Google Pixel 6 cannot handle multiple SSIDs per channel?

Installing and Using OpenWrt Network and Wireless Configuration
1

I recently installed OpenWrt 22.03.0 on Ubiquiti UniFi 6 LR and started setting it up. Now I'm trying to set up two SSIDs on the 2.4GHz side (let's call them SSID A, B) and one SSID on 5GHz side (SSID C).

One issue I have been struggling with is that my phone (Google Pixel 6) fails to discover or even recognize one of them. It simply does not show up in a list of access points. Tried to manually enter an invisible SSID to connect but it did not work, as if such SSID never existed at all. Other devices, like macOS and iOS devices and my other OpenWrt installation on Linksys WRT1200AC, recognize all SSIDs and connect to them without any problem.

On Pixel 6, I launched analiti, a wireless analyzer app on Android. It does not show an invisible SSID either. analiti shows hidden SSID as "hidden network" but the SSID in trouble is not found in that bucket. I did not hide any SSID to begin with.

After several attempts, there seems to be a super bizarre pattern. Let's say my Pixel does not see SSID B, the second one on the 2.4GHz side. And A and C are visible. From there, if I:

  • restart 5GHz device -> B shows up on Pixel, but C (5GHz) disappears
  • then restart 2.4GHz device -> C shows up again, but B disappears again too.

Since it's specific to Pixel 6 so far, Pixel could be to blame and there could be nothing to do with OpenWrt. However, I would like to see if anybody has a knowledge or suggestion on how to approach this.

My /etc/config/wireless looks like this.

config wifi-device 'radio0'
	option type 'mac80211'
	option path 'platform/18000000.wmac'
	option band '2g'
	option htmode 'HT20'
	option channel 'auto'
	option cell_density '0'
	option country 'US'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
	option device 'radio0'
	option network 'lan'
	option mode 'ap'
	option ssid 'SSID-A'
	option encryption 'psk2'
	option key 'AAAAA'

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 htmode 'HE80'
	option cell_density '0'
	option channel 'auto'
	option country 'US'

config wifi-iface 'wifinet1'
	option device 'radio0'
	option mode 'ap'
	option ssid 'SSID-B'
	option encryption 'psk2'
	option key 'BBBBB'
	option network 'vpnlan'

config wifi-iface 'wifinet3'
	option device 'radio1'
	option mode 'ap'
	option ssid 'SSID-C'
	option encryption 'psk2'
	option key 'CCCCC'
	option network 'lan'

Thank you in advance!

2

It's certainly not a Pixel issue in general. I recently upgraded from a Pixel 3a to a Pixel 6a and both devices never had an issue seeing my multiple SSIDs (I have 3 SSIDs on both bands each and then I have a second access point that broadcasts the same SSIDs on both bands as well, but on different channels). The only phenomenon I can observe, is that it sometimes takes a while (say, 10-30s) for my phone to see my main SSID while it already lists the other SSIDs. But I also see that behaviour on my laptop, so it's not an Android or Pixel issue.

Now, back to your issue at hand. The only thing that comes to my mind and that you could try is to disable the throttling of the wifi search. It's a setting in the developer options (which you have to unlock first, to be able to see them). I don't know if the term is correct, since I just translated it from my mother tongue. But the description of the setting says it's meant to enhance your battery life while reducing the wifi scan speed. Maybe that helps... but I'm not sure at all, since your issue seems really weird...

3

Thank you for your suggestion! I tried disabling the throttling, but unfortunately it did not resolve the issue. After changing the settings, I did see all SSIDs present for a few seconds, but then SSID-B disappeared as usual.