XPost: alt.comp.os.windows-10, alt.comp.microsoft.windows, alt.c   
   mp.os.windows-11   
   From: marianjones@helpfulpeople.com   
      
   Char Jackson wrote:   
   > thanks for the discussion. Happy New Year!   
      
   Hi Char Jackson,   
      
   Happy New Year to you too!   
      
   I agree the simplest solution is to change the outward-facing SSID BSSID.   
   And I may have been wrong when I previously assumed no router allows it.   
      
   I've scoured the net trying to find a router that allows BSSID changing.   
       
      
   With FOSS firmware, the question morphs from which routers to which   
   chipsets and drivers allow changing the access point BSSID at will.   
      
   OpenWrt/DD-WRT can request a custom MAC/BSSID, but the radio driver must   
   honor it (i.e., option macaddr 'AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF').   
      
   Some sources claim these routers allow the BSSID override:   
    1. Netgear R7800 (Qualcomm Atheros IPQ8065 + ath10k radios)   
    2. TP-Link Archer C7 / A7 (Qualcomm ath9k/ath10k/ath11k)   
    3. Linksys EA8300 (Qualcomm IPQ4019)   
    4. Ubiquiti UniFi AC-Lite / AC-LR / AC-Pro (ath9k/ath10k)   
    5. GL.iNet ATX1800 (Wi-Fi 6, MediaTek MT7915)   
   Using OpenWRT in this three-step procedure:   
    STEP 1: Check BSSID   
     iw dev wlan0 info   
    STEP 2: Change BSSID   
     uci set wireless.radio0.macaddr='02:11:22:33:44:55'   
     uci commit wireless   
     wifi reload   
    STEP 3: Recheck BSSID   
     iw dev wlan0 info   
      
   Changing the BSSID means overriding the MAC address of the virtual AP   
   interface, but only certain chipsets & Wi-Fi drivers allow this:   
    a. ath9k -> apparently always allows MAC override   
    b. ath10k -> apparently allows MAC override   
    c. ath11k -> apparently allows MAC override   
    d. mt76 (MediaTek) -> sometimes allows it; MT7915 is one of the good ones   
    e. Broadcom -> apparently never allows it   
    f. Marvell -> apparently never allows it   
    g. Realtek -> apparently unreliable or unsupported   
      
   So the list of potential routers that allow BSSID changes collapses to   
   'routers with Atheros or certain MediaTek chipsets that are sold today'.   
   --   
   There is always a solution that intelligent people, working together,   
   can discuss so that every problem we ever run into, has a working solution.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)