Mesh11sd acess point shown as hidden

shelleycat485 · May 2, 2025, 10:43am

I'm trying mesh11sd on 5 bthh5b. On an ipad the access point says it is hidden. I don't understand why.

On a Windows 10 laptop or iphone, it does not say hidden.

This is not the official release, I've built from scratch to get the modules needed for mesh11sd into the build, and using the non-ct ath10k drivers.

Here is the mesh11sd file on all nodes to give the same access point name:

config mesh11sd 'setup'
	option auto_config '1'

	option auto_mesh_id 'mesh11******'
	option mesh_gate_base_ssid '*******base'
	option ssid_suffix_enable '0'
	option mesh_gate_encryption '3'
	option mesh_gate_key '********'

config mesh11sd 'mesh_params'

Here is the wireless file:

config wifi-device 'radio0'
	option type 'mac80211'
	option path 'pci0000:01/0000:01:00.0/0000:02:00.0'
	option band '5g'
	option channel '36'
	option htmode 'VHT80'
	option disabled '1'
	option country 'GB'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
	option device 'radio0'
	option network 'lan'
	option mode 'ap'
	option ssid 'OpenWrt'
	option encryption 'none'

config wifi-device 'radio1'
	option type 'mac80211'
	option path 'pci0000:00/0000:00:0e.0'
	option band '2g'
	option channel '1'
	option htmode 'HT20'
	option disabled '1'
	option country 'GB'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio1'
	option device 'radio1'
	option network 'lan'
	option mode 'ap'
	option ssid 'OpenWrt'
	option encryption 'none'

and here is uci output, since mesh11sd uses uci parameters:

root@meshnode-b3a0:~# uci show mesh11sd
mesh11sd.setup=mesh11sd
mesh11sd.setup.auto_config='1'
mesh11sd.setup.auto_mesh_id='mesh11******'
mesh11sd.setup.mesh_gate_base_ssid='******base'
mesh11sd.setup.ssid_suffix_enable='0'
mesh11sd.setup.mesh_gate_encryption='3'
mesh11sd.setup.mesh_gate_key='*******'
mesh11sd.mesh_params=mesh11sd
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_fwding='1'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_retry_timeout='255'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_confirm_timeout='255'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_holding_timeout='255'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_rssi_threshold='-65'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_gate_announcements='1'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_hwmp_rootmode='4'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_hwmp_rann_interval='5000'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_hwmp_root_interval='5000'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_hwmp_active_path_timeout='5000'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_hwmp_active_path_to_root_timeout='6000'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_max_peer_links='16'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_plink_timeout='10'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_connected_to_as='1'
mesh11sd.mesh_params.mesh_connected_to_gate='1'
root@meshnode-b3a0:~#

and the uci radio for one of the access points:

root@meshnode-b3a0:~# uci show wireless
wireless.radio0=wifi-device
wireless.radio0.type='mac80211'
wireless.radio0.path='pci0000:01/0000:01:00.0/0000:02:00.0'
wireless.radio0.band='5g'
wireless.radio0.channel='36'
wireless.radio0.htmode='VHT80'
wireless.radio0.disabled='0'
wireless.radio0.country='GB'
wireless.radio0.log_level='0'
wireless.default_radio0=wifi-iface
wireless.default_radio0.device='radio0'
wireless.default_radio0.network='lan'
wireless.default_radio0.mode='ap'
wireless.default_radio0.ssid='******base'
wireless.default_radio0.encryption='psk2+aes'
wireless.default_radio0.ifname='phy0-ap0'
wireless.default_radio0.key='******'
wireless.default_radio0.macaddr='42:f2:01:3c:b3:a0'
wireless.default_radio0.disabled='0'

mesh1sd is version="5.0.2beta" and the release file is (but this is a custom build):

root@meshnode-b3a0:~# cat /etc/openwrt_release 
DISTRIB_ID='OpenWrt'
DISTRIB_RELEASE='24.10.0'
DISTRIB_REVISION='r28427-6df0e3d02a'
DISTRIB_TARGET='lantiq/xrx200'
DISTRIB_ARCH='mips_24kc'
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION='OpenWrt 24.10.0 r28427-6df0e3d02a'
DISTRIB_TAINTS='no-all busybox'

brada4 · May 2, 2025, 2:01pm

Mesh point is not infrastructure access point.

