How to Connect to a WiFi Network
Before You Begin
The following procedure assumes that you have followed the instructions in How to Prepare a System for WiFi Communications.
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Assume the Primary Administrator role, or become superuser.
The Primary Administrator role includes the Primary Administrator profile. To create the role and assign the role to a user, see Chapter 2, Working With the Solaris Management Console (Tasks), in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.
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Check for available links.
# dladm show-link LINK CLASS MTU STATE OVER ath0 phys 1500 up -- e1000g0 phys 1500 up --
In this example, the output indicates that two links are available. The ath0 link supports WiFi communications beginning with the Solaris Express, Developer Edition 2/07release. The e1000g link is for attaching the system to a wired network.
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Configure the WiFi interface.
Use the following steps to configure the interface:
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Plumb the link that supports WiFi:
# ifconfig ath0 plumb
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Verify that the link has been plumbed:
# ifconfig -a lo0: flags=2001000849<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4,VIRTUAL> mtu 8232 index 1 inet 127.0.0.1 netmask ff000000 e1000g: flags=2001004802<BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,DHCP,IPv4,CoS> mtu 1500 index 2 inet 0.0.0.0 netmask 0 ether 0:e:6:4:8:1 ath0: flags=201000803<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4,CoS> mtu 1500 index 3 inet 0.0.0.0 netmask ff000000 ether 0:b:6:e:f:18
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# dladm scan-wifi LINK ESSID BSSID/IBSSID SEC STRENGTH MODE SPEED ath0 net1 00:0e:38:49:01:d0 none good g 54Mb ath0 net2 00:0e:38:49:02:f0 none very weak g 54Mb ath0 net3 00:0d:ed:a5:47:e0 none very good g 54Mb
The example output of the scan-wifi command displays information about the available WiFi networks at the current location. The information in the output includes:
- LINK
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Link name to be used in the WiFi connection.
- ESSID
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Extended Service Set ID. The ESSID is the name of the WiFi network, such as net1, net2, and net3 in the example output.
- BSSID/IBSSID
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Basic Service Set ID, the unique identifier for a particular ESSID. The BSSID is the 48-bit MAC address of the nearby access point that serves the network with a particular ESSID.
- SEC
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Type of security that is needed to access the network. The values are none or WEP. For information about WEP, refer to Secure WiFi Communications.
- STRENGTH
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Strength of the radio signals from the WiFi networks that are available at your location.
- MODE
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Version of the 802 .11 protocol that is run by the network. The modes are a, b, or g, or these modes in combination.
- SPEED
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Speed in megabits per second of the particular network.
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Connect to a WiFi network.
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Connect to the unsecured WiFi network with the strongest signal.
# dladm connect-wifi
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Connect to an unsecured network by specifying its ESSID.
# dladm connect-wifi -e ESSID
The connect-wifi subcommand of dladm has several more options for connecting to a WiFi network. For complete details, refer to the dladm(1M) man page.
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Configure an IP address for the interface.
Do either of the following:
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Obtain an IP address from a DHCP server.
# ifconfig interface dhcp start
If the WiFi network does not support DHCP, you receive the following message:
ifconfig: interface: interface does not exist or cannot be managed using DHCP
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Configure a static IP address:
Use this option if you have a dedicated IP address for the system.
# ifconfig interface IP-address/CIDR-mask | netmask
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Check the status of the WiFi network to which the system is connected.
# dladm show-wifi LINK STATUS ESSID SEC STRENGTH MODE SPEED ath0 connected net3 none very good g 36Mb
In this example, the output indicates that the system is now connected to the net3 network. The earlier scan-wifi output indicated that net3 had the strongest signal among the available networks. The dladm show-wifi command automatically chooses the WiFi network with strongest signal, unless you directly specify a different network.
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Access the Internet through the WiFi network.
Do either of the following, depending on the network to which the system is connected:
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If the access point offers free service, you can now run a browser or an application of your choice.
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If the access point is in a commercial hot spot that requires a fee, follow the instructions provided at the current location. Typically, you run a browser, supply a key, and give credit card information to the network provider.
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Conclude the session.
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Terminate the WiFi session but leave the system running.
# dladm disconnect-wifi
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Terminate a particular WiFi session when more than one session is currently running.
# dladm disconnect-wifi link
where link represents the interface that was used for the session.
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Cleanly shut down the system while the WiFi session is running.
# shutdown -g0 -i5
You do not need to explicitly disconnect the WiFi session prior to turning off the system through the shutdown command.
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Example 3–1 Connecting to a Specific WiFi Network
The following example shows a typical scenario that you might encounter when using a laptop that runs the Solaris Express, Developer Edition 2/07 or later Developer releases in an Internet coffee house.
Learn whether a WiFi link is available.
# dladm show-wifi ath0 type: non-vlan mtu: 1500 device: ath0 |
The ath0 link is installed on the laptop. Configure the ath0 interface, and verify that it is up.
# ifconfig ath0 plumb
# ifconfig -a
lo0: flags=2001000849<LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4,VIRTUAL> mtu 8232 index 1
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask ff000000
ath0: flags=201000803<BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4,CoS> mtu 1500 index 3
inet 0.0.0.0 netmask ff000000
ether 0:b:6b:4e:8f:18
|
Display the available WiFi links at your location.
# dladm scan-wifi LINK ESSID BSSID/IBSSID SEC STRENGTH MODE SPEED ath0 net1 00:0e:38:49:01:d0 none weak g 54Mb ath0 net2 00:0e:38:49:02:f0 none very weak g 54Mb ath0 net3 00:0d:ed:a5:47:e0 wep very good g 54Mb ath0 citinet 00:40:96:2a:56:b5 none good b 11Mb |
The output indicates that net3 has the best signal. net3 requires a key, for which the provider for the coffee house charges a fee. citinet is a free network provided by the local town.
Connect to the citinet network.
# dladm connect-wifi -e citinet |
The -e option of connect-wifi takes the ESSID of the preferred WiFi network as its argument. The argument in this command is citinet, the ESSID of the free local network. The dladm connect-wifi command offers several options for connecting to the WiFi network. For more information, refer to the dladm(1M) man page.
Configure an IP address for the WiFi interface.
# ifconfig ath0 10.192.16.3/24 up
# ifconfig -a
lo0: flags=2001000849<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4,VIRTUAL>
mtu 8232 index 1
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask ff000000
e1000g0: flags=201004843<UP,,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,DHCP,IPv4,CoS>
mtu 1500 index 3
inet 129.146.69.34 netmask fffffe00 broadcast 129.146.69.255
ether 0:e:7b:b5:64:a4
ath0: flags=201004843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,DHCP,IPv4,CoS>
mtu 1500 index 4
inet 10.192.16.3 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 10.255.255.255
ether 0:b:6b:4e:8f:18
|
This example assumes that you have the static IP address 10.192.16.3/24 configured on your laptop.
# dladm show-wifi LINK STATUS ESSID SEC STRENGTH MODE SPEED ath0 connected citinet none good g 11Mb |
The output indicates that the laptop is now connected to network citinet.
# firefox |
The home page for the Firefox browser displays.
Run a browser or other application to commence your work over the WiFi network.
# dladm disconnect-wifi # dladm show-wifi LINK STATUS ESSID SEC STRENGTH MODE SPEED ath0 disconnected -- -- -- -- -- |
The output of show-wifi verifies that you have disconnected the ath0 link from the WiFi network.
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