Specifying a precedence order for wireless AP stations in rc.conf?

[M. Warner Losh]

In message: <k2x7d6fde3d1004232154r9ea2ab19g81cbc1d72ddcf375 at mail.gmail.com>
            Garrett Cooper <yanefbsd at gmail.com> writes:
: On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 7:59 PM, M. Warner Losh <imp at bsdimp.com> wrote:
: > In message: <v2s7d6fde3d1004231916v13c03615j6e4cbd4e487779c2 at mail.gmail.com>
: >            Garrett Cooper <yanefbsd at gmail.com> writes:
: > : Hi rc folks,
: > :     I use my Lenovo laptop at work and at home and it's kind of
: > : annoying to have to do into rc.conf every time I go to work or go home
: > : to comment out lines choosing an appropriate network for
: > : ifconfig_wlan0 in rc.conf(5) to connect to the appropriate wireless
: > : network. So I figured that I'm probably doing something wrong so I
: > : should ask.
: > :     The documentation for ifconfig_wlan* in the handbook [1] and the
: > : rc.conf(5) manpage [2] for 8-STABLE don't suggest that connectivity
: > : for multiple networks can be performed whereas multiple networks can
: > : be specified in wpa_supplicant.conf. Is it at all possible to provide
: > : a precedence list for what SSID networks to attempt to configure via
: > : wpa_supplicant(8) by default, or are further enhancements required in
: > : either wpa_supplicant(8) or rc.network to get this to function?
: > : Thanks,
: > : -Garrett
: > :
: > : 1. http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/network-wireless.html
: > : 2. http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=rc.conf&sektion=5
: >
: > wpa_supplicant will allow you to set the order of SSIDs that it
: > associates with.  It is the order they are in in the
: > wpa_supplicant.conf file.
: 
: Ok... I worded the question poorly.
: 
: If I do:
: 
:     ifconfig_wlan0="WPA DHCP"
: 
: then stuff doesn't work at work. If I do:
: 
:     ifconfig_wlan0="WPA ssid <base-station-id1> DHCP"
: 
: with the way I have wpa_supplicant.conf setup, things work. Otherwise
: it ifconfig and the driver act dumb and try and associate a bunch of
: times, and eventually fail.

Then you need to fix your driver, because that shouldn't be
necessary.  Seriously...

: Conversely, if I do:
: 
:     ifconfig_wlan0="ssid <base-station-id2> DHCP"
: 
: at home, things work. Otherwise, same old song and dance occurs when
: it attempts to associate with an open AP in the neighborhood that
: isn't in the house.
: 
: So, this may ultimately be a driver problem with how it selects APs,
: but because I know that <base-station-id1> and <base-station-id2> are
: `trusted' networks that I'm going to attach the laptop to on a regular
: basis, I'd rather it try and connect to those SSIDs and fail if
: they're not present, instead of just trying a pool of whacky SSIDs
: (which those SSIDs may be a part of) instead and failing hard.

You can just put those two into your wpa_supplicant.conf file, and
remove the wacky ones just as you go.

Alternatively, you can "help" things along by using wpa_cli to select
the SSID you want to connect to.

Warner