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Date:      Mon, 01 Aug 2016 19:11:02 -0400
From:      Shawn Webb <shawn.webb@hardenedbsd.org>
To:        Ben Woods <woodsb02@gmail.com>,freebsd-stable@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Release notes and handbook changes for identifying wireless adapters
Message-ID:  <1996F446-A183-414E-8CB4-91551E50B977@hardenedbsd.org>
In-Reply-To: <CAOc73CCHdeNhKZA2ahUAiOPK8dTERuRYsBBMokzgjGHCWQQj-g@mail.gmail.com>
References:  <CAOc73CCHdeNhKZA2ahUAiOPK8dTERuRYsBBMokzgjGHCWQQj-g@mail.gmail.com>

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On August 1, 2016 7:02:05 PM EDT, Ben Woods <woodsb02@gmail.com> wrote:
>Hi,
>
>FreeBSD wireless users who are upgrading to FreeBSD 11.0 will likely
>get a
>surprise when they try and identify which wireless adapters are
>available
>in their computer by using ifconfig. Neither the FreeBSD 11 release
>notes
>or the FreeBSD handbook currently explain this change.
>
>For example, if you have an atheros wireless driver, you would
>previously be able to see it using ifconfig, even before configuring
>the
>wlan0 clone device.
>
>% ifconfig | grep -B3 -i wireless
>
>
>That was changed with commit r287197:
>https://svnweb.freebsd.org/base?view=revision&revision=287197
>
>The new way to show which wireless adapter is available is:
>% sysctl net.wlan.devices
>
>Whilst the configuration in /etc/rc.conf required to activate a
>wireless
>adapter has not changed, people may run into the hurdle of not even
>finding
>which wireless adapter to configure in the first place. This can be
>seen
>here:
>https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=203271
>
>Regards,
>Ben

Hey Ben,

I completely agree. It also seems like a POLA violation. I dislike that I can't get information like MAC address prior to creating the clone. Instead of simply 'ifconfig ath0 ether', now it's 'ifconfig wlan0 create wlandev ath0; ifconfig wlan0 ether'. Some networks use MAC address whitelisting. It's also not possible to easily tell which adapter is which, in case of multiple of the same adapters.

The discussion on this is too late for code changes to 11.0-RELEASE, but this should be documented loud and clear.

Thanks,

Shawn

- --
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
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