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QuestionWLan antenna presence detection logic needed.

  • Tuesday, October 27, 2009 1:38 PMNamanM Users MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     
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    I have a PC with Pci WLan card installed. I want to create a program to detect whether the antenna is connected or not. if possible this logic should not be dependent on the user connected to that network.

    I used Wmi, msndis class. but my Vista pc these classes did not have any objects instantiated.

    OS: Vista
    H/w : Belkin wireless A+g dual band desktop card - F6D3000
     

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  • Tuesday, October 27, 2009 5:19 PMPaul E LongMSFT, OwnerUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     
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    Do you mean you want to detect whether the wireless adapter is turned off by a switch (like on laptops that allow you to turn them off)?

    Paul
     
  • Wednesday, October 28, 2009 8:24 AMNamanM Users MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     
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    Hi Paul,


    no I dont need to check the power status of the device.

    what I want is the presence of antenna.

    Some PCI wifi cards available in the mark have detachable antennas. e.g. http://en-us-support.belkin.com/app/product/detail/p/301

    In these cards the antennas are detachable. So the PC user may have removed it or may have forgotten to connect it. I just need to check whether its connected or not.

    thanks
     
  • Wednesday, October 28, 2009 3:48 PMPaul E LongMSFT, OwnerUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     
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    We do not have a way to detect this with the NMAPI.  You could check to see if the signal strength changes, but this could also happen based on where the laptop is connected or even how it's oriented.

    I'm not aware of any NDIS APIs to detect this, but if it's availalbe NDIS would be the component to give you this information.  You might want to investigate the APIs available there.

    It's also possible the manufactures don't or can't detect attena connection status.  Furthermore it's possible that even if it is detectable, the manufacture decided not to expose that information.