Connecting to Wi-Fi Using BSSID

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By design, Windows 10 will automatically connect to any Wi-Fi access point that you previously connected the device too and unless the signal is very weak then the device will disconnect and automatically connect to the nearest access point saved on your device.

The feature to have Windows 10 just connect to specific SSID among the many access points that show the same SSID is not yet available.

Your best bet is to create a dual boot on your computer using a Linux Distro such as Ubuntu, Debian, OpenSUSE, Fedora, etc which will allow a BSSID connection because Microsoft's inability to allow for a BSSID connection is woefully outdated with today's technology and access points.

FYI for Microsoft - you cannot always contact a Network Administrator, such as the case when using an XFINITY Public WIFI Signal which is routed through private routers (and is usually either included in your normal subscription or paid for as a standalone subscription to access through gateways leased to others)... and there is nothing XFINITY can do about it because it could be as simple as the nearest router has the CoAx cable disconnected.

WifiInfoView is a freeware tool for Windows that allows you to view the list of all wireless access points in your area, and optionally connect to a specific access point. It works on any version of Windows, starting from Windows Vista and up to Windows 10. WifiInfoView is a standalone .exe file, you don't need any installation process in order to use it.

In order to connect to access point with specific MAC address (BSSID), simply run WifiInfoView.exe, and then on the main window, look at the 'MAC Address' column and find the access point you want to connect. Select the access point you want to connect, and the press F2, or right-click with the mouse and then choose 'Connect Selected Access Point'.

If you already have a profile with wireless key of this wireless network, you'll be connected to the selected access point instantly. If a profile cannot be found, Windows operating system will ask you to type the network key for the selected access point.

Optionally, you can also connect to access point with specific MAC address from command-line, by using the /ConnectAP command. For example, the following command connects to the access point that its name (SSID) is MyAP and its MAC address is 00:25:9C:22:34:DA WifiInfoView.exe /ConnectAP "MyAP" "00:25:9C:22:34:DA"

The free utility (for home use) NetSetMan includes a utility called NSM Wifi Management, which lets you do just that... connect to WiFi AP by BSSID instead of ESSID.

Once installed, choose Tools --> NSM Wifi Management Then choose Down Arrow next to Refresh --> In-Depth Refresh.

All APs will be listed, even those with the same ESSID, and you can choose the one you want.

It doesn't show you the MAC/BSSID in the search results, but you can try them all one at a time and type netsh wlan show interfaces at the cmd prompt to check when you have the right one.

The utility WirelessMon - http://www.passmark.com/products/wirelessmonitor.htm It allows you to override Windows wifi selection, and explicitly connect to an AP by MAC address.

Try Nirsoft WirelessNetView - it's freeware.

Solution for Intel adapters with PROSet software here.

Basically you have to choose your Wi-Fi network from list, select checkbox for using Intel parameters, select "Mandatory Access Point" and enter BSSID.

You can use WifiInfoView from https://www.nirsoft.net/

Connect wifi using below step.

You can also create a shortcut on desktop, to connect wifi using BSSID.

A customer has an environment with multiple APs having the same SSID.

I have to write a BASH script that connects a linux box to each AP in turn, executes a command to gather data, then moves on to the next AP, wash, rinse, repeat.

The BSSID is the obvious thing to use to connect.

The script qua script is working beautifully, but the BSSID-based wifi connection bit is not.

I have tried iw, iwconfig, nmcli, and wpa_supplicant and cannot get it to reliably connect to the BSSID I specify - regardless of what I put in the command the actual BSSID connected to just seems to be random.

From what I have gathered, all of these tools, aside from wpa_supplicant, just take the BSSID, associate it with an SSID, then use the SSID in the connection setup, which, if correct, seems kinda stupid (to be blunt).

wpa_supplicant is just too fragile to use this way - it always gets into a state where wpa_cli cannot connect and I have to continually restart it and often restart NetworkManager.

I thought about switching to Python, but the Python modules just seem to be wrappers to the linux commands, so nothing changes.

The command i'm using to connect is: nmcli connection up ifname wlp4s0 ap $AP passwd-file passwdfile where passwdfile contains the psk.

This is in a loop through the list of $AP.

It still connects to a random AP from the list.

(Probably the one that at that instant had the best signal), and more confusing (to me) is that iw event shows a different connected BSSID than nmcli -f SSID,BSSID,ACTIVE dev wifi list | grep yes

There must be something really obvious i'm not doing correctly (this is still mostly new to me).