STRUCT IEEE80211_CONF(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💖 struct ieee80211_conf(9) 💖 — configuration of the device

okay so bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual ✨ you're about to read the little struct that tells a driver how to actually set up its hardware. it's giving "the vibes memo for your wifi chip" and honestly? kind of iconic. 🎀

🌸 NAME 🌸

struct ieee80211_conf — configuration of the device

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

struct ieee80211_conf {
    u32 flags;
    int power_level, dynamic_ps_timeout;
    u16 listen_interval;
    u8 ps_dtim_period;
    u8 long_frame_max_tx_count, short_frame_max_tx_count;
    struct cfg80211_chan_def chandef;
    bool radar_enabled;
    enum ieee80211_smps_mode smps_mode;
 };

like, that's the whole lineup. no notes. 💅

🦋 Members 🦋

okay so here's the cast of characters, one by one, no skipping, we don't do that here 🫶

  • flags — the configuration flags, defined above. yes, above. go look. 👀
  • power_level — the requested transmit power, in dBm. lowkey a legacy situation: it's a backward compatibility value only, and it gets set to the minimum of all interfaces. fr fr, minimum of all of them.
  • dynamic_ps_timeout — the dynamic powersave timeout, in ms. the powersave docs below are the whole story on this one. 🧚 only valid when the CONF_PS flag is set — otherwise it's just vibes, not data.
  • listen_interval — the listen interval, measured in units of beacon interval. ⭐
  • ps_dtim_period — the DTIM period of the AP we're connected to, for use in power saving. heads up: power saving will not be enabled until a beacon has been received and the DTIM period is known. so like, no beacon, no nap. 😭
  • long_frame_max_tx_count — the maximum number of transmissions for a "long" frame (that's a frame that is not RTS protected). called "dot11LongRetryLimit" in 802.11, but plot twist: it actually means the number of transmissions, not the number of retries. read that twice, bestie. 💀
  • short_frame_max_tx_count — same energy for a "short" frame: the maximum number of transmissions. called "dot11ShortRetryLimit" in 802.11, but again it actually means the number of transmissions, not the number of retries. 🙈
  • chandef — the channel definition to tune to. tuning in 🔥
  • radar_enabled — whether radar detection is enabled.
  • smps_mode — spatial multiplexing powersave mode. two notes, and they matter: IEEE80211_SMPS_STATIC is used when the device is not configured for an HT channel. and this is only valid if channel contexts are not used — otherwise each channel context has the number of chains listed. 🧠

🌈 Description 🌈

This struct indicates how the driver shall configure the hardware. that's it, that's the whole vibe check — it's the instruction sheet, and the driver is the main character who has to follow it. 👑

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

Kernel file ./include/net/mac80211.h — and bestie, the guest list is LONG. literally everyone showed up. 💅

ngl bestie, that's the entire guest list, iykyk. click through them one at a time and you'll be so good at this. 🙈✨

and that's the page, periodt. 🎀 source file lives over in ./include/net, dated October 2026, and it's filed under struct ieee80211_conf(9) — go off, you understand it now. mwah. 💖🦋🌸

📦 where this page comes from