WiFi signal strength

[Venerdi]

Hi All,
I have another question.
At home I have a WiFi that has a Repeater.
The SSID name is the same, so when MoOde scans the available networks, it finds two SSIDs with the same name and I don't understand which one it connects to.
I have to use the same name for a problem with IPCam.
When MoOde scans, would it be possible to view the signal strength, as is normally the case on smartphones?
thx
v.

[Tim Curtis]

Your configuration is unique. Typically repeaters need to have a different SSID since they are not meant to support seamless roaming.

To modify the WiFi code in moOde there would need to be some sort of breakage or issue that had widespread effect or a major new feature that needed to be supported. Maybe investigate a WiFi system that supports roaming or alternatively an IPCam that doesn't have the "problem" you mentioned.

[Falco]

Hi All,
I have another question.
At home I have a WiFi that has a Repeater.
The SSID name is the same, so when MoOde scans the available networks, it finds two SSIDs with the same name and I don't understand which one it connects to.
I have to use the same name for a problem with IPCam.
When MoOde scans, would it be possible to view the signal strength, as is normally the case on smartphones?
thx
v.

Hi,
In addition to Tim's comment, which AP has the best wifi signal on the location of the MoOde device? I'm not clear on that based on your post.

If it's the main wifi (so not the repeater), you can just temporary shut down the repeater and let MoOde connect to main wifi AP. Afterwards when you turn on the repeater again it should stay connected to the main AP.

If your repeater has the best wifi signal it's a bit more tricky, will the repeater keep its current name when you change the SSID of the main AP? If so, you can temporary change SSID of the main AP, let MoOde connect to the repeater and then change back the main AP. 

Only thing I do not know is if MoOde checks for internet connection upon repeater wifi internet connection, as this will most likely be lost when you change the main wifi AP's SSID....

[TheOldPresbyope]

Hi All,
I have another question.
At home I have a WiFi that has a Repeater.
The SSID name is the same, so when MoOde scans the available networks, it finds two SSIDs with the same name and I don't understand which one it connects to.
I have to use the same name for a problem with IPCam.
When MoOde scans, would it be possible to view the signal strength, as is normally the case on smartphones?
thx
v.

I'm still at the starting gate, trying to understand why it matters to you.

As it happens, knowing the signal strength doesn't help you unless you do a fair amount of surgery to the moOde codebase.

moOde uses a program named wpa_supplicant to establish the WiFi connection and a program named iwlist to scan for available APs.

Whether one selects an SSID  from a list assembled by iwlist or enters a  SSID manually, wpa_supplicant is configured to scan (yes, scanning is done again) for *any and all* APs with that SSID, select one based on internal algorithms and connect to it.

Those internal algorithms can be influenced with various optional wpa_supplicant configuration parameters but none relate directly to signal strength. A possible alternative is to include BSSID (unique to each AP and usually the mac address).

The process to include signal strength might look something like

• using iwlist, create an array of (SSID, BSSID, signal strength) values from the APs detected in a scan
  
• present the user with a list of (SSID, signal strength) values
  
• based on the user selection, configure wpa_supplicant to connect to the AP with the chosen SSID and BSSID.
  

Since this situation doesn't apply to most users, make it optional or otherwise easy to grok.

Implementation would require modification of the existing backend code and the WebUI, not to mention would increase the documentation and maintenance burden.

Regards,
Kent

PS - Actually, if I were implementing this, I would be more interested in modifying the process to include frequency (band, actually) since, for example, my dual-band router has both a 2.4GHz AP and a 5GHz AP which I've configured with the same SSID. Currently my dual-band Pi3B+- and PI4B-based moOde 8.2.5 players associate with the 5GHz AP (based on wpa_supplicant's internal algorithms) which is what I desire. One could argue that I should be able to force connection with one or the other AP via the WebUI. However, assigning unique SSIDs to the APs, Nirvana and Nirvana-5, say, is so easy that I would do so if it mattered (although it would confuse my significant other...).

