Is 802.11r broken by latest mac80211 merges (NL80211_ATTR_STA_VLAN errors)?

For Developers
1

I used to have 802.11r fast roaming working, but after updating to the latest snapshots, e.g. r15805-1da945b760 the logs on my APs have lots of these:

Mon Feb 15 20:08:45 2021 daemon.err hostapd: nl80211: kernel reports: key addition failed
Mon Feb 15 20:08:45 2021 daemon.err hostapd: nl80211: NL80211_ATTR_STA_VLAN (addr=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx ifname=wlan0 vlan_id=0) failed: -2 (No such file or directory)

I reported the bug if the devs want to track it there:
https://bugs.openwrt.org/index.php?do=details&task_id=3625

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2

I'm glad someone else has the same issue - I've tried in vain to find the root cause

3

I read in some other thread to try setting "FT over Air" instead of "FT over DS" but I haven't had a chance to make the change. However, it worked for me with "FT over DS" and I don't have a "controller" -- whatever that means, just 3 APs.

So I'm not really sure what's going on here, whether I'm looking in the wrong place, whether it's related to the latest mac80211 changes or something else that's always been a problem but maybe getting logged only now.

4

Changing to option ft_over_ds '0' (hence using FT over the Air) seems to make NL80211_ATTR_STA_VLAN errors go away, but daemon.err hostapd: nl80211: kernel reports: key addition failed remains and I don't think my clients FT anymore :frowning:

It would be good to make sure this works well in the upcoming 21.02 stable release.

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5

I never got rid of those errors since I first started seeing them maybe a year ago, after implementing 802.11r/k/v. From my tests (e.g., zoom meetings, youtube videos, etc.), my devices seem to fast roam ok though.

6

I would love to see this (ft roaming) working together with 802.11v/k in the upcoming stable release, so I can effectively utilize both bands on all APs and have both roaming and band steering in place.

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7

I am using the newest snapshot with r, k and v feature on Wifi and can see the following error in the log also. But my Iphone ask me regularly for the Wifi password as it seems to have a problem 2 times a week. Could this issues be linked to the roaming which failed somehow which causes the Iphone to ask for the Wifi password again?

Bit in general everything is fine and roaming is ok.

8

It seems to be OK now on the latest 21.02 builds with option ft_over_ds '0', the iOS clients started roaming again. With hostapd debugging enabled I'm seeing:

Sat Feb 27 13:46:03 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan0: STA xx IEEE 802.11: authentication OK (FT)
Sat Feb 27 13:46:03 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan0: STA xx MLME: MLME-AUTHENTICATE.indication(xx, FT)
Sat Feb 27 13:46:03 2021 daemon.debug hostapd: wlan0: STA xx WPA: FT authentication already completed - do not start 4-way handshake
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