You don't mention which operating system you're using. Even if you're using Linux there are different configurations that would affect how to go about this.

Perl is well suited however to invoking system commands. You could definitely write a little script that invoked whatever system tools are appropriate to initiate a wifi connection. Note the results and then shut it down.

If you happen to be using a system that uses wpa_supplicant as the basis for wifi, you should checkout the cpan module for controlling it: Wifi::WpaCtrl If you're lucky it will make it a bit easier to roll out a quick solution.

Good luck with your project.