Wi-Fi: Shell

The Shell sample allows you to test Nordic Semiconductor’s Wi-Fi® chipsets.

Requirements

The sample supports the following development kits:

Hardware platforms

PCA

Board name

Board target

Shields

Thingy:53

PCA20053

thingy53

thingy53/nrf5340/cpuapp

nrf7002eb

nRF9161 DK

PCA10153

nrf9161dk

nrf9161dk/nrf9161/ns

nrf7002ek_nrf7000

nRF9160 DK

PCA10090

nrf9160dk

nrf9160dk/nrf9160/ns

nrf7002ek_nrf7000

nRF7002 DK

PCA10143

nrf7002dk

nrf7002dk/nrf5340/cpuapp/ns nrf7002dk/nrf5340/cpuapp

nRF7002 DK (emulating nRF7001)

PCA10143

nrf7002dk

nrf7002dk/nrf5340/cpuapp/nrf7001

nRF54L15 PDK

PCA10156

nrf54l15pdk

nrf54l15pdk/nrf54l15/cpuapp

nrf700x_nrf54l15pdk

nRF54H20 DK

PCA10175

nrf54h20dk

nrf54h20dk/nrf54h20/cpuapp

nrf700x_nrf54h20dk

nRF5340 DK

PCA10095

nrf5340dk

nrf5340dk/nrf5340/cpuapp

nrf7002ek_nrf7000 nrf7002ek_nrf7001 nrf7002ek

nRF52840 DK

PCA10056

nrf52840dk

nrf52840dk/nrf52840

nrf7002ek_nrf7000 nrf7002ek_nrf7001 nrf7002ek

Overview

The sample can perform all Wi-Fi operations in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands depending on the capabilities supported in the underlying chipset.

Using this sample, the development kit can associate with, and ping to, any Wi-Fi capable access point in STA mode.

Building and running

This sample can be found under samples/wifi/shell in the nRF Connect SDK folder structure.

When built as firmware image for a board target with the */ns variant, the sample has Cortex-M Security Extensions (CMSE) enabled and separates the firmware between Non-Secure Processing Environment (NSPE) and Secure Processing Environment (SPE). Because of this, it automatically includes the Trusted Firmware-M (TF-M). To read more about CMSE, see Processing environments.

To build the sample, follow the instructions in Configuring and building an application for your preferred building environment. See also Programming an application for programming steps and Testing and optimization for general information about testing and debugging in the nRF Connect SDK.

Note

When building repository applications in the SDK repositories, building with sysbuild is enabled by default. If you work with out-of-tree freestanding applications, you need to manually pass the --sysbuild parameter to every build command or configure west to always use it.

Currently, the following configurations are supported:

  • nRF7002 DK + QSPI

  • nRF7002 EK + SPIM

  • nRF91 Series DK + SPIM

To build for the nRF7002 DK, use the nrf7002dk/nrf5340/cpuapp board target. The following is an example of the CLI command:

west build -b nrf7002dk/nrf5340/cpuapp

To build for the nRF7002 EK with nRF5340 DK, use the nrf5340dk/nrf5340/cpuapp board target with the SHIELD CMake option set to nrf7002ek. The following is an example of the CLI command:

west build -b nrf5340dk/nrf5340/cpuapp -- -DSHIELD=nrf7002ek

To build with raw_tx shell support for the nRF7002 DK, use the nrf7002dk/nrf5340/cpuapp board target and raw TX overlay configuration. The following is an example of the CLI command:

west build -b nrf7002dk/nrf5340/cpuapp -- -DEXTRA_CONF_FILE=overlay-raw-tx.conf

To build for the nRF9161 DK, use the nrf9161dk/nrf9161/ns board target with the SHIELD CMake option set to nrf7002ek and a scan-only overlay configuration. The following is an example of the CLI command:

west build -p -b nrf9161dk/nrf9161/ns -- -DEXTRA_CONF_FILE=overlay-scan-only.conf -DSHIELD=nrf7002ek

See also Providing CMake options for instructions on how to provide CMake options.

