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
Task Type Feature Request
Category Packages: Extra
Status Closed
Assigned To Jan Alexander Steffens (heftig)
Architecture All
Severity Low
Priority Normal
Reported Version
Due in Version Undecided
Due Date Undecided
Percent Complete 100%
Votes 3
Private No

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.
   no-mac-addr-change.conf (0.4 KiB)
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
Comment by antonmaier (x3oo) - Monday, 28 December 2020, 05:57 GMT
This Bug also is replicated for iwlwifi and my 6205 card. Its even worse. 5Ghz is effectivly DoS for the whole Wifi network. Slowing Down 5ghz networks for all clients, so i thought my routers were broken but no. this bug is replicated for multiple routers who all get DoS by mac address randomisation. This cost me so much time. Now without mac randomisation everything works like a charm. 5GHz didnt work entirely or was slowed down completly, 2,4 ghz only connected after a few entries or not at all. its really the worst.

Attached file is what i use.
   22-no-mac-rand.conf (0.4 KiB)
Comment by Toolybird (Toolybird) - Friday, 02 June 2023, 23:25 GMT
This feature is user configurable and well covered in the Wiki [1]. If you're affected, simply override it in the config.

[1] https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NetworkManager#Configuring_MAC_address_randomization

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