iwconfig

iwconfig is a command-line utility used to configure wireless network interfaces on Linux. It belongs to the Wireless Tools for Linux package and interfaces with the Linux Wireless Extensions framework provided by many wireless drivers. The program is primarily used to view and modify basic wireless parameters and to diagnose wireless connections.

With an interface specified, iwconfig allows setting the network name (essid), the operating mode (such as managed, ad-hoc, monitor, or master), the operating frequency or channel, the data rate, and the transmit power. It also provides access to basic security options, including WEP keys via the key parameter. When run without arguments, iwconfig lists the current wireless settings for all interfaces.

Due to the transition to the newer cfg80211/nl80211 framework, Wireless Extensions are deprecated on many systems. The standard modern tool is iw, which interacts with nl80211. As a result, iwconfig may be missing or offer limited functionality on current distributions, and it is generally considered legacy software. Nevertheless, it remains available on many systems for compatibility, scripting, and historical documentation.

See also: iw, wpa_supplicant, cfg80211, linux wireless tools.