Supported CLI commands

wifi is the Wi-Fi command line and supports the following UART CLI subcommands:

Wi-Fi shell subcommands

Subcommands

Description

scan

Scan for Wi-Fi APs
OPTIONAL PARAMETERS:
[-t, –type <active/passive>] : Preferred mode of scan. The actual mode
of scan can depend on factors such as the Wi-Fi chip implementation,
regulatory domain restrictions. Default type is active.
[-b, –bands <Comma separated list of band values (2/5/6)>] : Bands to be
scanned where 2: 2.4 GHz, 5: 5 GHz, 6: 6 GHz.
[-a, –dwell_time_active <val_in_ms>] : Active scan dwell time (in ms) on
a channel. Range 5 ms to 1000 ms.
[-p, –dwell_time_passive <val_in_ms>] : Passive scan dwell time (in ms)
on a channel. Range 10 ms to 1000 ms.
[-s, –ssids <Comma separate list of SSIDs>] : SSID list to scan for.
[-m, –max_bss <val>] : Maximum BSSes to scan for. Range 1 - 65535.
[-c, –chans <Comma separated list of channel ranges>] : Channels to be
scanned. The channels must be specified in the form
band1:chan1,chan2_band2:chan3,..etc. band1, band2 must be valid band
values and chan1, chan2, chan3 must be specified as a list of comma
separated values where each value is either a single channel or a channel
range specified as chan_start-chan_end. Each band channel set has to be
separated by a _. For example, a valid channel specification can be
2:1,6-11,14_5:36,149-165,44
[-h, –help] : Print out the help for the scan command.

connect

Connect to a Wi-Fi AP
<-s –ssid "<SSID>">: SSID.
[-c –channel]: Channel that needs to be scanned for connection. 0:any channel
[-b, –band] 0: any band (2:2.4GHz, 5:5GHz, 6:6GHz)
[-p, –psk]: Passphrase (valid only for secure SSIDs)
[-k, –key-mgmt]: Key management type.
0:None, 1:WPA2-PSK, 2:WPA2-PSK-256, 3:SAE, 4:WAPI, 5:EAP, 6:WEP,
7:WPA-PSK, 8: WPA-Auto-Personal
[-w, –ieee-80211w]: MFP (optional: needs security type to be specified)
: 0:Disable, 1:Optional, 2:Required.
[-m, –bssid]: MAC address of the AP (BSSID).
[-t, –timeout]: Duration after which connection attempt needs to fail.
[-h, –help]: Print out the help for the connect command.

disconnect

Disconnect from the Wi-Fi AP

status

Status of the Wi-Fi interface

statistics

Wi-Fi interface statistics

ap

Access Point mode commands
enable - Enable Access Point mode, with the following parameters:
<SSID>
<SSID length>
<channel> [optional]
<psk> [optional]

disable - Disable Access Point mode
(Note that the Access Point mode is presently not supported.)

stations : List stations connected to the AP

disconnect - Disconnect a station from the AP
<MAC address of the station>

ps

Configure power save
No argument - Prints current configuration
on - Turns on power save feature
off - Turns off power save feature

ps_mode

Configure Wi-Fi power save mode
0 - Legacy
1 - WMM

twt

Manage Target Wake Time (TWT) flows with below subcommands:

quick_setup : Start a TWT flow with defaults:
<twt_wake_interval: 1-262144us> <twt_interval: 1us-2^31us>.

setup : Start a TWT flow:
<negotiation_type, 0: Individual, 1: Broadcast, 2: Wake TBTT>
<setup_cmd: 0: Request, 1: Suggest, 2: Demand>
<dialog_token: 1-255> <flow_id: 0-7> <responder: 0/1> <trigger:
0/1> <implicit:0/1> <announce: 0/1> <twt_wake_interval:
1-262144us> <twt_interval: 1us-2^31us>.

teardown : Teardown a TWT flow:
<negotiation_type, 0: Individual, 1: Broadcast, 2: Wake TBTT>
<setup_cmd: 0: Request, 1: Suggest, 2: Demand>
<dialog_token: 1-255> <flow_id: 0-7>.

teardown_all : Teardown all TWT flows.

reg_domain

Set or get Wi-Fi regulatory domain

Usage: wifi reg_domain [ISO/IEC 3166-1 alpha2] [-f]

-f: Force to use this regulatory hint over any other regulatory hints.
(Note that this may cause regulatory compliance issues.)

