shtumble -- a simple wireless network stumbler and configuration
    tool, written in shell

The sourceforge project page for shtumble is at http://sourceforge.net/projects/shtumble.

I have a small handheld device with a wireless card. It has a touchscreen, and no keyboard. I quickly realized that it was a problem to connect to public access wireless hotspots, since I had no appropriate tool to help me select the SSID, etc. Even switching between the networks at home and at work was cumbersome, with special purpose scripts to do the reconfiguration. I looked at the available stumblers, but they all seemed like extreme overkill, or didn't work with my particular card, or required libraries I don't have. So I wrote my own, offered up here. It's in shell -- well, i should say it's in "bash", since it makes heavy use of extended bash features.

shtumble is fairly simple, but does everything I need -- it detects nearby access points, lets you select one, starts DHCP if appropriate (usually), and will do WEP or WPA or other custom config for known networks. Access points are colored according to accessibility, interface and connection status are displayed dynamically, and shtumble beeps when new accessible networks come in range.

It's useful enough for me that I now use it on my laptops as well. It's simple, and it gets the job done.

I should add that I wrote the inital version of shtumble in 2004, when wireless configuration programs weren't nearly as good as they are today. I've heard that the gnome network manager is actually pretty good these days (2007), and I also just found "wicd", which seems pretty straightforward. (I still use shtumble though.)

The script contains extensive introductory comments, which describe how to use it, etc. In particular, to install, just put it in an accessible bin directory, and run it. You'll need to be root, and it will prompt you to allow creation of its small config tree under /usr/local/etc/shtumble. Nothing to it.

There are a few more screenshots on the sourceforge project page.

I no longer do "releases" of shtumble. To get a copy, go directly to CVS and get a copy there. Here's a more direct link to the script.

Paul Fox, June 2007


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