LilRedDog · May 2, 2025, 6:39pm

'I have a ~~Chevy~~ Honda and it won't run on E85 but I have another ~~Chevy~~ Honda that does.
Why?'

Need more information than that.

bluewavenet · May 2, 2025, 7:29pm

@shelleycat485
You might find it instructive to read the documentation at:

For beginners, getting a mesh up and running is a "plug and play process" that does not require ANY wireless or network config settings to be made, starting from the basic downloadable flash image for your meshnode devices.

Unfortunately it seems you have NOT read the documentation and instead you have dived in making config changes that you think should work.

I can see that this is probably true from the configs you have shared.
But perhaps you have NOT shared the configs you actually have. Evidence for this is the "access point hidden" title of this thread. see point 2 below.

FYI, for normal use:

All wireless and network settings are done dynamically by the mesh11sd daemon, based on the initial settings in the mesh11sd config.
By default, mesh11sd will configure an Opportunistic Wireless Encryption Transition access point, which uses two interfaces with the same SSID, one hidden with OWE (encryption) and one open (no encryption) for old user devices that do not support OWE.

Once you have read the documentation, come back here and I will talk you through any questions you may have.

shelleycat485 · May 6, 2025, 10:12am

Thank you for the indication of hidden networks in the OWE. I have looked at the documentation and the mesh11sd file and the only place I can find where hidden is mentioned is in relation to OWE.

I have reduced the complexity of the test setup. I have one wireless mesh node, the portal node.
wan is connected via another router to the internet.

With this mesh11sd file, the network badbikbase shows as hidden on the ipad.

root@meshnode-b3a0:~# cat /etc/config/mesh11sd

config mesh11sd 'setup'
	option auto_config '1'
	option auto_mesh_id 'mesh11badbik'
	option mesh_gate_base_ssid 'badbikbase'
	option ssid_suffix_enable '0'
	option mesh_gate_encryption '3'
	option mesh_gate_key '******'

config mesh11sd 'mesh_params

With this mesh11sd file, the network badbidbase-5g-b3a0 does not show as hidden. (As does -2g-b3a0) The only change is removal of the suffix option.

root@meshnode-b3a0:~# cat /etc/config/mesh11sd

config mesh11sd 'setup'
	option auto_config '1'
	option auto_mesh_id 'mesh11badbik'
	option mesh_gate_base_ssid 'badbikbase'
#	option ssid_suffix_enable '0'
	option mesh_gate_encryption '3'
	option mesh_gate_key '******'

config mesh11sd 'mesh_params

The Guest-2g-b3a0 network, which in my case are not using OWE, show not hidden and unencrypted.

I'm not exploring this much further. I will use the ssids with suffixes.

bluewavenet · May 6, 2025, 7:41pm

From the documentation you will see that mesh11sd, by default, also creates a guest network that, also by default, would use OWE on its wireless interfaces. You have not specified anything about the guest network, so it will indeed bring up a hidden access point to support transition mode.

FYI: For enabling/disabling/configuring the "Guest" network, see the vtun_* setup options.
These are similar to the mesh_gate_* settings but refer to the "guest" network.
See Mesh11sd Setup Options

shelleycat485 · May 9, 2025, 5:28pm

If the mesh gate encryption is set to 2 the problem is solved.

config mesh11sd 'setup'
	option auto_config '1'
	option auto_mesh_id 'mesh11badbik'
	option mesh_gate_base_ssid 'badbikbase'
	option ssid_suffix_enable '0'
	option mesh_gate_encryption '2'
	option mesh_gate_key '******'
	option vtun_enable '0'

Then the Ipad does not see the network as encrypted. This is nothing to do with the Guest network, since I have tested with it turned off (the vtun_enable '0' above).

system · May 19, 2025, 5:28pm

This topic was automatically closed 10 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.