Wiretray

A Wi-Fi hotspot manager for Linux.

Wiretray is a Linux Wi-Fi hotspot manager designed to make hotspot control available directly from the system tray.

Built around NetworkManager, it provides hotspot management, configuration, and automatic startup through a desktop interface.

Motivation

This project was inspired by Linux WiFi Hotspot.

I used it for a while and had a good experience with it, but one thing always bothered me: every time I wanted to enable or disable the hotspot, I had to open the application window first.

I wanted a solution that could stay in the system tray and make hotspot management available with a couple of clicks.

Wiretray began as an experiment, but quickly evolved into a tool I use daily for managing hotspots on Linux.

The long-term goal is simple: make hotspot management feel like any other background service on Linux.

Features

Available today:

• System tray integration

• Desktop configuration interface

• Wi-Fi device discovery

• Hotspot creation and management

• Hotspot status monitoring

• Hotspot settings persistence

• Autostart on login

• Wi-Fi capability detection

Currently in progress:

• Better error reporting
• Concurrent AP + Client support

Requirements

• Linux
• NetworkManager
• A Wi-Fi adapter with Access Point (AP) support
• A desktop environment or panel with StatusNotifierItem/AppIndicator support

Installation

Debian / Ubuntu

Download the latest .deb package from the Releases page and install it with:

sudo apt install ./wiretray_*.deb

You can also install it by double-clicking the .deb package from your file manager.

After installation, Wiretray can be opened from the application menu.

The application launcher opens the settings window and starts the tray process automatically if it is not already running.

Autostart

Wiretray can start automatically after login.

Open the settings window and enable:

Start automatically on login

This creates an XDG autostart entry at:

~/.config/autostart/io.github.AghastyGD.Wiretray.desktop

When enabled, Wiretray starts the tray/background process automatically the next time you log in.

Installed Binaries

The Debian package installs two binaries:

wiretray
wiretray-settings

wiretray starts the tray/background application.

wiretray-settings opens the desktop configuration interface.

Normally, users do not need to run these manually. The application launcher and autostart entry handle this automatically.

Building from Source

Install the required development packages for your distribution.

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt install \
  libgtk-4-dev \
  meson \
  desktop-file-utils \
  gcc \
  gtk-update-icon-cache

Fedora

sudo dnf install \
  gtk4-devel \
  meson \
  desktop-file-utils \
  gcc \
  glib2-devel \
  gtk4-update-icon-cache

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S \
  gtk4 \
  meson \
  desktop-file-utils \
  gcc

Build all binaries:

cargo build

Or build a specific binary:

cargo build --bin wiretray
cargo build --bin wiretray-settings

Running from Source

Start the tray application:

cargo run --bin wiretray

Launch the settings application directly:

cargo run --bin wiretray-settings

Development

Format code:

cargo fmt

Run Clippy:

cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings

Run tests:

cargo test

Roadmap

Planned work includes:

• QR code generation
• Connected client monitoring
• Hotspot notifications
• Advanced hotspot configuration
• Alternative hotspot backends

As with most side projects, priorities may change over time.

Contributing

Issues, suggestions, and pull requests are welcome.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.