What does `managed` type means in my wlan information?

Question

So upon troubleshooting something in my wireless device, when I invoked this command:

> sudo iw dev
phy#3
    Interface wlan1
        ifindex 6
        wdev 0x300000001
        addr d0:37:45:5a:c7:22
        ssid LALALA
        type managed
        txpower 13.00 dBm
phy#1
    Interface wlan0
        ifindex 4
        wdev 0x100000001
        addr dc:a6:32:4b:1e:d7
        type AP
        channel 36 (5180 MHz), width: 80 MHz, center1: 5210 MHz
        txpower 31.00 dBm

So there is AP and managed. I know about AP which basically stands for Access Point (for hotspot). But not sure what does managed really means. Is there also any other type?

Answer 1

The “managed“ interface is the station (Wi-Fi client) interface of your system. Looks like it currently connected to a wireless network with the SSID “LALALA“?

As you already told, AP stands for “access point,“ i.e. the soft AP of your system. Other possible interface types are “monitor“ (allows sniffing, not supported by every driver), “ibss“ (allows ad-hoc connections between two devices without the need of an access point) and some more.

Refer to this wiki for a complete list: https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/documentation/modes