Thanks for your response - Peter Memishian wrote: > > In situation 2, where user is manually adding a network, I'd like to > > keep the dialog as simple as we can (see new_wifi_network_dialog.gif > > attached). If we really want users to be able to specify the BSSID, > > perhaps they can enter via an "Advanced" button on this dialog. > > What happens if they attempt to add an ESSID that already exists? They > might've simply forgotten that they already added the ESSID, or they might > be forced (due to network configuration they cannot control) to configure > a duplicate ESSID that has a different BSSID. In this case, they can push the "Advanced" button (or equivalent) to specify the BSSID. > I think we need to support > both situations. This also means that there may be times when we need to > disambiguate duplicate ESSIDs in other dialog boxes. > > > In situation 3, where a user wants to view existing network properties, > > given that there may be situations like "rover" in other companies (and > > Starbucks TMobile hotspots), it'd be annoying to have to always approve > > a "new" network when there is different BSSID but same ESSID. > > This seems scary to me -- given the prevalence of identically named > ESSID's (e.g., people often name their home network "home", or leave the > default), I'm uncomfortable with automatically connect to unknown BSSIDs > just because the ESSID matches. Going back to your Starbucks example, > just how many different Starbucks does one tend to visit? It seems more > secure to me to track the BSSID's -- even if it means that the first time > I visit a new Starbucks, I have to click "OK". > OK, will consider this point and get some user data on it. Regarding how often it happens - it happens at Sun with all the "rover" networks, and I assume that frequent travellers (our salespeople?) would be key users of such a thing. I'll check around with some folks I know who do more of the cafe surfing and different work environments. Though perhaps Michael has input here to with the travelling he does..
One more implication of tracking per unique BSSID - there could be a growing list of "preferred networks" that have the same ESSID in the user's list (if they decided to "add to list"). > > So perhaps only show the BSSID if they really care for it in the > > *administrative* interface, and not show the BSSID in the configuration > > interface (unless the user has specifically added the BSSID in > > situation 2) > > As per above, I think something may be needed to disambiguate duplicate > ESSID's. It need not be the BSSID. > any other suggestions on how to disambiguate? We could go so far as giving the user the ability to assign a descriptive name or text to a preferred network. Thanks, Ann
