You can use ifconfig command to to assign an address to a network interface and/or configure network interface parameters including restarting interface.
Procedure: How to restart Wifi (en0) using the terminal
- Open the terminal.
- Type the following command to shutdown en0 interface:
sudo ifconfig en0 down - Type the following command to bring it back en0 interface:
sudo ifconfig en0 up - Verify that interface is back online again:
ifconfig -u en0
Sample session:

Fig.01: Enable and Disable OSX Wi-Fi
You can create an alias as follows in your ~/.bashrc file:
alias restart_en0='sudo ifconfig en0 down && sudo ifconfig en0 up' |
To restart simply type:
restart_en0 |
Say hello to networksetup command
The networksetup is a configuration tool for network settings in OS X.
Use networksetup restart (on and off) Mac OS X networking
Type the following command to turn it off en0:
networksetup -setairportpower en0 off
OR
networksetup -setairportpower "Wi-Fi" off
Type the following command to turn it on en0:
networksetup -setairportpower en0 on
OR
networksetup -setairportpower "Wi-Fi" on
Sample outputs:
Wi-Fi is not a Wi-Fi interface. Turning on the only airport interface found: en0
Both commands have many more options. See the man page by typing the following command:
man ifconfig
man networksetup
