Ubuntu
network-manager-applet package

same SSID and different MAC same pass is not true usually

Bug #711989 reported by Javier Domingo
8
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
Network Manager Applet
Fix Released
Wishlist
network-manager-applet (Ubuntu)
Confirmed
Wishlist
Unassigned

Bug Description

Hello!,
Today I come to talk about a issue that I have been experiencing since I first installed Ubuntu. When you save a password, it is only saved with the AP name, and that's a good point for enterprises, but for particulars, going to several places you most of the times you end with a lot of APs, and some of them, have the same name. That is why I suggest having the option to declare each SSID as multi-access point (would be the actual configuration) or a single acces point (would be for domestic APs)

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.10
Package: network-manager-gnome 0.8.1+git.20100809t190028.290dc70-0ubuntu3
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.35-25.44-generic 2.6.35.10
Uname: Linux 2.6.35-25-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
Architecture: amd64
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No existe el fichero o el directorio
CheckboxSubmission: 81800d45f20c113a06dff429346d0105
CheckboxSystem: b845c366ea09c60efa3a45c1b5b21525
Date: Wed Feb 2 17:08:12 2011
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/nm-applet
IfupdownConfig:
 auto lo
 iface lo inet loopback
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" - Release amd64 (20101007)
IpRoute:
 192.168.1.0/24 dev eth1 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.1.9 metric 2
 169.254.0.0/16 dev eth1 scope link metric 1000
 default via 192.168.1.1 dev eth1 proto static
Keyfiles: Error: [Errno 2] No existe el fichero o el directorio
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=es_ES.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: network-manager-applet
XsessionErrors:
 (polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1:2984): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_once_init_leave: assertion `initialization_value != 0' failed
 (nautilus:2988): GConf-CRITICAL **: gconf_value_free: assertion `value != NULL' failed
 (nm-applet:2985): Gdk-CRITICAL **: IA__gdk_window_thaw_toplevel_updates_libgtk_only: assertion `private->update_and_descendants_freeze_count > 0' failed

Revision history for this message
Javier Domingo (txomon) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre (cyphermox) wrote :

You could just change the name of the connection, and tie it to the BSSID you want to use in the connection properties. Does that work for your use case?

Changed in network-manager-applet (Ubuntu):
status: New → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Javier Domingo (txomon) wrote :

No, I think you haven't understood me. I mean that AP with same BSSID use the same password, and that is not always true. For example WLAN_XX are lots of them in my area, and I have 2 with the same name but different password, renaming the connection doesn't do anything. I also need to specify the MAC address.

Revision history for this message
Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre (cyphermox) wrote :

No, I think you're misunderstanding, but I'll explain further.

In 802.11 (the protocol for wifi) the MAC you're referring to is called a BSSID. The name of the AP is called the ESSID. NetworkManager provides fields for both, as shown in the attached screenshot I took from my computer (which is on Natty though, so maybe it doesn't actually show in Maverick; but I think it does... can't remember ;)

So that's basically what the three different fields would do: use Connection Name for identifying the network in a way you can differentiate between them (e.g. my "at home"), use the SSID field to enter the AP's actual name (which would be the same in various locations, presumably), and enter the MAC in the BSSID field.

If on the other hand this doesn't work properly, please report it in the bug here :)

Revision history for this message
Javier Domingo (txomon) wrote :

The point is that the manager doesnt add automaticly the ap's bssid. What I want to propose is that it automaticly fills that MAC and to put a check button to enable that field or not, so that the user doesn't have to find the MAC of the AP (which I actually dont know how to do in an easy way)

Revision history for this message
Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre (cyphermox) wrote :

Fair enough. Then I'll mark this as a Wishlist bug; and I'd like to invite you to report it upstream by sending the bug to the developers of the software; which can be done by following the instructions at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Upstream/GNOME. If you have done so, please tell us the number of the upstream bug (or the link), so we can add a bugwatch that will inform us about its status. Thanks in advance.

Changed in network-manager-applet (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Confirmed
importance: Undecided → Wishlist
Revision history for this message
Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre (cyphermox) wrote :

Looking back at this, it because obvious why it's not being done that way. A wireless network with the same name and a different MAC (i.e. same ESSID(SSID) but different BSSID) is often an indication of a set of networks we can roam "through". If NM was to automatically add the BSSID, it would break roaming in all cases.

From this point, the checkbox, or using some sort of dropdown for the BSSIDs seen or in range to allow the user to select one and "lock" to just on AP makes sense; although if you expect to roam between same-name networks with a different password you'll see it takes more time than if the password was the same.

Regardless, please file the bug upstream so we can get input from the developers as how to best present this kind of UI change.

Revision history for this message
Javier Domingo (txomon) wrote :

Done, I think I put all the relevant information

https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=672501

Bug Watch Updater (bug-watch-updater)
Changed in network-manager-applet:
importance: Unknown → Wishlist
status: Unknown → New
Bug Watch Updater (bug-watch-updater)
Changed in network-manager-applet:
status: New → Confirmed
Bug Watch Updater (bug-watch-updater)
Changed in network-manager-applet:
status: Confirmed → In Progress
Bug Watch Updater (bug-watch-updater)
Changed in network-manager-applet:
status: In Progress → Fix Released
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