XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-10, alt.comp.microsoft.windows, alt.c   
   mp.os.windows-11   
   From: marianjones@helpfulpeople.com   
      
   Marian wrote:   
   > Certainly that   
   > ability to change the BSSID of the access point exists in pro routers.   
   >   
   > But what matters is not the router but the Wi-Fi chipset and the driver.   
      
   Drat.   
      
   We all agree the BSSID picked up by Apple/Google devices and then uploaded   
   to the Apple/Google WPS databases is simply the MAC address of the wireless   
   access point's radio interface as advertised in its beacon frames.   
      
   So to change the BSSID, we must change the MAC address of the AP interface.   
      
   While OpenWrt exposes:   
     option macaddr 'AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF'   
   it is ultimately the driver and hardware that decide whether to honor the   
   override. Most modern Wi-Fi chipsets ignore it for AP mode.   
      
   Only older Atheros AR9xxx devices using the ath9k driver (circa 2008¡V2014)   
   allowed true MAC override in AP mode, which indirectly changed the BSSID.   
   These were fully mac80211-based radios with no firmware offload and no MAC   
   locking. Examples include early TP-Link WR841N/WR1043ND units and some   
   Ubiquiti M-series devices. These are now obsolete and unsuitable for modern   
   Wi-Fi.   
      
   Modern chipsets behave very differently. Qualcomm ath10k/ath11k, Mediatek   
   MT76 (MT7603/MT7612/MT7915/MT798x), and all Broadcom-chipset consumer   
   radios store the Wi-Fi MAC in OTP/EEPROM and enforce it in firmware.   
      
   Even when OpenWrt accepts a user-specified MAC, the driver normalizes or   
   rejects it, or regenerates interface MACs from a fixed base. As a result,   
   the AP interface MAC cannot be changed, and the BSSID remains fixed.   
      
   From what I can determine, no modern consumer, prosumer, or WISP-grade   
   router (including Ubiquiti, MikroTik, OpenWrt, DD-WRT, or anything based on   
   Qualcomm, Mediatek, or Broadcom chipsets) can arbitrarily change the BSSID   
   that appears in beacon frames.   
      
   As far as I can find out in google searches, unfortunately for me, and for   
   anyone who cares about privacy, there is no mechanism in 802.11 to override   
   the BSSID field independently because the BSSID is not a configurable   
   parameter as the BSSID is always derived from the AP interface MAC address.   
      
   I wish it were that easy...   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)