NAME

       iwspy - Get wireless statistics from specific nodes

SYNOPSIS

       iwspy [interface]
       iwspy interface [+] DNSNAME | IPADDR | HWADDR [...]
       iwspy interface off
       iwspy interface setthr low high
       iwspy interface getthr

DESCRIPTION

       Iwspy is used to set a list of addresses to monitor in a wireless network interface and to
       read back quality of link information for each of those. This information is the  same  as
       the  one  available in /proc/net/wireless : quality of the link, signal strength and noise
       level.

       This information is updated each time a new packet is received, so  each  address  of  the
       list adds some overhead in the driver.

       Note  that  this functionality works only for nodes part of the current wireless cell, you
       can not monitor Access Points you are not associated with (you can use Scanning for  that)
       and  nodes in other cells. In Managed mode, in most case packets are relayed by the Access
       Point, in this case you will get the signal  strength  of  the  Access  Point.  For  those
       reasons this functionality is mostly useful in Ad-Hoc and Master mode.

PARAMETERS

       You may set any number of addresses up to 8.

       DNSNAME | IPADDR
              Set  an  IP  address, or in some cases a DNS name (using the name resolver). As the
              hardware works with hardware  addresses,  iwspy  will  translate  this  IP  address
              through  ARP.  In  some  case, this address might not be in the ARP cache and iwspy
              will fail. In those case, ping(8) this name/address and retry.

       HWADDR Set a hardware (MAC) address (this address is not translated & checked like the  IP
              one). The address must contain a colon (:) to be recognised as a hardware address.

       +      Add  the  new  set of addresses at the end of the current list instead of replacing
              it. The address list is unique for each device, so each user should use this option
              to avoid conflicts.

       off    Remove the current list of addresses and disable the spy functionality

       setthr Set  the  low  and  high signal strength threshold for the iwspy event (for drivers
              that support it).
              Every time the signal strength for any of the address  monitored  with  iwspy  goes
              lower  than  the  low  threshold or goes higher than the high threshold, a Wireless
              Event will be generated.
              This can be used to monitor link outages without having to run iwspy periodically.

       getthr Retrieve the current low and high signal strength threshold for the iwspy event.

FILES

       /proc/net/wireless

SEE ALSO

       iwconfig(8), iwlist(8), iwevent(8), iwpriv(8), wireless(7).