Re: How to connect specifying the BSSID?

[James Prestwood <prestwoj@gmail.com>]

Hi,

On 3/5/24 2:20 AM, Kentaro Yamaguchi wrote:
> Hi James,
> Thank you for answering.
> I tried it right away, but unfortunately I couldn't connect to the
> desired BSSID.
> Even if you specify the BSSID, if the same SSID exists, it seems that
> the connection will be made according to the RANK.
>
> When I specified the BSSID on the 2GHz side below and connected, it
> connected to the BSSID on the 5GHz side.
> I tried it 3 times and got the same result all three times.

Could you check the IWD logs as to why? I have a feeling the connection 
to ":7c" just failed so IWD moved onto another BSS?

>
> access point
> -------------------------------------------------------
>      SSID  BSSID              RSSI  Freq    Rank      MDE
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>      tp-link_be85
>            4e:91:e3:xx:xx:70  -25   6135    16384     000000
>            5a:91:e3:xx:xx:7d  -25   5240    16384     000000
>            56:91:e3:xx:xx:7c  -6    2417    3912      000000
>
>
> connection
> -------------------------------------------------------
> Execute the commands in the following order.
>
> $ sudo /usr/libexec/iwd -E &
> $ sudo iwctl station wlp4s0 scan
> $ sudo iwctl debug wlp4s0 connect 56:91:e3:xx:xx:7c
> Type the network passphrase for tp-link_be85 psk.
> Passphrase: ********
>
>
> Check the connection destination
> -------------------------------------------------------
>
> $ iw dev wlp4s0 link
> Connected to 5a:91:e3:xx:xx:7d (on wlp4s0)
>          SSID: tp-link_be85
>          freq: 5240.0
>          RX: 7401 bytes (70 packets)
>          TX: 8867 bytes (77 packets)
>          signal: -19 dBm
>          rx bitrate: 1441.3 MBit/s 160MHz EHT-MCS 7 EHT-NSS 2 EHT-GI 0
>          tx bitrate: 576.4 MBit/s 160MHz EHT-MCS 3 EHT-NSS 2 EHT-GI 0
>          bss flags: short-slot-time
>          dtim period: 1
>          beacon int: 100
>
> Thanks,
>
> Kentaro Yamaguchi
>
> 2024年3月4日(月) 21:23 James Prestwood <prestwoj@gmail.com>:
>> Hi Kentaro,
>>
>> On 3/3/24 8:31 PM, Kentaro Yamaguchi wrote:
>>> Dear iwd users and developers,
>>>
>>> With mesh, I would like to check whether it is faster to connect
>>> directly to the child device or the parent device.
>>> Therefore, please tell me how to connect using iwd from the client and
>>> specifying the BSSID.
>>>
>>> According to the comment made 5 years ago at the link below, there is
>>> no way to connect by specifying the BSSID.
>>> This has been answered, but is the situation still the same?
>>> https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=237074&p=5
>> Yes IWD connections are SSID based and IWD chooses the best BSS based on
>> how it ranks.
>>
>> For testing IWD does have a "developer mode" which lets you connect to
>> BSSID's specifically but this mode isn't something meant for
>> general/production use. But if you only want to test one vs the other
>> you could use it:
>>
>> # Start IWD in developer mode (-E)
>> iwd -E
>> # Scan first (developer mode doesn't autoconnect)
>> iwctl station wlan0 scan
>> iwctl debug wlan0 get-networks
>> iwctl wlan0 connect <bssid>
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> James
>>
>>> I tried the following, but I was unable to connect due to an error.
>>> I know that using wpa_supplicant as the Network Manager backend will
>>> work. However, in that case I would like to use IWD because I have
>>> problems with 6GHz connectivity.
>>>
>>> 1. Specify iwd as wifi.backend of NetworkManager and restart.
>>> 2. nmcli device wifi connect [SSID] password [Password]
>>> 3. nmcli connection down [SSID]
>>> 4. nmcil connection modify [SSID] wifi.bssid [BSSID]
>>> 5. nmcli connection up [SSID]
>>>
>>> Error (from journal log)
>>> -------------------------------------
>>> Mar 01 16:38:48 livazplusNetworkManager[1408]: <info>
>>> [1709278728.5365] device (wlp4s0): Activation: starting connection
>>> 'Buf-MLO' (019cd427-8f11-4c84-9625-db03895b510b)
>>> Mar 01 16:38:48 livazplus NetworkManager[1408]: <info>
>>> [1709278728.5367] device (wlp4s0): state change: disconnected ->
>>> prepare (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
>>> Mar 01 16:38:48 livazplus NetworkManager[1408]: <info>
>>> [1709278728.5370] device (wlp4s0): state change: prepare -> failed
>>> (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
>>> Mar 01 16:38:48 livazplus NetworkManager[1408]: <warn>
>>> [1709278728.5374] device (wlp4s0): Activation: failed for connection
>>> 'Buf-MLO'
>>>
>>> My environment is below.
>>> --------------------------------------
>>> Lubuntu 23.10
>>> Kernel 6.7.6
>>> IWD 2.8
>>> NetworkManager 1.44.2
>>> Intel BE200
>>> [    5.297551] iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: TLV_FW_FSEQ_VERSION: FSEQ
>>> Version: 0.0.4.125
>>> [    5.302086] iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: loaded firmware version
>>> 86.fb5c9aeb.0 gl-c0-fm-c0-86.ucode op_mode iwlmvm
>>> [    5.764947] iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: loaded PNVM version 8443a58d
>>> --------------------------------------
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance!
>>> Kentaro Yamaguchi
>>>