Single SSID, Multiple BSSIDs: Choose a Connection?
 

Greetings. Got a simple question today ;)

The situation:
We have a wifi scenario involving several available public routers, all having the same SSID, and each within range of one Debian client. As would generally be expected, each router has its own unique BSSID.

The problem:
Getting a base Jessie install to connect to one and only one particular router; manually chosen by BSSID. The Network Manager doesn't seem to allow this: It prefers to ignore any explicitly-specified selection; and determines, by itself, the final connection based upon signal strength or quality metrics from amongst all in the present SSID population.

So, in a nutshell, how does someone restrict SSID association client-side to one particular router BSSID in this type of scenario?

Thanks again --

You're on your own with NetworkManager. POS.

Have you considered wiring each local router? I'm imagining several local routers picking up wifi traffic and then being a bottleneck via it's own connection.

If that's not on, and you have to connect them by wifi, map out what routers connect to what internal boxen. I gather you are exercised about what your debian box hooks up with. Do it by broadcast channels. If you specify a channel of communication for your debian box and your connection of choice, and they are the same, and nothing else has them, they might do as instructed as a last resort:-P.

Thought it was all me; but after banging my head against this for a while now, I am beginning to share your sentiments...

Gone so far as to manually edit /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/connectionX directly specifying bssid= to no avail. When the connection is called up via or or just using the GUI, things still connect without respecting bssid=

<RANT>I thought our game here was entirely about empowering the user with choices. I can't understand how making something really basic like choosing a particular BSSID for a connection so troublesome upholds the Linux ethic...</RANT>

(sigh)

Thanks again for chiming in...

I think you can restrict channels in wpa_supplicant.conf

Thanks, business_kid, for the heads up on that. Busy digging to find how that would click together on this particular box ;)

Meantime, I think I stumbled upon what might be the primary bug which prevents NM from actually implementing configs manually set in /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/ -- The blasted thing won't readily read new/updated files put into that folder!

What is the commandline to "refresh" NM with a complete re-read of the configs in /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/ ???

:mad:


Selfie:

• Connect to the chosen SSID via whatever means. Allow NM to create the bogus config.

• Manually edit this config and save.

• Simply toggling "Enable Networking" on the UI doesn't do the trick for a refresh. Restart: sudo /etc/init.d/network-manager restart

All good now for bssid change.

...

I think that nails my colours to the mast. By giving it the middle finger, I've avoided that so far. At some stage in the future, I may have to learn grub2, networkmanager, UEFI, systemd - all great 21st century bloated crap. At the moment, I don't.

Ah, bloatware.

Of that strain there are two types: The stuff put together in a manner which makes some usable sense; and the stuff which doesn't.

One is at least passably useful, the other nothing but antagonistic. Digging into things, Debian seems to have more than its fair share of the latter these days...

Anyway, thanks again; and best wishes to you --

;)

That's one of the reasone I promoted myself to slackware. I think it's BDFL has a desire to cater for those who don't want bloatware. There are few Slackware derivatives.