Using the KWiFiManager suite
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Chapter 2. Using the KWiFiManager suite

The KWiFiManager application

Purpose of the main KWiFiManager application is to show the currently set configuration and to display connection quality and access points.

The main application is launched by either typing kwifimanager at the command prompt of a console window or via the K Menu, where it is located by default in the Applications group. Finally, a third way to launch KWiFiManager is by clicking once on the panel applet. The GUI elements of the application are explained in the following subsections.

Main window

The KWiFiManager main window consists of four major parts:

Signal quality display

Here you can see the quality and type of the active connection. The uppermost icon displays the general state of the wireless network via a set of pictograms:

  • a PC-Card with a question tag means that no card was detected

  • a single laptop means that a PC-Card is inserted and in Infrastructure mode, but there is no radio signal from access-points. The card is out of range.

  • a laptop that is connected to a white box means that a connection to an access point is established.

  • two laptops mean that your system is in Ad-Hoc mode without access points

Below these pictograms is a small quality meter. It displays, in a cellular-like manner, the quality level of the current connection. This information is only available in Infrastructure mode. In Ad-Hoc mode, the level is always 0.

This graphical information is supplemented by an integer value below the icon. It shows the signal quality, and is computed in the following way: signal strength in dBm - noise level in dBm If your card is out of range, the value is 0; if no card is inserted it will show N/A.

Connection speed

A indicator for the current connection speed is shown at the right-hand side of the main window above the configuration info. If the speed settings are set to AUTO, the value will change once in a while as the card adjusts the connection speed according to the signal quality.

Current configuration

Here you can find information about your card configuration. It displays the following information:

  • the network with which the card is connected / tries to connect (Searching for network: or Connected to network:)

  • the MAC address of the access point to which the card is connected.

    If the card is in Infrastructure mode but out of range, the value 44:44:44:44:44:44 is displayed to indicate that no connection is established.

    In Ad-Hoc mode, the field shows an address that is associated with one of the cards in the Ad-Hoc network. It differs from the MAC address of that card in the second digit: it is raised by the value of “2”.

    Your card is the first card that enters Ad-Hoc mode. Then all other cards entering Ad-Hoc mode will see your MAC-address, slightly modified: instead of 00:xx:yy:zz:aa:bb it will show 02:xx:yy:zz:aa:bb. This behavior is intentional.

  • on most cards, the frequency on which the card is transmitting data and the corresponding channel number is displayed.

  • your local IP address, if available.

  • encryption status (only if you have started KWiFiManager as root)

Access Point information (bottom area)

The last line of the main window shows information about your AccessPoint. This requires that your system administrator provided a list of MAC addresses with a corresponding information. An example for such a list can be found in $KDEDIR/share/apps/kwifimanager/locations/DE_BW_Karlsruhe_University.loc

If you want to set up a new list, simply copy your file into the folder $KDEDIR/share/apps/kwifimanager/locations/

It will be automatically parsed at the next start of KWiFiManager after a successful installation. If you have a list and want to have it included in future releases of KWiFiManager, simply send it to

Statistics Viewer

Optionally, by selecting Connection statistics in the File menu, a separate window can be shown which displays the signal level and noise level graphs of the last 240 seconds. The signal level is displayed in blue and the noise level in red. The difference (SIGNAL minus NOISE) is the connection quality which is displayed in the main window.

Configuration Editor

By selecting Config->Configuration Editor you are taken to the control center module of KWiFiManager. In case you are not the root user, a window will pop up requesting the root password. This is because the configuration module contains sensitive information such as the encryption key for WEP cryptography.

Miscellaneous

There are some minor additional things to be said.

First, there is a feature named Acoustic Scanning. If this option is enabled, the connection quality is converted into an acoustic signal. A higher signal quality leads to a higher frequency of the “beep” output and to a more rapid beeping. If you've ever seen the Star Trek(tm) series you will see some parallels to their “tricorders

A second feature is silent logging. It just means that KWiFiManager will log the name of the network you are connecting to every time your network changes. This option is most useful when searching for the special network name “ANY”. In this mode, the card will log into any network it finds. The logfile's position is $HOME/.wireless-log

The third thing is just a note: In the File menu, there is an entry Disable radio. This option is not implemented. The problem is in the kernel drivers for Wi-Fi cards. The driver simply doesn't support it at this time.

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