Return-path: Received: from cp-out3.libero.it ([212.52.84.103]:36852 "EHLO cp-out3.libero.it" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1751585AbYKXJfo (ORCPT ); Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:35:44 -0500 Message-ID: <5135663.819601227519341762.JavaMail.defaultUser@defaultHost> (sfid-20081124_103548_355823_3CB4270C) Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:35:41 +0100 (CET) From: "rossi.f@inwind.it" Reply-To: "rossi.f@inwind.it" To: , Subject: Re: ath5k: problems during the connection to a sitecom AP Cc: Bob Copeland MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain;charset="UTF-8" Sender: linux-wireless-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: >> When I do a scan after having loaded the driver, the iwlist >> can't report the SSID because it's hidden. I don't know if >> this is a problem but I have noticed that the reported SSIDs >> of the two APs are a little bit different. With the 3com AP >> (the working one) I get ESSID:" " (1 char blank string) while >> with the Sitecom AP ESSID:"" (0 chars empty string). > >Okay, that could very well be the problem. > >Side node: it doesn't buy you anything to "hide" the SSID of an >AP. Actually, you can't really hide. The hidden bit only makes >the AP lie about the SSID in it's beacons, but for other 802.11 >WLAN protocol messages (like Association Request, Assoc Resp) >the SSID has to be send in cleartext anyway. > >So turn of this stupid thingy. This also makes your roaming >slightly faster and use slightly less battery (because the >client doesn't need to probe the AP if it has the right, >expected, SSID. The client knows in an instant that this is the >case). Yes, I know that the hidden SSID technique doesn't have to be used for security purposes. I might activate the transmission of the SSID on my AP but this doesn't solve the problem in the mac80211 framework regarding the empty SSIDs (if this is really the bug). The problem is that the ieee80211_direct_probe() function is never called during the associating request via iwconfig. Regards, Fabio