README

PHP WiFi

A modern, cross-platform PHP library for managing WiFi networks. Built with PHP 8.1+ and fully typed for better IDE support and type safety.

Features

Cross-platform support: Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows
Modern PHP 8.1+: Fully typed properties, strict types, and modern syntax
Rich API: Scan networks, connect/disconnect, filter by various parameters
Powerful filtering: Filter by security type, signal strength, frequency band, and more
Collection-based: Fluent interface with Laravel-style collections
Type-safe: Full type hints and strict typing throughout

Requirements

PHP 8.1, 8.2, or 8.3
Operating System: Linux, macOS (Darwin), or Windows
Appropriate system utilities (networksetup on macOS, nmcli on Linux, netsh on Windows)

Installing

Require this package, with Composer, in the root directory of your project.

$ composer require sanchescom/php-wifi

Basic Usage

Scanning for Networks

<?php

use Sanchescom\WiFi\WiFi;

// Scan for all available networks
$networks = WiFi::scan();

// Get all networks as array
foreach ($networks->getAll() as $network) {
    echo sprintf(
        "SSID: %s, Signal: %.2f dBm, Channel: %d, Security: %s\n",
        $network->ssid,
        $network->dbm,
        $network->channel,
        $network->security
    );
}

Connecting and Disconnecting

<?php

use Sanchescom\WiFi\WiFi;

$device = 'en0'; // macOS: en0, en1; Linux: wlan0, wlan1; Windows: use netsh

try {
    // Connect to a specific network
    $network = WiFi::scan()->getBySsid('My-WiFi-Network');
    $network->connect('password123', $device);

    echo "Connected successfully!\n";
} catch (Exception $e) {
    echo "Connection failed: " . $e->getMessage() . "\n";
}

// Disconnect from all connected networks
$connectedNetworks = WiFi::getConnected();
foreach ($connectedNetworks as $network) {
    $network->disconnect($device);
}

Advanced Usage

Filtering Networks

<?php

use Sanchescom\WiFi\WiFi;

// Get only 5GHz networks
$networks5ghz = WiFi::scan()->get5GhzNetworks();

// Get only 2.4GHz networks
$networks24ghz = WiFi::scan()->get24GhzNetworks();

// Filter by security type
$wpa2Networks = WiFi::scan()->getBySecurity('WPA2');

// Get networks with strong signal (above -60 dBm)
$strongNetworks = WiFi::scan()->getByMinSignalStrength(-60);

// Get networks on specific channel
$channel6Networks = WiFi::scan()->getByChannel(6);

// Combine filters (fluent interface)
$strongWPA2Networks = WiFi::scan()
    ->getBySecurity('WPA2')
    ->getByMinSignalStrength(-50)
    ->get5GhzNetworks();

Finding Specific Networks

<?php

use Sanchescom\WiFi\WiFi;
use Sanchescom\WiFi\Exceptions\NetworkNotFoundException;

try {
    // Get the strongest available network
    $strongestNetwork = WiFi::getStrongestNetwork();
    echo "Strongest network: {$strongestNetwork->ssid} ({$strongestNetwork->dbm} dBm)\n";

    // Find network by SSID
    $network = WiFi::scan()->getBySsid('MyNetwork');

    // Find network by BSSID (MAC address)
    $network = WiFi::scan()->getByBssid('4c:49:e3:f5:35:17');

} catch (NetworkNotFoundException $e) {
    echo "Network not found!\n";
}

Sorting Networks

<?php

use Sanchescom\WiFi\WiFi;

// Sort networks by signal strength (strongest first)
$sortedNetworks = WiFi::scan()->sortBySignalStrength();

foreach ($sortedNetworks as $network) {
    echo "{$network->ssid}: {$network->dbm} dBm\n";
}

Working with Network Properties

<?php

use Sanchescom\WiFi\WiFi;

$network = WiFi::scan()->getBySsid('MyNetwork');

// Access network properties
echo "SSID: {$network->ssid}\n";
echo "BSSID: {$network->bssid}\n";
echo "Channel: {$network->channel}\n";
echo "Frequency: {$network->frequency} MHz\n";
echo "Signal Quality: {$network->quality}%\n";
echo "Signal Strength: {$network->dbm} dBm\n";
echo "Security: {$network->security}\n";
echo "Security Flags: {$network->securityFlags}\n";
echo "Connected: " . ($network->connected ? 'Yes' : 'No') . "\n";

Static Helper Methods

<?php

use Sanchescom\WiFi\WiFi;

// Quick access to common operations
$connectedNetworks = WiFi::getConnected();
$strongest = WiFi::getStrongestNetwork();
$networks24ghz = WiFi::get24GhzNetworks();
$networks5ghz = WiFi::get5GhzNetworks();
$wpa2Networks = WiFi::getNetworksBySecurity('WPA2');

CLI Usage

The library includes a command-line interface for managing WiFi networks directly from the terminal.

