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I have an access point which has died, I'm attempting to replace with a similar product. Which properties do I need to clone off the dead access point to coerce all clients who have previously associated with the network to connect to the new access point? Is it as simple as network name and passphrase?

testUser12
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1 Answers1

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In general yes. If the SSID and passphrase are the same, the device will probably reconnect automatically unless there are additional protections in place.

I'm not certain if there are any MAC schemes in place in Operating Systems that might recognize that the MAC of the Access Point (AP) has changed but I don't think so because with a mesh system, there will be multiple APs in play under a single SSID and Passphrase. Each will have a unique BSSID but the underlying connection information stays the same.

However, it is possible configure additional security restrictions on your WiFi network. If you haven't done these, they probably will not be in play but it's worth investigating:

  • MAC Filtering. You can restrict the devices that are able to connect to your network based on the MAC address of the WiFi NIC.
  • 802.1x: This is an authentication scheme which will restrict which devices can connect to the network based on an external authentication source. I've not played with this much but AFAIK you can use a RADIUS server, TACACS/TACACS+, and certificates.
  • Basic networking: Most home routers have a basic DHCP server enabled and usually serve up addresses from 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.150. This will vary based on device however and you may have issues with different IPs schemes. You can also of course disable DHCP and require manual IP addressing which would prevent devices that have not been manually configured from obtaining an IP address.
duct_tape_coder
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