Re: text output from NetworkManager ?

[Alexander Sack <asac ubuntu com>]

On Fri, Oct 02, 2009 at 02:17:38PM +0200, Borge Kile Gjelsten wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I would like to use NetworkManager to dump info on the signal strength
> (32%, 47%, etc.) into a text file at e.g. every 5 seconds, or some similar
> approach which would help me test the wireless network at various
> positions in a big office landscape.
> I thought this might be doable from a terminal, but have found no way
> so far.
> 
> In principle I can of course get this information by moving the cursor
> over the NetworkManager icon on my panel and read by eye.
> This is however somewhat impractical.
> 
> If what I seek is not possible with NetworkManager, is there some other
> tool which allows me to monitor a wireless signal as a function of time?
> 
> (I am using Ubuntu 9.04.)


You could use dbus directly, but if you want this only for your own
use  processing nm-tool output sounds easier. I don't think that
nm-tool output changed from 0.7.x to 0.8, so this seems to get the
strength of the current active AP(s) for me:

  nm-tool | grep ^.*\ \\* | sed -e 's/.*Strength \([0-9]*\).*$/\1/'

.. of course, that's nothing you should put into real software; use
dbus for that :)

 - Alexander