How wpa_suppicant handles mesh networks with multiple BSSIDs per SSID

[Jouni Malinen]

On Thu, Nov 30, 2023 at 10:15:43PM -0800, Chris Cortopassi wrote:
> When scan_results returns multiple rows with the same SSID but
> different BSSIDs, how does wpa_supplicant select which BSSID to connect
> to?
> 
> Does it choose the strongest signal level?
> 
> Does it iterate through each BSSID until one succeeds?
> 
> Is there any way to control this process?

All that depends on what type of driver is used.. Some drivers take care
of BSS selection internally and wpa_supplicant does not really get
involved with that. Other drivers allow some input from wpa_supplicant
or fully leave this to wpa_supplicant control.

When wpa_supplicant selects a suitable BSS to connect to, it estimates
possible throughput through each viable option and picks the one with
the highest estimated throughput. This can also be fine-tuned based on
available security level. Failed connection attempts results in
temporary blocking of a BSS and this results in iteration over other
possible options.

There might be some driver-specific configuration options for some
drivers to control some details of the process. For wpa_supplicant,
there are some configuration parameters like bssid that do have an
impact to this, but most of the changes would likely need source code
modification.


-- 
Jouni Malinen                                            PGP id EFC895FA