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:

1. Minimum PHP version is now 8.1 (was 7.2)
2. Collection methods now have proper return types
3. 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