List all available networks

./vendor/bin/wifi list

List only connected networks

./vendor/bin/wifi list --connected

Connect to a network

./vendor/bin/wifi connect --bssid=4c:49:e3:f5:35:17 --password=12345 --device=en1

Disconnect from a network

./vendor/bin/wifi disconnect --bssid=4c:49:e3:f5:35:17 --device=en1

API Reference

WiFi Class (Static Methods)

Method	Return Type	Description
`WiFi::scan()`	`Collection`	Scan for all available networks
`WiFi::getConnected()`	`AbstractNetwork[]`	Get all connected networks
`WiFi::getStrongestNetwork()`	`AbstractNetwork`	Get the strongest available network
`WiFi::get24GhzNetworks()`	`Collection`	Get all 2.4GHz networks
`WiFi::get5GhzNetworks()`	`Collection`	Get all 5GHz networks
`WiFi::getNetworksBySecurity(string $type)`	`Collection`	Get networks by security type

Collection Methods

Method	Return Type	Description
`getAll()`	`AbstractNetwork[]`	Get all networks as array
`getBySsid(string $ssid)`	`AbstractNetwork`	Find network by SSID
`getByBssid(string $bssid)`	`AbstractNetwork`	Find network by BSSID (MAC)
`getConnected()`	`AbstractNetwork[]`	Get connected networks
`getBySecurity(string $type)`	`Collection`	Filter by security type
`getByMinSignalStrength(float $dbm)`	`Collection`	Filter by minimum signal strength
`getByChannel(int $channel)`	`Collection`	Filter by channel
`get24GhzNetworks()`	`Collection`	Get 2.4GHz networks
`get5GhzNetworks()`	`Collection`	Get 5GHz networks
`sortBySignalStrength()`	`Collection`	Sort by signal strength
`getStrongest()`	`AbstractNetwork`	Get strongest network

Network Properties

Property	Type	Description
`$ssid`	`string`	Network name
`$bssid`	`string`	MAC address
`$channel`	`int`	WiFi channel
`$frequency`	`int`	Frequency in MHz
`$quality`	`float`	Signal quality percentage
`$dbm`	`float`	Signal strength in dBm
`$security`	`string`	Security type
`$securityFlags`	`string`	Security flags
`$connected`	`bool`	Connection status

Network Methods

Method	Parameters	Description
`connect()`	`string $password, string $device`	Connect to the network
`disconnect()`	`string $device`	Disconnect from the network
`getSecurityType()`	-	Get security type (WPA2/WPA/WEP)

Contributing

Please read CONTRIBUTING.md for details on our code of conduct, and the process for submitting pull requests to us.

Versioning

We use SemVer for versioning. For the versions available, see the tags on this repository.

Authors

Efimov Aleksandr - Initial work - Sanchescom

See also the list of contributors who participated in this project.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE.md file for details

Platform Support

Linux

Requires nmcli (NetworkManager command-line interface)
Default device: wlan0 or wlan1

macOS

Scanning: Uses system_profiler SPAirPortDataType (official Apple tool, no deprecation warnings)
Backward Compatibility: Automatically supports old airport format if needed
Connection management: Requires networksetup (built-in)
Default device: en0 or en1

Windows

Requires netsh (built-in)
Automatically detects WiFi interface

What's New in v2.0

PHP 8.1+ Support: Fully refactored with typed properties and modern PHP syntax
Updated Dependencies: All dependencies updated to latest versions
Extended Functionality: New filtering and sorting methods
Better Type Safety: Full type hints throughout the codebase
Improved Collections: Switched to illuminate/collections with fluent interface
macOS Improvements:
- Migrated to official system_profiler tool (no more deprecation warnings!)
- Dual-format parser supports both new and legacy formats
New Features:
- Filter networks by frequency band (2.4GHz / 5GHz)
- Filter by signal strength
- Find strongest network
- Sort networks by various criteria
- Enhanced security filtering

Upgrading from v1.x

The main breaking changes:

Minimum PHP version is now 8.1 (was 7.2)
Collection methods now have proper return types
tightenco/collect replaced with illuminate/collections

Most of the existing API remains compatible. New methods are additive.

Testing

composer test

Code Style

# Check code style
composer check-style

# Fix code style automatically
composer fix-style

Platform-Specific Notes

Device Names

macOS: Use en0, en1, etc. Find your device with networksetup -listallhardwareports
Linux: Use wlan0, wlan1, etc. Find your device with ip link show
Windows: Device is auto-detected by the library

sanchescom / php-wifi

Maintainers

Details