How Do I Manually Switch Node in Mesh Network, To Help My Flat mate

[Roderik]

Hey everyone, 

 

I'm trying to help out a flat mate who is having wifi issues. I think I found the issue, but need help with solving it (:  Basically if he is sitting at his desk in his bedroom his wifi starts acting funny. We are all using Eduroam (I'm guessing some of you will be familiar with that network). His problem is that he will have a strong wifi connection but 0 data will come through.

I think that when he is in his room his computer connects to a different node in the network (that's some how corrupted/broken). When the network is working the BSSID is e6:cb:ac:35:34:65 and when its causing problems its 8e:15:44:a9:0b:f1.

 

I would appreciate it if someone could explain to me how I can manually prevent his macbook pro from connecting to that specific BSSID. Maybe with a terminal command or alternatively with some software. (Even beter if there is also a fix so that his iPhone doesn't connect to that node when he is at his desk, but I doubt that that's possible...) 

Really hopping someone here can help.

Thanks in advance!!

 

 

 

 

 

[Tamesh16]

just a bit of advice you probably shouldn't show your full IP address online 

[Dropit]

I don't know much about mac os but somewhere should be a option to dissable automatically connecting to the bad network.

[Roderik]

Thanks, so caught up in fixing this that it totally slipped my mind... feeling pretty stupid 

[Roderik]

Its the same network, just a different node in the network

[Roderik]

maybe node isn't the correct term... its the same wifi network but a different source of the wireless signal.

[Jarno.]

You probably mean that the computer is connecting with the wrong Access point and you need some setting to prevent the Mac from connecting to this AP?

[Roderik]

Yes exactly. But it’s a campus wide network so I can’t normally choose the specific AP.

[mynameisjuan]

So this is what’s referred to as roaming. A host will hold on to an AP as long as it can until its lost or you bounce the WiFi. 
 

the main problem you will run into is if you block that MAC, it’s still going to connect to the SSID but not going to pass traffic. MAC is L2 but negotiation is at L1. Best bet is to look for a way for macOS to drop wireless at -75db

[Alex Atkin UK]

8 hours ago, mynameisjuan said:

So this is what’s referred to as roaming. A host will hold on to an AP as long as it can until its lost or you bounce the WiFi. 
 

the main problem you will run into is if you block that MAC, it’s still going to connect to the SSID but not going to pass traffic. MAC is L2 but negotiation is at L1. Best bet is to look for a way for macOS to drop wireless at -75db

They said its a strong signal but a broken AP, so having it drop at a low signal isn't going to help.

 

Also are you sure blocking the MAC wont work?  AFAIK with WiFi the BSSID (MAC address) IS part of the negotiation.  I know when running a router in client mode you can specify a specific BSSID to connect to, regardless of the SSID.  I have no idea of MacOS allows this option.