On Fri, Mar 24, 2006 at 12:28:45PM -0800, Jouni Malinen wrote:
>
> > But, before going into deep technical discussions, we may want
> > to remind us what is the goal of this API. The goal is to present the
> > user a list of potential networks that can be used by him, in the case
> > he doesn't want to associate with a specific network. Not all
> > associations need it, it's a convenience feature for finding open
> > networks.
>
> It is also convenient for figuring out security policy for closed
> networks..
>
> > The network that don't send beacon do so to cloak themselves,
>
> Or to support multiple SSIDs with radios that cannot use multiple
> BSSIDs..
>
> > If the user know about this network via other means, he can
> > still associate with it by entering manually the ESSID.
>
> This would work if there is only one hidden SSID. However, if there are
> more than one, it may be useful to be able to scan (without associating)
> multiple SSIDs.
I fully agree with all your points. However, I would still
argue that for the vast majority users, there is just two cases :
1) They want to associate to a *specific* network, and most
likely have all the config for it (ESSID, keys, ...).
2) They are looking for any open network.
We can provide more than this basic functionality. However,
I'm worried about the cost/benefit tradeof. At some point, it's
probably better to ask user to use kismet rather than bloat the
drivers.
> > The only thing debatable is about the current associated
> > network, in case it's cloaked. This network has already been
> > discovered (we are associated with it), therefore the user does not
> > really require to see it in scan results, however it would be nice for
> > completness.
>
> Maybe not in scan results, but the same parameters have to be available
> for WPA supplicant and fetching them from scan results is one convenient
> mechanism. In other words, proper WPA/WPA2 validation of WPA/RSN IEs
> requires that the Beacon/ProbeResp IEs are available for the current AP.
Very good point.
> Jouni Malinen
Jean
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