The WLAN Commander image 7.3.0 runs on the U-AirWire's 5 and 6 GHz radios, with channels you choose. The iPhone app installs it beside Ubiquiti's firmware and can return the unit to stock. A unit left on stock firmware still scans and captures over USB, with nothing flashed.
WLAN Commander image
The image turns the AirWire into a WLAN Commander sensor on its USB link.
- Scan and capture on both radios: 5 GHz up to 160 MHz and 6 GHz up to 320 MHz, on the channels you choose.
- The phone keeps its own internet. The USB link offers no gateway or DNS.
- WLAN Commander controls the fan and the front status display.
- The app makes a full factory backup before it writes anything, and can return the unit to Ubiquiti BS.8.7.11.
This is not a Ubiquiti product, and Ubiquiti does not support it. Installing it may affect your warranty.
How it works
Two firmware slots. The AirWire has room for two firmware images. Ubiquiti's firmware stays in the first slot, untouched. WLAN Commander is written only to the second slot, plus its own files in the data area. A small boot selector decides which slot starts. Nothing in Ubiquiti's own system or radio firmware partitions is changed.
A backup comes first. Before anything is written, the app copies a full factory backup of the AirWire, about 3.6 GB, to the iPhone and checks it. The backup stays inside the app on the phone. Deleting the app deletes the backup.
Every file is checked, twice. The install files are signed by WLAN Commander. The app checks the signatures and every file's hash, and the AirWire checks them again itself. After writing, it reads the kernel back to confirm it. The AirWire then restarts into WLAN Commander, and the app confirms a healthy first boot. If WLAN Commander does not start healthy, the AirWire falls back to the stock firmware.
Your unit's radio data stays on the unit. The two radio firmware files are unmodified public linux-firmware files. The unit's own calibration and radio license are read from the AirWire during the install and never leave it. They are not in the download.
| Stock firmware | WLAN Commander image | |
|---|---|---|
| Who controls the radios | Ubiquiti's firmware chooses the channels | The app: both radios are capture radios on the channels you choose |
| Connection | USB, with the unit's SSH credentials | USB at 198.18.42.1, SSH with a key the app creates for that unit |
| Phone internet | The AirWire can take over the phone's internet | The link gives the phone no internet route, so the phone keeps its own |
| Fan and front screen | Ubiquiti's | WLAN Commander's own fan control and status screen |
Going back. Returning to stock flips the boot selector back to the first slot. The app first verifies that the preserved stock firmware is intact, then restores Ubiquiti's boot verification setting. WLAN Commander's files stay on the device, so you can switch back later.
Download and install
Before you start
- A U-AirWire on Ubiquiti firmware BS.8.7.11, with its own power supply.
- An iPhone with the WLAN Commander beta, build 126 or later, from TestFlight. The App Store version does not include the AirWire installer.
- About 4.5 GB free on the phone: about 3.6 GB for the factory backup and about 0.55 GB for the install files.
- Download the install files before you connect a stock AirWire. While it runs stock firmware, the AirWire can take over the phone's internet connection.
The Android beta includes the installer, but it has not yet been tested on hardware.
AirWire install files
- Version
- 7.3.0 · published 23 October 2026
- File
wlan-commander-airwire-7.3.0-ga17-install.zip- Download size
- 541 MB · 541,453,933 bytes
Install ZIP SHA-256
37b698d6b4e481bd88a35fae1281fc6ce319d4c7f2a32c7b0cd0217e42bda8c7
Release notes, tests and known limits. The kernel and runtime corresponding source and the license texts are on the same release page.
Install
- On the iPhone, download the install ZIP. Open it in Files to unpack the folder
AirWire-install-7.3.0-ga17. - Connect the AirWire's power supply, then connect its DATA port to the phone with a USB data cable.
- In Devices, connect to the AirWire on stock firmware with its SSH credentials.
- Open its device details, then Factory backup and stock recovery → Back up or resume. The backup is about 3.6 GB and takes about 10 minutes. Keep the app open.
- Choose Prepare WC installation files and select the
AirWire-install-7.3.0-ga17folder. - Choose Install or resume WC and confirm. This takes about 5 minutes.
- Choose Restart into WC.
- In Devices, connect to AirWire WC followed by the unit's serial number (198.18.42.1). Open its details and choose Confirm WC first boot. The install is finished when the app shows WC first boot verified.
Return to stock
- Connected to the AirWire on WLAN Commander, open its details and choose Check stock recovery, then Select stock recovery.
- Unplug power and USB for 10 seconds.
- Reconnect power, then USB.
- In Devices, connect the stock AirWire profile and choose Finish stock recovery.
What has been tested
On one U-AirWire, on 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-23, with an iPhone 16 Plus:
- install from stock and a confirmed first boot;
- a two-radio scan (41 APs, 21 clients) and packet capture;
- fan control (about 1,000 RPM at idle, responding up to about 2,600 RPM);
- the status display;
- return to stock and a reinstall.
Known limits
- Tested on one unit. RF accuracy, such as signal levels and malformed-frame rates, is not qualified.
- Spectrum is not offered. An engineering spectrum reader works on both radios, but it is uncalibrated, and the app does not show AirWire spectrum.
- Android includes the installer, but it has not yet been tested on hardware.
- A unit that ran earlier WLAN Commander development builds may need old staged files removed before it has room to install. A fresh stock unit does not.
Use the stock firmware
A unit left on Ubiquiti's firmware works without installing anything. AirWire was tested on Ubiquiti firmware BS.8.5.3 and BS.8.7.11 (0xea07 board). Use a current WLAN Commander app build.
Connect
- Connect AirWire's own power supply.
- Connect its DATA port directly to the phone with a USB data cable.
- In Commander Devices, connect to the AirWire on the USB link and sign in with its SSH credentials.
Scan and capture
Commander uses the two product radios: 5 GHz and 6 GHz. The separate spectrum radio is not a packet-capture radio.
The firmware chooses the channels it visits, so the app does not offer channel selection or dwell control on stock AirWire. Each captured frame's radiotap frequency shows what was heard. Stop removes the temporary scan interface and restores the firmware's own spectrum service.
On one unit in September 2026:
- A 5 GHz scan decoded about 680 beacons from 45 to 48 networks, on 19 frequencies.
- A 6 GHz scan heard packets on 23 frequencies.
- Both saved pcapng files and restored the device cleanly.
Scan guide · Capture guide · Sensor changelog · Hardware compatibility · Support