hostapd issues and questions

[Sergio M. Ammirata]

I am using hostapd with latest cvs code. I start it with "hostapd
/etc/hostapd.conf" in daemon mode after I initialize the kernel modules.

1) Changing the mac address of the wlan0 interface using ifconfig breaks
routing (you can link but the tcp/ip layer does not work).
This happens only with hostapd enabled.
I also noticed that it is firmware dependent. It works with 1.4.9.
The strange thing is that firmware 1.3.6 works if hostapd is not used.

2) Without hostapd there is wlan0 and wlan0wdsx. Now we have wlan0ap and
wlan0sta as well.
How are we supposed to setup Ethernet bridging now? Do we include all
three in the bridge (wlan0, wlan0ap and wlan0sta)?

3) Has the functionality of wlan0wdsx changed? When and why would I use
wlan0sta?

4) With hostapd active iwspy no longer reports any info on wds
neighbors. How can I found out the strength of the links?

Thanks in advance,

Sergio