# FreeBSD suddenly cannot see my WiFi hotspot



## mrjayviper (Dec 2, 2020)

I updated my WiFi hotspot firmware recently and FreeBSD PC cannot see it anymore.

*some info/things I've tried:*

- ifconfig wlan0 list scan (doesn't show anything)
- ifconfig wlan0 up list scan (doesn't show anything)
- Booted from a USB installer and tried to see if somehow my configuration got messed up. Still cannot see the hotspot. I've reinstalled FreeBSD the last 4 days and it was always able to connect to my hotspot before the firmware upgrade.
- When I booted using the FreeBSD installer, I changed the WiFi thingy from FCC/US to ROW/my-country and it doesn't make a difference. using FCC/US was not an issue previously.
- When booting from the USB installer, I can see the other hotspots in the neighborhood. just not mine.
- I checked my other devices (MBPs, iPhones, iPads, Windows PCs and a PC running Ubuntu server) and no issue with connecting to my hotspot.
- I am only running FreeBSD console. No X here.
- I have a crossover cable connected to an Ubuntu server PC and no network problems between the two.
- MAC filtering is disabled on the hotspot.
- using Intel wireless AC which I believe uses the iwn driver
- *I just booted from an Ubuntu USB installer and I have no problems connecting to my hotspot and browsing Youtube via Firefox.*

Any ideas on how to fix? Thanks
----


```
➜  sudo cat /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf (This is wpa_supplicant.conf that was generated by the installer.)
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
eapol_version=2
ap_scan=1
fast_reauth=1

network={
        ssid="myhotspot"
        scan_ssid=0
        psk="mypassword"
        priority=5
}
network={
        priority=0
        key_mgmt=NONE
}

➜  ifconfig wlan0 (a few hours ago it wasn't connecting to anything. but I guess the card is now trying to connect to my neighbor's hotspot.)

wlan0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        ether 34:13:e8:63:3d:cd
        groups: wlan
        ssid "Fon WiFi" channel 10 (2457 MHz 11g) bssid da:d7:75:52:a5:11
        regdomain FCC country US authmode OPEN privacy OFF txpower 30
        bmiss 10 scanvalid 60 protmode CTS wme roaming MANUAL
        parent interface: iwm0
        media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet OFDM/24Mbps mode 11g
        status: associated
        nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>

➜  kldstat
Id Refs Address                Size Name
1   38 0xffffffff80200000  227ad00 kernel
2    1 0xffffffff8247b000    27ce8 fuse.ko
3    1 0xffffffff824a3000   3bad38 zfs.ko
4    2 0xffffffff8285e000     a448 opensolaris.ko
5    1 0xffffffff82e11000    16bf0 if_iwm.ko
6    1 0xffffffff82e28000     2698 intpm.ko
7    1 0xffffffff82e2b000      b40 smbus.ko
8    1 0xffffffff82e2c000   1ba77f iwm8265fw.ko
9    1 0xffffffff82fe7000     1860 uhid.ko
10    1 0xffffffff82fe9000     2908 ums.ko
11    1 0xffffffff82fec000     1a40 wmt.ko
12    1 0xffffffff82fee000      acf mac_ntpd.ko

➜  ifconfig wlan0 list scan (the hotspots around me started showing up several hours after my initial post)
SSID/MESH ID                      BSSID              CHAN RATE    S:N     INT CAPS
neighborspot1                       da:d7:75:52:a5:10   10   54M  -71:-96   100 E    BSSLOAD HTCAP WME
Fon WiFi                          da:d7:75:52:a5:11   10   54M  -71:-96   100 E    BSSLOAD HTCAP WME
neighborspot2                     d8:d7:75:52:a5:13   10   54M  -70:-96   100 EP   RSN BSSLOAD HTCAP WPS WME
```


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## George (Dec 2, 2020)

What's in `ifconfig wlan0`?


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## SirDice (Dec 2, 2020)

mrjayviper said:


> I updated my WiFi hotspot firmware recently and FreeBSD cannot see it anymore.


Do other devices still detect it? After a firmware update always recheck your settings. Make sure it's not something obvious that was changed with the new firmware (read the changelog). 



mrjayviper said:


> - ifconfig wlan0 list scan (doesn't show anything)
> - ifconfig wlan0 up list scan (doesn't show anything)


Which wireless card do you have and what driver is being used?


