If multiple BSSes match an entry in the wpa_supplicant.conf file, it is possible that the BSS chosen will not associate, but instead of blacklisting the BSS and trying another, the wpa_supplicant continues to try to attach to the unusable BSS with a new attempt every 10 seconds. This was observed in a non-secured situation. That is there were multiple BSSes showing in the scan and the first had a very low signal strength. The supplicant would try to associate with that BSS, but could not. ifconfig always showed the interface with no carrier. I believe that the supplicant should have blacklisted that BSS and tried another on the list, but would keep trying the same one over and over. Restarting the supplicant would cause a new list of BSSes to be generated which was identical to the first except for order. If the first BSS on the list proved functional, association would take place and things progressed normally. If the first entry would not associate, the same thing, re-attempts to associate with the same BSS every 10 seconds would repeat. For the record, the configuration file in question was my generic wireless of: network={ ssid="" key_mgmt=NONE priority=0 } My wireless card is an Atheros 5212, although inspection of the code leads me to believe that this is not related to the card chosen. Fix: Modify the supplicant to blacklist a BSS that fails to associate so that other available APs will be tried. How-To-Repeat: Attempt to use the wpa_supplicant in an environment where several APs are available, some of which have poor signals and will not associate.
Responsible Changed From-To: freebsd-bugs->freebsd-net Over to maintainer(s).
State Changed From-To: open->feedback Hi Kevin, wpa_supplicant has been updated since this PR was filed. Do you still see this behaviour in newer FreeBSD releases?
State Changed From-To: feedback->closed Hi Kevin, thanks for the quick answer and sorry this PR sat around for so long. I close the PR with this, but in case you come into the situation where you can test this again, we'd be happy to hear your report. Happy retirement!
State Changed From-To: closed->open Adrian says this is likely still an issue, open and assign to freebsd-wireless at his request.
Responsible Changed From-To: freebsd-net->freebsd-wireless Adrian says this is likely still an issue, open and assign to freebsd-wireless at his request.
batch change: For bugs that match the following - Status Is In progress AND - Untouched since 2018-01-01. AND - Affects Base System OR Documentation DO: Reset to open status. Note: I did a quick pass but if you are getting this email it might be worthwhile to double check to see if this bug ought to be closed.
This has been a very long time ago. Even the re-open. Let's close this. if someone can still show this as an issue we'll likely have to debug it and in that case please re-open.