Unable to Connect to Open Network

Tue Jun 21 13:26:34 PDT 2022

I've been able to reproduce the problem locally.

The difference between an open AP that I can associate to and one I cannot 
is:

associates:
wpa_driver_bsd_associate: ssid 'KQNGN3' wpa ie len 0 pairwise 1 group 1 key 
mgmt 4

Does not associate:
wpa_driver_bsd_associate: ssid 'Golden_Pond' wpa ie len 13 pairwise 1 group 
1 key mgmt 4

The Information Element appears to cause it to use WPA on an open network.

-- 
Cheers,
Cy Schubert <Cy.Schubert at cschubert.com>
FreeBSD UNIX:  <cy at FreeBSD.org>   Web:  http://www.FreeBSD.org
NTP:           <cy at nwtime.org>    Web:  https://nwtime.org

			e**(i*pi)+1=0

Cy Schubert writes:
> I have a user with AR9285 who was able to associate with and use an open netw
> ork
> (WHU-STU in the list below).
>
> % ifconfig wlan0 scan
> SSID/MESH ID                      BSSID              CHAN RATE    S:N     INT
>  CAPS
> WHU-STU                           70:d9:31:0e:5e:20    1   54M  -81:-96   300
>  ES   HTCAP WME ATH
> CU_3n2r                           80:ee:25:a7:af:c8    6   54M  -93:-96   100
>  EP   RSN WPS HTCAP WME BSSLOAD
> HUAWEI-4QGNEY                     5c:03:39:dd:2e:7c   11   54M  -87:-96   100
>  EPS  HTCAP WME ATH WPS RSN
> WHU-STU                           70:d9:31:03:06:40   13   54M  -92:-96   300
>  ES   HTCAP WME ATH
> WHU-STU                           70:d9:31:03:19:e0   13   54M  -93:-96   300
>  ES   HTCAP WME ATH
> Xiaomi_102                        50:d2:f5:87:7a:5a    2   54M  -91:-96   100
>  EP   APCHANREP APCHANREP WPA RSN WPS HTCAP WME BSSLOAD
> ChinaNet-r6xR                     ec:f0:fe:71:ea:53    3   54M  -93:-96   100
>  EPS  WPA RSN HTCAP WME BSSLOAD
> ChinaNet-wqSx                     6c:d2:ba:94:73:d3    4   54M  -93:-96   100
>  EPS  WPA RSN HTCAP WME BSSLOAD
> WHU-STU                           fc:b6:98:f5:cc:00    5   54M  -85:-96   300
>  ES   HTCAP WME ATH
> WHU-STU                           70:d9:31:0e:2c:00    5   54M  -73:-96   300
>  ES   HTCAP WME ATH   # <-------- the one supposed to work
> WHU-STU                           70:d9:31:0e:19:20    5   54M  -86:-96   300
>  ES   HTCAP WME ATH
> WHU-STU                           fc:b6:98:f6:01:a0    5   54M  -88:-96   300
>  ES   HTCAP WME ATH
> WHU-STU                           70:d9:31:0e:1b:e0    5   54M  -94:-96   300
>  ES   HTCAP WME ATH
> CMCC-UKg3                         14:ad:ca:ce:ea:fe    8   54M  -94:-96   100
>  EPS  APCHANREP APCHANREP WPA RSN HTCAP WME BSSLOAD
> WHU-STU                           fc:b6:98:f6:0a:20    9   54M  -81:-95   300
>  ES   HTCAP WME ATH
> WHU-STU                           70:d9:31:12:9b:80    9   54M  -85:-95   300
>  ES   HTCAP WME ATH
> WHU-STU                           fc:b6:98:f5:cc:80    9   54M  -85:-95   300
>  ES   HTCAP WME ATH
> WHU-STU                           fc:b6:98:f6:22:80    9   54M  -92:-95   300
>  ES   HTCAP WME ATH
>
> When using wpa_supplicant 2.9 they are able to associate and dhclient is able
>  to
> obtain an IP address:
>
> wlan0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
>         ether 1c:4b:d6:ca:3e:ac
>         inet 10.134.135.167/17 broadcast 10.134.255.255
>         groups: wlan
>         ssid WHU-STU channel 13 (2472 MHz 11g ht/20) bssid fc:b6:98:f6:12:80
>         regdomain 96 indoor ecm authmode OPEN privacy OFF txpower 20 bmiss 7
>         scanvalid 60 protmode CTS ampdulimit 64k shortgi -stbctx stbcrx -ldpc
>         -uapsd wme burst roaming MANUAL bintval 300
>         parent interface: ath0
>         media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet MCS mode 11ng
>         status: associated
>         nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
>
> However using wpa_supplicant 2.10 they associate 50% of the time but 100% of 
> the
> time are unable to communicate with the AP:
>
> wlan0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500  
>    
>         ether 1c:4b:d6:ca:3e:ac                                              
>    
>         inet 0.0.0.0 netmask 0xff000000 broadcast 255.255.255.255            
>    
>         groups: wlan                          
>         ssid WHU-STU channel 5 (2432 MHz 11g ht/20) bssid 70:d9:31:0e:2c:00  
>    
>         regdomain 96 indoor ecm authmode WPA privacy MIXED deftxkey UNDEF    
>    
>         txpower 20 bmiss 7 scanvalid 60 protmode CTS ampdulimit 64k shortgi  
>    
>         -stbctx stbcrx -ldpc -uapsd wme burst roaming MANUAL bintval 300     
>    
>         parent interface: ath0                
>         media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet DS/1Mbps mode 11ng              
>    
>         status: associated                    
>         nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
>
>
> Wpa_supplicant 2.10 configures the device with:
> 	authmode WPA privacy MIXED deftxkey UNDEF
>
> While with wpa_supplicant 2.9 the following are correctly set:
> 	authmode OPEN privacy OFF
>
> It appears that wpa_supplicant has configured WPA even though the following a
> re in wpa_supplicant.conf.
>
> network={                                                                    
>                                                                              
>                                  
>  ssid="WHU-STU"                                                              
>                                                                              
>                                 
>  key_mgmt=NONE                                                               
>                                                                              
>                                  
> }
>
> The same drivers are in use.
>
> What am I missing? Or is there something else going on?
>
>
> -- 
> Cheers,
> Cy Schubert <Cy.Schubert at cschubert.com>
> FreeBSD UNIX:  <cy at FreeBSD.org>   Web:  http://www.FreeBSD.org
> NTP:           <cy at nwtime.org>    Web:  https://nwtime.org
>
> 			e**(i*pi)+1=0
>