[Tim Curtis]

Hi All,
I have another question.
At home I have a WiFi that has a Repeater.
The SSID name is the same, so when MoOde scans the available networks, it finds two SSIDs with the same name and I don't understand which one it connects to.
I have to use the same name for a problem with IPCam.
When MoOde scans, would it be possible to view the signal strength, as is normally the case on smartphones?
thx
v.

I'm still at the starting gate, trying to understand why it matters to you.

As it happens, knowing the signal strength doesn't help you unless you do a fair amount of surgery to the moOde codebase.

moOde uses a program named wpa_supplicant to establish the WiFi connection and a program named iwlist to scan for available APs.

Whether one selects an SSID  from a list assembled by iwlist or enters a  SSID manually, wpa_supplicant is configured to scan (yes, scanning is done again) for *any and all* APs with that SSID, select one based on internal algorithms and connect to it.

Those internal algorithms can be influenced with various optional wpa_supplicant configuration parameters but none relate directly to signal strength. A possible alternative is to include BSSID (unique to each AP and usually the mac address).

The process to include signal strength might look something like

• using iwlist, create an array of (SSID, BSSID, signal strength) values from the APs detected in a scan
  
• present the user with a list of (SSID, signal strength) values
  
• based on the user selection, configure wpa_supplicant to connect to the AP with the chosen SSID and BSSID.
  

Since this situation doesn't apply to most users, make it optional or otherwise easy to grok.

Implementation would require modification of the existing backend code and the WebUI, not to mention would increase the documentation and maintenance burden.

Regards,
Kent

PS - Actually, if I were implementing this, I would be more interested in modifying the process to include frequency (band, actually) since, for example, my dual-band router has both a 2.4GHz AP and a 5GHz AP which I've configured with the same SSID. Currently my dual-band Pi3B+- and PI4B-based moOde 8.2.5 players associate with the 5GHz AP (based on wpa_supplicant's internal algorithms) which is what I desire. One could argue that I should be able to force connection with one or the other AP via the WebUI. However, assigning unique SSIDs to the APs, Nirvana and Nirvana-5, say, is so easy that I would do so if it mattered (although it would confuse my significant other...).

Actually, moOde code doesn't initiate the SSID association (connection), it's Linux that does all this before before and during moOde startup. Linux uses whatever is in the wpa_supplicant.conf file and AFAIK there is no provision to specify signal strength as a priority if there were multiple entries for the same SSID.

What noOde startup code does is check the wlan0 interface a number of times to see if it has an IP address assigned by Linux and if not then it determines whether or not to activate AP mode with or without Router mode.

[TheOldPresbyope]

For those of you following along at home, there's no discrepancy between the two previous posts.

Tim has chosen to emphasize how wpa_supplicant is started---as a Linux systemd service using /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf as its configuration file---while I chose to sketch what would have to be included in a modification of existing moOde code to create /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf in order to meet the OP's request.

Tim and I agree that there is no direct way to specify signal strength as a priority. I mapped out an indirect way to meet the objective by specifying both the SSID and the BSSID of a particular AP pre-identified as having the desired signal strength or frequency or somesuch (as it was at the time of the network scan, that is).

Since my first post, I've tested and confirmed usage of the bsssid= parameter in wpa_supplicant.conf with the wpa_supplicant incorporated in the moOde image.

Regards,
Kent

[Tim Curtis]

For those of you following along at home, there's no discrepancy between the two previous posts.

Tim has chosen to emphasize how wpa_supplicant is started---as a Linux systemd service using /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf as its configuration file---while I chose to sketch what would have to be included in a modification of existing moOde code to create  /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf in order to meet the OP's request.

Tim and I agree that there is no direct way to specify signal strength as a priority. I mapped out an indirect way to meet the objective by specifying both the SSID and the BSSID of a particular AP pre-identified as having the desired signal strength or frequency or somesuch (as it was at the time of the network scan, that is).

