From: Jouni Malinen (jkmaline_at_cc.hut.fi)
Date: 2002-09-05 15:01:12 UTC
On Thu, Sep 05, 2002 at 02:18:29PM +0900, ���￭ wrote:
> As I know, hostap which run as AP Mode can scan near around other APs... right ?
> if so, one AP can detect near around other APs and channel which used by other APs..
That's not exactly true. Current driver is able to notice beacons on the same channel (and possible the neighboring channels), but it does not scan others channels for APs.
> Could you tell me how can I scan other AP in AP mode ?
Station firmware does not seem to allow firmware based scanning functionality in Host AP mode, so this would need some sort of driver controlled mechanism. One could perform scanning every now and then by shutting down the AP for a few seconds and requesting firmware-based scan of the channels. Other option would be to go through the channels while staying in AP mode and passively scan channels by receiving beacon frames from other APs.
Both of the methods have some drawbacks since the normal AP functionality is disturbed. This might not be that bad a problem if the scanning is not performed frequently. When an AP changes channels, the associated stations might move automatically to the new channel (I've seen this happening), but then again, they might locate another AP and associate with it.
-- Jouni Malinen PGP id EFC895FA