List wireless interfaces
iw devList all known access points
# Note the 'beacon loss: 2' this indicates we lost connectivity with this AP 2 times already
# Note the 'connected time' which indicates how long the connection with the AP is established
iw dev wlp3s0 station dump
Station 31:6c:c0:xx:yy:z0 (on wlp3s0)
inactive time: 200 ms
rx bytes: 140367
rx packets: 568
tx bytes: 6789530
tx packets: 6728
tx retries: 50
tx failed: 0
beacon loss: 2
beacon rx: 370
rx drop misc: 1
signal: -48 [-48, -53] dBm
signal avg: -46 [-46, -50] dBm
beacon signal avg: -46 dBm
tx bitrate: 400.0 MBit/s VHT-MCS 9 40MHz short GI VHT-NSS 2
tx duration: 0 us
rx bitrate: 300.0 MBit/s VHT-MCS 7 40MHz short GI VHT-NSS 2
rx duration: 0 us
authorized: yes
authenticated: yes
associated: yes
preamble: long
WMM/WME: yes
MFP: no
TDLS peer: no
DTIM period: 1
beacon interval:100
short preamble: yes
short slot time:yes
connected time: 32 seconds
associated at [boottime]: 4923.921s
associated at: 1624608068803 ms
current time: 1624608100434 msList all available Frequencies[channel]
iw list
# Notice there can be multiple Bands indiciating 2Ghz and 5Ghz
...
# The [xx] indicates the channel number
Frequencies:
* 5180 MHz [36] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5200 MHz [40] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5220 MHz [44] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5240 MHz [48] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5260 MHz [52] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5280 MHz [56] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5300 MHz [60] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5320 MHz [64] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5340 MHz [68] (disabled)
* 5360 MHz [72] (disabled)
* 5380 MHz [76] (disabled)
* 5400 MHz [80] (disabled)
* 5420 MHz [84] (disabled)
* 5440 MHz [88] (disabled)
* 5460 MHz [92] (disabled)
* 5480 MHz [96] (disabled)
* 5500 MHz [100] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5520 MHz [104] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5540 MHz [108] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5560 MHz [112] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5580 MHz [116] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5600 MHz [120] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5620 MHz [124] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5640 MHz [128] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5660 MHz [132] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5680 MHz [136] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5700 MHz [140] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5720 MHz [144] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5745 MHz [149] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5765 MHz [153] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5785 MHz [157] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5805 MHz [161] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5825 MHz [165] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5845 MHz [169] (disabled)
* 5865 MHz [173] (disabled)
* 5885 MHz [177] (disabled)
* 5905 MHz [181] (disabled)
...Specify a single AP to be used
I recently had an issue where I noticed that by NetworkManager would lose connection. After some investigation it seemed because it was regularly switching between two access points that had similar signal strength.
Dec 05 10:38:41 viper wpa_supplicant[1883]: wlp0s20f3: SME: Trying to authenticate with 34:2c:c4:e8:ab:cd (SSID='My-Home-ID' freq=5200 MHz)
Dec 05 10:38:41 viper kernel: wlp0s20f3: disconnect from AP 34:2c:c4:e8:ba:dc for new auth to 34:2c:c4:e8:ab:cd
Dec 05 10:38:41 viper kernel: wlp0s20f3: authenticate with 34:2c:c4:e8:ab:cd (local address=92:fa:ba:a7:aa:bb)
Dec 05 10:38:41 viper kernel: wlp0s20f3: send auth to 34:2c:c4:e8:ab:cd (try 1/3)You can list your currently detected access points and see their strength.
❯ nmcli dev wifi list
IN-USE BSSID SSID MODE CHAN RATE SIGNAL BARS SECURITY
* 34:2c:c4:e8:ba:dc My-Home-ID Infra 44 405 Mbit/s 66 ▂▄▆_ WPA2
34:2c:c4:e8:ab:cd My-Home-ID Infra 40 405 Mbit/s 59 ▂▄▆_ WPA2 Configure NetworkManager to always use a specific access point. This disables roaming.
nmcli connection modify "My-Home-ID" 802-11-wireless.bssid 34:2c:c4:e8:ba:dc