bgscan? Can I scan while not connected to a network?

[Jouni Malinen]

On Tue, Mar 13, 2012 at 05:37:26PM +0000, Ed W wrote:
> Aha - one thing which seems perhaps non obvious is that at least with 
> ap_scan=1, there is no background scan if you have no networks at all 
> configured... I'm working on an automated setup script so it seemed 
> obvious to start with an empty config, but that was actually holding 
> things back...

bgscan is used only for background scanning while connected and only for
the purpose of roaming within the network. If you want to get an update
set of scan results when wpa_supplicant is not trying to connect to any
network (e.g., no networks configured or enabled), you will need to
request a scan separately.

> So that answers the question about background scanning when no networks 
> match.  However, same question as before about sensible config for the 
> simple and learn bgscan params?  Using latest git wpa_supplicant

bgscan_simple takes following parameters now:
    short interval:signal strength threshold:long interval
    For example:
        bgscan="simple:30:-45:300"

bgscan_learn uses same set of parameters. The bgscan variable itself is
set within the network block.

-- 
Jouni Malinen                                            PGP id EFC895FA