome Wireless PC Lock is a Gnome applet that locks your desktop when you walk away from your desk.

A small gnome program that locks your desktop when you walk away from your desk. It is tested with a Sitecom cn-129 Wireless PC Lock.

Net::FreeDB2::Connection is a FreeDB/CDDB abstract connection class.

Net::FreeDB2::Connection is an abstract class to represent connections to FreeDB/CDDB servers. After a successfull connection, FreeDB/CDDB queries, reads etc can be made to obtain/provide information from/to FreeDB/CDDB databases.

CONSTRUCTOR

new (OPT_HASH_REF)

Creates a new Net::FreeDB2::Connection object. By default connect () is called to initiate the connection but see option no_connect. See the implementation for complements/restrictions.

Options for OPT_HASH_REF may include:

client_name

Mandatory option to name the connecting client software.

client_version

Mandatory option with the client software version string.

client_host

The hostname of the client. Defaults to &Sys::Hostname::hostname ().

client_user

The user of the client. Defaults to scalar (getpwuid ($>));

freedb_host

The FreeDB/CDDB host. Defaults to freedb.freedb.org.

freedb_port

The port on the FreeDB/CDDB host.

proxy_host

Proxy host.

proxy_port

Port on the proxy host. Defaults to 8080.

proxy_user

Proxy user name to use.

proxy_passwd

Proxy password to use.

no_connect

Do not call connect () during instanciation.

Gnome Remote Connection Manager is a gnome application that stores information
about remote connections.
It gives you a GUI program to launch applications like telnet, shh, or rdesktop. It is highly configurable as to what type of applications it launches, so you are not limited to the three listed, for example I never thought of using it for ftp, but it would be easy to setup.
GRCM uses gconf to store information about connections.
Enhancements:
- Added some missing icons.
- Fixed a callback in the Connections Dialog that made the default arguments from the connection appear when selected.

Ad-hoc Wireless Distribution Service (AWDS) is a Layer 2 routing protocol for wireless mesh networks. The project provides transparent Ethernet-like access to all participating nodes, thus easily allowing the employment of different higher level protocols like IP (with DHCP), IPv6, AppleTalk, ...

A Linux implementation of AWDS can be downloaded from our download section. Ports to other platforms are highly appreciated!

This is a small application allowing you to scan for wireless networks and connect to them.
Wireless Assistant uses wireless-tools as its backend, so they need to be installed.
All feedback as well as hints and good advice are appreciated!
Installation:
make -f Makefile.cvs
./configure
make
su -c "make install"
Enhancements:
- NOTE: This release includes some brand new or rewritten features. Please submit bugs to sf.net page and comments/votes here. Thanks!
- NEW: Finally WPA-PSK support (WPA/WPA2, please test and report in case of problems!)
- NEW/FIX: Rewritten, completely new connection state detection (please comment!)
- NEW: Optional grouping of APs with the same ESSID
- FIX: UI refinements
- FIX: hide encryption keys in console output and edit dialogs
- FIX: Connection using dhclient fails
- FIX: dont check for connection while wizard is running
- FIX: remove default gateway upon disconnection if not managed by DHCP client
- FIX: updated Polish translation (with help from riklaunim)
- FIX: Many internal changes, more stable

KWifiSelector is a KDE tool to display all available wireless networks (WLAN). For each of them, the parameters (such as IP configuration and WEP keys) can be configured.
KWifiSelector also allows the user to connect to and disconnect from a selected network.
Enhancements:
- The root elevation mechanism was changed from using kdesu to sudo.
- This allows avoiding giving everyone the root password.