[Berlin-wireless] mac80211 (ath9k, ath5k, etc.) set BSSID Patch

[Alina Friedrichsen]

Hi Jouni!

> But it _does_ break interoperability with standard compliant IBSS
> implementations if the forced BSSID means that the STA does not merge
> with another part of the IBSS when this should happen by the STA
> changing its BSSID to match with the other part.

But in the practice this is not a bug, it's an optional feature and you can mix nodes with fixed BSSID and nodes without, so that the backbone nodes (routers) force the rather client nodes (e.g. notebooks) to use this BSSID, so that the mesh network don't break into many pieces. That was happen many times before we use a fixed BSSID.

You don't need to use it, if you don't want it, but we must use it, or it will not work.

> Agreed, but we should not claim that the behavior with hardcoded BSSID
> would be standard IBSS.

It's a little modified IBSS, that allow you to build bigger networks. Not a huge change, that is completely incompatible with the standard.

> It is something different and we should not
> confuse users by calling it the same. I would have nothing against
> this type of optional feature if it were called something else than IBSS
> (or "adhoc" which iwconfig uses for IBSS).

I can call it Moonchild [0], if you want. ;)
I don't care on the name of it.

> If that fix is separate from the change that introduces hardcoding of
> the BSSID, it would be better to bring that in as a separate patch.

I don't introduce setting of a fixed BSSID with this patch, I only fix some bugs of the current implementation.

Regards
Alina

[0] The Neverending Story
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