ps_timeout

Configure Wi-Fi power save inactivity timer (in ms)

ps_listen_interval

Configure Wi-Fi power save for the Listen interval
<0-65535>

ps_wakeup_mode

Configure Wi-Fi power save for wakeup mode
dtim - Wakeup mode for the DTIM interval
listen_interval - Wakeup mode for the Listen interval

mode

This command may be used to set the Wi-Fi device into a specific mode of operation
parameters:
[-i : –if-index <idx>] : Interface index.
[-s : –sta] : Station mode.
[-m : –monitor] : Monitor mode.
[-p : –promiscuous] : Promiscuous mode.
[-t : –tx-injection] : TX-Injection mode.
[-a : –ap] : AP mode.
[-k : –softap] : Softap mode.
[-h : –help] : Help.
[-g : –get] : Get current mode for a specific interface index
Usage: Get operation example for interface index 1
wifi mode -g -i1
Set operation example for interface index 1 - set station+promiscuous
wifi mode -i1 -sp

packet_filter

This command is used to set packet filter setting when
monitor, TX-Injection and promiscuous mode is enabled
The different packet filter modes are control,
management, data and enable all filters
[-i, –if-index <idx>] : Interface index
[-a, –all] : Enable all packet filter modes
[-m, –mgmt] : Enable management packets to be allowed up
the stack
[-c, –ctrl] : Enable control packets to be allowed up
the stack
[-d, –data] : Enable Data packets to be allowed up the
stack
[-g, –get] : Get current filter settings for a specific
interface index
[-b, –capture-len <len>] : Capture length buffer size
for each packet to be captured
[-h, –help] : Help
Usage: Get operation example for interface index 1
wifi packet_filter -g -i1
Set operation example for interface index 1 - set
data+management frame filter
wifi packet_filter -i1 -md

channel

This command is used to set the channel when monitor or TX-Injection mode is enabled
Currently 20 MHz is only supported and no BW parameter is provided
parameters:
[-i : –if-index <idx>] : Interface index.
[-c : –channel] : Set a specific channel number to the lower layer.
[-g : –get] : Get current set channel number from the lower layer.
[-h : –help] : Help.
Usage: Get operation example for interface index 1
wifi channel -i1 -g
Set operation example for interface index 1 (setting channel 5)
wifi -i1 -c5

wifi_cred is an extension to the Wi-Fi command line. It adds the following subcommands to interact with the Wi-Fi credentials library:

Wi-Fi credentials shell subcommands

Subcommands

Description

add

Add a network to the credentials storage with following parameters:
<SSID>
<Passphrase> (optional: valid only for secured SSIDs)
<BSSID> (optional)
<Band> (optional: 2.4GHz, 5GHz)
favorite (optional, makes the network higher priority in automatic connection)

delete <SSID>

Removes network from credentials storage.

list

Lists networks in credential storage.

auto_connect

Automatically connects to any stored network.

raw_tx is an extension to the Wi-Fi command line. It adds the following subcommands to configure and send raw TX packets:

raw TX shell subcommands

Subcommands

Description

Valid values

mode

Enable or Disable TX injection mode
[-h, –help]: Print out the help for the mode command
Valid values:
1 - Enable
0 - Disable

configure

Configure the raw TX packet header with the following parameters:
[-f, –rate-flags]: Rate flag value
[-d, –data-rate]: Data rate value
[-q, –queue-number]: Queue number
[-h, –help]: Print out the help for the configure command
Valid Rate flag values:
0 - Legacy
1 - HT mode
2 - VHT mode
3 - HE (SU) mode
4 - HE (ERSU) mode

Valid Data rate values:
Legacy: 1, 2, 55, 11, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54
Non-Legacy: MCS index need to be used (0 - 7)

Valid Queue numbers:
0 - Background
1 - Best effort
2 - Video
3 - Voice
4 - Beacon

send

Send raw TX packets
parameters:
[-m, –mode]: Mode of transmission (either continuous or fixed)
[-n, –number-of-pkts]: Number of packets to be transmitted
[-t, –inter-frame-delay]: Delay between frames or packets in milliseconds
[-h, –help]: Print out the help for the send command
N/A

For more information, see Raw IEEE 802.11 packet transmission.

promiscuous_set is an extension to the Wi-Fi command line. It adds the following subcommand to configure Promiscuous mode:

Promiscuous mode shell subcommand

Subcommand

Description

Valid values

mode

Enable or Disable Promiscuous mode
[-h, –help]: Print out the help for the mode command
Valid values:
1 - Enable
0 - Disable

For more information, see Raw IEEE 802.11 packet reception using Promiscuous mode.

Testing STA mode

After programming the sample to your development kit, complete the following steps to test it:

  1. Connect the kit to the computer using a USB cable. The kit is assigned a COM port (Windows) or ttyACM device (Linux), which is visible in the Device Manager.

  2. Connect to the kit with a terminal emulator (for example, nRF Connect Serial Terminal). See Testing and optimization for the required settings and steps.

