802.11r Fast Transition how to understand that FT works?

Installing and Using OpenWrt
36

Just documenting here, that I got the 802.11r functioning after I increased the reassociation_deadline to 20000 (from the default of 1000), based on advice from the discussions at

My Android 11 tablet roamed between

  • ipq806x/R7800 with ath10k-ct wifi in 802.11ac mode (VHT160)
  • mt7622/RT3200 with mt76 wifi in 802.11ax mode (HE80)

(So the even AC/AX mode difference does not hurt...)

I changed from my normal WPA2/WPA3 mode to the plain WPA2, as some advice suggested that 802.11r does not play well with the WPA2/WPA3 mixed mode.

Using that "Signal mapper" screen from Ubiquiti's Wifiman app helped a lot to notice the roaming actions.

Settings that worked for me:

        option log_level '1'

        option encryption 'psk2'
        option ieee80211r '1'
        option mobility_domain '2222'
        option reassociation_deadline '20000'
        option ft_over_ds '0'
        option ft_psk_generate_local '1'

daemon.debug hostapd: wlan0: STA e0:...:30 WPA: FT authentication already completed - do not start 4-way handshake

Details:

R7800 settings 
config wifi-device 'radio0'
        option type 'mac80211'
        option hwmode '11a'
        option path 'soc/1b500000.pci/pci0000:00/0000:00:00.0/0000:01:00.0'
        option country 'FI'
        option log_level '1'
        option cell_density '0'
        option txpower '21'
        option channel '100'
        option htmode 'VHT160'
        option disabled '0'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
        option device 'radio0'
        option network 'lan'
        option mode 'ap'
        option ssid 'xxxxxxxx'
        option key 'xxxxxxxx'
        option wpa_group_rekey '13600'
        option ieee80211w '1'
        option encryption 'psk2'
        option ieee80211r '1'
        option mobility_domain '2222'
        option reassociation_deadline '20000'
        option ft_over_ds '0'
        option ft_psk_generate_local '1'
RT3200 settings 
config wifi-device 'radio1'
        option type 'mac80211'
        option path '1a143000.pcie/pci0000:00/0000:00:00.0/0000:01:00.0'
        option band '5g'
        option cell_density '0'
        option country 'FI'
        option htmode 'HE80'
        option channel '44'
        option log_level '1'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio1'
        option device 'radio1'
        option network 'lan'
        option mode 'ap'
        option key 'xxxxxxxxx'
        option ieee80211w '1'
        option ssid 'xxxxxxxx'
        option encryption 'psk2'
        option ieee80211r '1'
        option mobility_domain '2222'
        option reassociation_deadline '20000'
        option ft_over_ds '0'
        option ft_psk_generate_local '1'
Log extracts 
RT3200:

root@router4:/etc/config# logread -f
Sat Nov  6 15:41:18 2021 daemon.err hostapd: nl80211: kernel reports: key addition failed
Sat Nov  6 15:41:18 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan1: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 IEEE 802.11: binding station to interface 'wlan1'
Sat Nov  6 15:41:18 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan1: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 IEEE 802.11: authentication OK (FT)
Sat Nov  6 15:41:18 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan1: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 MLME: MLME-AUTHENTICATE.indication(e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30, FT)
Sat Nov  6 15:41:18 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan1: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 IEEE 802.11: association OK (aid 1)
Sat Nov  6 15:41:18 2021 daemon.info hostapd: wlan1: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 IEEE 802.11: associated (aid 1)
Sat Nov  6 15:41:18 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan1: AP-STA-CONNECTED e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30
Sat Nov  6 15:41:18 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan1: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 MLME: MLME-REASSOCIATE.indication(e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30)
Sat Nov  6 15:41:18 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan1: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 IEEE 802.11: binding station to interface 'wlan1'
Sat Nov  6 15:41:18 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan1: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 WPA: event 6 notification
Sat Nov  6 15:41:18 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan1: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 WPA: FT authentication already completed - do not start 4-way handshake

R7800:

root@router1:/etc/config# logread -f
Sat Nov  6 15:41:42 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0: AP-STA-DISCONNECTED e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30
Sat Nov  6 15:41:42 2021 daemon.err hostapd: nl80211: kernel reports: key addition failed
Sat Nov  6 15:41:42 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan0: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 IEEE 802.11: binding station to interface 'wlan0'
Sat Nov  6 15:41:42 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan0: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 IEEE 802.11: authentication OK (FT)
Sat Nov  6 15:41:42 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan0: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 MLME: MLME-AUTHENTICATE.indication(e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30, FT)
Sat Nov  6 15:41:42 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan0: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 IEEE 802.11: association OK (aid 2)
Sat Nov  6 15:41:42 2021 daemon.info hostapd: wlan0: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 IEEE 802.11: associated (aid 2)
Sat Nov  6 15:41:42 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0: AP-STA-CONNECTED e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30
Sat Nov  6 15:41:42 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan0: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 MLME: MLME-REASSOCIATE.indication(e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30)
Sat Nov  6 15:41:42 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan0: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 IEEE 802.11: binding station to interface 'wlan0'
Sat Nov  6 15:41:42 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan0: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 WPA: event 6 notification
Sat Nov  6 15:41:42 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan0: STA e0:c3:77:ae:0a:30 WPA: FT authentication already completed - do not start 4-way handshake
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