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## mrjayviper (Dec 2, 2020)

Elazar said:


> What's in `ifconfig wlan0`?



Please see edited post. Thank you.


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## mrjayviper (Dec 2, 2020)

SirDice said:


> Do other devices still detect it? After a firmware update always recheck your settings. Make sure it's not something obvious that was changed with the new firmware (read the changelog).
> 
> 
> Which wireless card do you have and what driver is being used?


Please see edited post. Thanks


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## jredd (Dec 2, 2020)

i've not yet used wpa_supplicant in freebsd.

try including key type and priority for the ssid :  

`scan_ssid=1
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK`

i suppose it works again after wpa_supplicant reconnects?

`pkill -HUP wpa_supplicant``

does the bssid (mac) for ap show up here ?
wpa_cli status/list_networks


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## mrjayviper (Dec 2, 2020)

jredd said:


> i've not yet used wpa_supplicant in freebsd.
> 
> try including key type and priority for the ssid :
> 
> ...


I made your suggested changes and still cannot connect. This is what I saw in /var/log/messages


```
Dec  2 12:00:24 mypc kernel: in6_purgeaddr: err=65, destination address delete failed
Dec  2 12:00:24 mypc kernel: lo0: link state changed to DOWN
Dec  2 12:00:24 mypc wpa_supplicant[57573]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-TERMINATING Dec  2 12:00:24 mypc kernel: wlan0: Ethernet address: 34:13:e8:63:3d:cd
Dec  2 12:00:24 mypc kernel: lo0: link state changed to UP
Dec  2 12:00:24 mypc kernel: re0: link state changed to DOWN
Dec  2 12:00:24 mypc wpa_supplicant[59663]: Successfully initialized wpa_supplicant
Dec  2 12:00:24 mypc wpa_supplicant[59663]: ioctl[SIOCS80211, op=20, val=0, arg_len=7]: Invalid argument
Dec  2 12:00:24 mypc syslogd: last message repeated 1 times
Dec  2 12:00:27 mypc kernel: re0: link state changed to UP
Dec  2 12:00:28 mypc ntpd[23430]: error resolving pool 0.freebsd.pool.ntp.org: Name does not resolve (8)
```


```
root@mypc:~ # wpa_cli status
Selected interface 'wlan0'
wpa_state=SCANNING
address=34:13:e8:63:3d:cd
uuid=cfc16fee-3c87-5671-992d-b1bad0434323

root@mypc:~ # wpa_cli list_networks
Selected interface 'wlan0'
network id / ssid / bssid / flags
0       myhotspot       any
1               any

root@mypc:~ # ifconfig wlan0 list scan
root@mypc:~ #
```


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## a6h (Dec 2, 2020)

By any chance, does this hotspot device have a name? And please don't edit your first post (and adding the "see edited post"). Doing that makes it difficult to keep track of troubleshooting procedure. Thanks.


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## mrjayviper (Dec 3, 2020)

not


vigole said:


> By any chance, does this hotspot device have a name? And please don't edit your first post (and adding the "see edited post"). Doing that makes it difficult to keep track of troubleshooting procedure. Thanks.


not sure why the name (or do you mean SSID?) is important in this situation.

In any case, I booted from an Ubuntu USB installer and I have no problems connecting to my hotspot and browsing Youtube via Firefox.


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## jredd (Dec 3, 2020)

sounds like it could be driver or hardware config if it is scanning slowly and deauthing.
i don't see why region config would impact anything. however i do recall fcc-us limit for tx power was 20 dbm and youre at 30!

It just seems like wpa_supplicant needs reauth. perhaps reassoc would do that.

# *wlandebug -i wlan0 +scan+auth+debug+assoc*
  net.wlan.0.debug: 0 => 0xc80000<assoc,auth,scan>

# service netif restart


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## George (Dec 3, 2020)

There are quite a few bug reports on iwm. Maybe take a quick look?





__





						Bug List
					






					bugs.freebsd.org
				




E.g. PR 247625 (Intel 7260 (iwm) will not connect to access point), PR 240776 ( iwm: Can't find wifi networks after short time since network restart), PR 234584 mentions an iwmfw module, PR 237711 (iwm lacks n and ac support).

It might be useful to identify the card, e.g. via `usbconfig`, or `pciconf -lv`


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