FS#61894 - [networkmanager] Disable random MAC address scanning for some devices
Attached to Project:
Arch Linux
Opened by Tobias Bachmann (tobac) - Friday, 01 March 2019, 19:57 GMT
Last edited by Toolybird (Toolybird) - Friday, 02 June 2023, 23:25 GMT
Opened by Tobias Bachmann (tobac) - Friday, 01 March 2019, 19:57 GMT
Last edited by Toolybird (Toolybird) - Friday, 02 June 2023, 23:25 GMT
|
Details
Description: NetworkManager nowadays sets random MAC
addresses when scanning for Wi-Fi networks. While useful as
an anti-tracking technique, this behaviour causes problems
with some Wi-Fi card drivers, which range from annoying to
show-stopping:
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=777523
I stumbled upon this due to my own card being affected ("wl" driver for BCM4360 chipset): Wi-Fi connections would only connect after 3 to 5 attempts (with some networks it would take up to 20 manual reconnects); connections dropped seemingly randomly; buggy, annoying behaviour occurred in general. Ubuntu (and maybe other distros), as I found out, ships a config file as a workaround (see attachment), which effectively blacklists known buggy drivers with regard to MAC randomisation. Putting this file in /usr/lib/NetworkManager/conf.d/ proved to be a revelation. For the first time, Wi-Fi on my laptop worked reliably and stable with NetworkManager. Additional info: For some reason, Ubuntu decided to ship this file with their "wpasupplicant" and not their "network-manager" package. |
This task depends upon
Closed by Toolybird (Toolybird)
Friday, 02 June 2023, 23:25 GMT
Reason for closing: Won't implement
Additional comments about closing: See comments
Friday, 02 June 2023, 23:25 GMT
Reason for closing: Won't implement
Additional comments about closing: See comments
Attached file is what i use.
[1] https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NetworkManager#Configuring_MAC_address_randomization