Scanning Networks

nmrs provides two approaches to discovering Wi-Fi networks: triggering an active scan and listing cached results.

Triggering a Scan

scan_networks() instructs all wireless devices to perform an active 802.11 probe scan. This sends probe requests on each channel and waits for responses from nearby access points.

use nmrs::NetworkManager;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> nmrs::Result<()> {
    let nm = NetworkManager::new().await?;

    // Trigger an active scan on all wireless devices
    nm.scan_networks().await?;

    Ok(())
}

Note: Scanning is asynchronous at the hardware level. After scan_networks() returns, NetworkManager continues to receive beacon frames and probe responses for a short period. You may want to add a brief delay before listing networks if you need the freshest results.

Listing Networks

list_networks() returns all Wi-Fi networks currently known to NetworkManager. This includes results from the most recent scan as well as networks that NetworkManager has cached from prior scans.

use nmrs::NetworkManager;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> nmrs::Result<()> {
    let nm = NetworkManager::new().await?;

    let networks = nm.list_networks().await?;
    for net in &networks {
        println!("{:30} {}%", net.ssid, net.strength.unwrap_or(0));
    }

    Ok(())
}

The Network Struct

Each discovered network is represented by the Network struct:

Getting Detailed Information

For richer details about a specific network, use show_details():

use nmrs::NetworkManager;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> nmrs::Result<()> {
    let nm = NetworkManager::new().await?;

    let networks = nm.list_networks().await?;
    if let Some(network) = networks.first() {
        let info = nm.show_details(network).await?;

        println!("SSID:      {}", info.ssid);
        println!("BSSID:     {}", info.bssid);
        println!("Signal:    {} {}", info.strength, info.bars);
        println!("Frequency: {:?} MHz", info.freq);
        println!("Channel:   {:?}", info.channel);
        println!("Mode:      {}", info.mode);
        println!("Speed:     {:?} Mbps", info.rate_mbps);
        println!("Security:  {}", info.security);
        println!("Status:    {}", info.status);
    }

    Ok(())
}

The NetworkInfo struct returned by show_details() includes:

• bars – a visual signal-strength indicator (e.g., "▂▄▆█")
• channel – the Wi-Fi channel number derived from frequency
• rate_mbps – link speed when connected
• security – human-readable security description
• status – connection status string

Scan + List Pattern

The most common pattern is to trigger a scan, then list the results:

use nmrs::NetworkManager;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> nmrs::Result<()> {
    let nm = NetworkManager::new().await?;

    nm.scan_networks().await?;
    let networks = nm.list_networks().await?;

    for net in &networks {
        let security = if net.is_eap {
            "EAP"
        } else if net.is_psk {
            "PSK"
        } else {
            "Open"
        };

        let band = match net.frequency {
            Some(f) if f > 5900 => "6 GHz",
            Some(f) if f > 5000 => "5 GHz",
            Some(_) => "2.4 GHz",
            None => "?",
        };

        println!(
            "{:30} {:>3}%  {:>7}  {}",
            net.ssid,
            net.strength.unwrap_or(0),
            band,
            security,
        );
    }

    Ok(())
}

Network Deduplication

When multiple access points broadcast the same SSID (common in mesh or enterprise deployments), nmrs merges them into a single Network entry. The entry retains the strongest signal, while security flags are combined with a logical OR. This means a single SSID entry might show both is_psk and is_eap as true if different APs advertise different capabilities.

Next Steps

• Connecting to Networks – use scan results to connect
• WPA-PSK Networks – password-based authentication
• WPA-EAP (Enterprise) – 802.1X authentication