  3. Scan for the Wi-Fi networks in range using the following command:

    wifi scan
    

    The output should be similar to the following:

    Scan requested
    
    Num  | SSID                             (len) | Chan (Band)    | RSSI | Security        | BSSID
    1    | xyza                             4     | 1    (2.4GHz)  | -27  | WPA2-PSK        | xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
    2    | abcd                             4     | 149  (5GHz  )  | -28  | WPA2-PSK        | yy:yy:yy:yy:yy:yy
    
  4. Connect to your preferred network using the following command:

    wifi connect -s <SSID> -k <key_management> -p <passphrase>
    

    <SSID> is the SSID of the network you want to connect to, <passphrase> is its passphrase, and the <key_management> is the security type used by the network.

  5. Check the connection status after a while, using the following command:

    wifi status
    

    If the connection is established, you should see an output similar to the following:

    Status: successful
    ==================
    State: COMPLETED
    Interface Mode: STATION
    Link Mode: WIFI 6 (802.11ax/HE)
    SSID: OpenWrt
    BSSID: C0:06:C3:1D:CF:9E
    Band: 5GHz
    Channel: 157
    Security: WPA2-PSK
    PMF: Optional
    RSSI: 0
    
  6. Initiate a ping and verify data connectivity using the following commands:

    net dns <hostname>
    net ping <resolved hostname>
    

    See the following example:

    net dns google.com
     Query for 'google.com' sent.
     dns: 142.250.74.46
     dns: All results received
    
    net ping 10 142.250.74.46
     PING 142.250.74.46
     28 bytes from 142.250.74.46 to 192.168.50.199: icmp_seq=0 ttl=113 time=191 ms
     28 bytes from 142.250.74.46 to 192.168.50.199: icmp_seq=1 ttl=113 time=190 ms
     28 bytes from 142.250.74.46 to 192.168.50.199: icmp_seq=2 ttl=113 time=190 ms
    

Testing SAP mode

To test the SAP mode, the sample must be built using the configuration overlay overlay-sap.conf file.

After programming the sample to your development kit, complete the following steps to test it:

  1. Connect the kit to the computer using a USB cable. The kit is assigned a COM port (Windows) or ttyACM device (Linux), which is visible in the Device Manager.

  2. Connect to the kit with a terminal emulator (for example, nRF Connect Serial Terminal). See Testing and optimization for the required settings and steps.

  3. Set the appropriate regulatory domain using the following command:

    wifi reg_domain <ISO/IEC 3166-1 alpha2>
    

    For example, to set the regulatory domain to IN, use the following command:

    wifi reg_domain IN
    
  4. Set an IP address for the SAP interface using the following command:

    net ipv4 add 1 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
    
  5. Enable the Access Point mode using the following command:

    wifi ap enable -s <SSID> -c <channel> -k <key_management> -p <psk>
    

    <SSID> is the SSID of the network you want to connect to, <psk> is its passphrase, and the <key_management> is the security type used by the network.

  6. Check the SAP status after a while, using the following command:

    wifi status
    

    If the SAP is established, you should see an output similar to the following:

    Status: successful
    ==================
    State: COMPLETED
    Interface Mode: ACCESS POINT
    Link Mode: UNKNOWN
    SSID: testing
    BSSID: F4:CE:36:00:22:C6
    Band: 2.4GHz
    Channel: 1
    Security: OPEN
    MFP: Disable
    Beacon Interval: 0
    DTIM: 2
    TWT: Not supported
    
  7. Connect a station to the SAP using a static IP address and verify the connection using the following command:

    wifi ap stations
    

    If the station is connected, you should see an output similar to the following:

    AP stations:
    ============
    Station 1:
    ==========
    MAC: 62:26:54:D9:1C:6E
    Link mode: WIFI 4 (802.11n/HT)
    TWT: Not supported
    
  8. Verify connectivity by pinging the Station from the SAP using the following command:

    net ping <station IP address>
    

    See the following example:

    net ping 192.168.1.88
      PING 192.168.1.88
      28 bytes from 192.168.1.88 to 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=5 ms
      28 bytes from 192.168.1.88 to 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=5 ms
      28 bytes from 192.168.1.88 to 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=5 ms
    
  9. Disable the Access Point mode using the following command:

    wifi ap disable
    

Dependencies

This sample uses the following library:

This sample also uses modules found in the following locations in the nRF Connect SDK folder structure:

  • modules/lib/hostap

  • modules/mbedtls