Linux Desktop Hacks

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Chapter 9, Administration and Automation

#82 Link Monitoring in Linux with Wavemon

HACK

HACK

#82

Link Monitoring in Linux with Wavemon Hack #82

Monitor radio parameters in real time using Wavemon, a curses-based tool

for Linux.

When using Linux, the standard wireless tools provide a wealth of status

information. These tools get their information from the standard kernel

interface /proc/net/wireless. While ideal for providing pinpoint accuracy in

measuring signal strength and noise data, these tools are not designed to

give an indication of performance over time.

Wavemon (http://www.wavemage.com/projects.html) is a terrific little tool

that does precisely this. It polls /proc/net/wireless many times each second to

give you a rolling report of how your wireless connection is performing. Its

simple curses interface keeps the code quite small and is ideal for including

in embedded distributions to get real-time link data from remote access

points.

The main interface provides a nice graphical representation of the current

link state (Figure 9-3).

All of the statistics are updated in real time, making it ideal for monitoring

point-to-point links and fine-tuning antennas on long distance shots. For an

even easier to read display, hit F2 to bring up the Level Histogram

(Figure 9-4).

Figure 9-3. Wavemon in action.