Wi-fi extension attribute

Test in your environment first but something like this should show if the wireless interface is active or inactive.

#!/bin/sh

#get the wireless interface ID

WirelessPort=$(networksetup -listallhardwareports | awk '/Wi-Fi|AirPort/{getline; print $NF}')

#get interface status

WiFiStatus=$(ifconfig "$WirelessPort" |  grep 'status:' |cut -d: -f2 | awk '{print $1}')

#return status

echo "<result>$WiFiStatus</result>"

@ianmb I know you were looking for an EA that would report on status, but I wanted to give you an idea for disabling wireless on your MacPro computers. I use a script to check if there is an Ethernet port active, and if there is it shuts down wireless. This runs using a LaunchDaemon, so the users can try all they like to re-enable WiFi, but if they do not unload the LaunchDaemon it will never work:

Swap Network

I cannot take credit for that script, it was a community effort that was worked out on these discussions:

Disable Airport When Ethernet is Active

Need Help with WiFi Script

This serves two purposes: disables WiFi for those desktop machines that don't need it active, and it ensures your laptop users are not on two networks at once.

Very nice @stevewood thanks for sharing!