Since my first post, I've tested and confirmed usage of the bsssid= parameter in wpa_supplicant.conf with the wpa_supplicant incorporated in the moOde image.

Regards,
Kent

Indeed yes the iwlist output has the Address (BSSID) corresponding to the SSID and this prolly could be optionally listed in the SCAN output to help differentiate between multiple same SSID's.

I'll add to the TODO list but its an edge case so priority could be an issue.

[Venerdi]

Hi,
I see that since my original question things have moved forward, even beyond my ability to understand. I'm just a very enthusiastic user of Tim's work.
I will try to explain in more detail the reason for my request.
I use a WiFi signal from an AVM-Fritz! 1260E which is in the center of my house. I had the need to buy a repeater, an AVM-Fritz! 1200AX, to increase the signal strength in some more distant points (especially for my TV and some IPCams). The Raspberry Pi4 (with MoOde) is much closer to the repeater.
The repeater has automatically joined the pre-existing network, and acquired the same SSID and same password.
When MoOde, after the scan, lets me choose the SSID to connect to, I see two SSIDs (same name) at 2.4Mgz and two other SSIDs (same name) at 5Mgz.
Basically, I see two pairs of SSIDs with the exact same name, so since there is no signal strength indicator next to the SSID name, I could actually choose the one with the weakest signal as well.
The point is that all the devices I have at home, smartphones, tablets, IPCams… also see two pairs of SSIDs, but they automatically switch to the strongest signal source, or in any case indicate the strength of each SSID.
I seem to have understood that it is a "heavy" feature to do (maybe it's only useful for me ), so, it doesn't matter, I'll manage...
…and sorry for my english…  
v.

[DRONE7]

A passing thought,  There is an option in the Fritz menu>Home Networking>device Name to change the name of each Fritz device to make them more easily identified in the network.

I don't believe this would affect the mesh SSID being the same but may allow you to use Fing on your android device to identify the repeater vs the master ?

Then, knowing the source devices and knowing the stronger signal (from info on other devices) you could choose the SSID that applies. ?

note--- that there may be breakage to other already setups and you may have to reconfigure them. See the warning in the Fritz Menu when changing device names.

[Falco]

Hi,
I see that since my original question things have moved forward, even beyond my ability to understand. I'm just a very enthusiastic user of Tim's work.
I will try to explain in more detail the reason for my request.
I use a WiFi signal from an AVM-Fritz! 1260E which is in the center of my house. I had the need to buy a repeater, an AVM-Fritz! 1200AX, to increase the signal strength in some more distant points (especially for my TV and some IPCams). The Raspberry Pi4 (with MoOde) is much closer to the repeater.
The repeater has automatically joined the pre-existing network, and acquired the same SSID and same password.
When MoOde, after the scan, lets me choose the SSID to connect to, I see two SSIDs (same name) at 2.4Mgz and two other SSIDs (same name) at 5Mgz.
Basically, I see two pairs of SSIDs with the exact same name, so since there is no signal strength indicator next to the SSID name, I could actually choose the one with the weakest signal as well.
The point is that all the devices I have at home, smartphones, tablets, IPCams… also see two pairs of SSIDs, but they automatically switch to the strongest signal source, or in any case indicate the strength of each SSID.
I seem to have understood that it is a "heavy" feature to do (maybe it's only useful for me ), so, it doesn't matter, I'll manage...
…and sorry for my english…  
v.

Hi, i looked up the 1260E but that's a power line adapter? So there's another main router somewhere?
https://en.avm.de/products/mesh-wi-fi/fr...-wlan-set/

Can you activate the mesh functionality on it? As you should only see one network then, and when you connect with it should automatically be the strongest signal.

And just another thought, when you connect MoOde in the current setup, do you actually suffer from poor connection issues?