• Tablet refuses to connect to an AP that it knows

    From Carlos E.R.@3:633/10 to All on Monday, September 07, 2026 19:42:00
    Hi,

    I recently did a factory reset to the main router of the house. I
    recreated the AP with the same credentials. My Linux computers connect
    fine to it. My Android phones (Motorola G52, G62) connect fine. But not
    the Lenovo Tablet (Lenovo Idea Tab 11" (8GB 128GB)).

    It says (translated from Spanish):

    Saved / Not available with current security settings

    If I tap on it, it says "your administrator has inhabilitated 'SSID'"

    A friend has the same tablet, she came the other day here and it would
    not connect, same trouble. I thought "you have done something to it"?. I
    had to remove the connection and add it again.

    Is this known? It has Android 16.

    Your administrator? In Android?

    --
    Cheers, Carlos.
    ES??, EU??;


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Carlos E.R.@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, September 08, 2026 09:41:21
    On 2026-09-08 03:50, Maria Sophia wrote:
    Carlos E.R. wrote:


    The interesting clues are that the Linux machines and Motorola phones
    connect normally, another identical Lenovo tablet has the same problem, and forgetting the WiFi network and adding it again fixes the problem.

    Since you just factory reset the router, I would check the WiFi security settings. In particular, see whether it is now using WPA2/WPA3 mixed mode instead of WPA2-Personal/AES, whether WPA3 is enabled, or whether
    PMF/802.11w is set to required.

    That's an interesting idea.

    The security is at default settings, WPA2-PSK-AES, and is greyed out. To change it, I have to get into the advanced setting pages. The page in
    question is not familiar, I did not touch those settings previously.

    Alternatives are

    Open/EnhancedOpen Open&OWE - warning: disables easy mesh
    EnhancedOpen Open&OWE - warning: disables easy mesh
    WPA2/WPA3 PSK&SAE - warning: not all repeaters/extender are compatible
    WPA3 SAE - Warning: make sure your devices support it.

    The only one I might have been tempted to try of those is the third one.
    I enabled it now, the tablet is still complaining.


    No, I don't worry about it at all, I'm just curious, because it is a
    nuisance to have to reenter the credentials.


    My guess is that the BSSID changed, but the router config doesn't report
    it. It is mentioned somewhere as MAC, though

    Ah, found it, for 2.4Ghz. It is not the same as reported by my Linux
    laptop in that room, there is one digit difference. Not configurable.

    Ah, there is one for 2.4G and another for 5G, they differ in the last
    digit. It matches the laptop info for 5GHz, I did not know that old
    laptop had the 5Gh band.


    Bingo! It changed. This command finds the change:

    Legolas:~ # grep "wlan1: authenticate with" /var/log/messages


    <0.6> 2026-09-07 12:05:12 Legolas kernel - - - [ T1159] wlan1:
    authenticate with 70:8b:... (local address=a0:d3:7a:...)
    <0.6> 2026-09-07 12:26:22 Legolas kernel - - - [ T1159] wlan1:
    authenticate with 90:d3:... (local address=a0:d3:7a:...)


    So, one more tidbit for you: my router changes the BSSID on factory
    reset, so it can not be tracked across different owners. :-)


    --
    Cheers, Carlos.
    ES??, EU??;

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Nuno Silva@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, September 08, 2026 09:51:55
    On 2026-09-08, Carlos E.R. wrote:

    On 2026-09-08 03:50, Maria Sophia wrote:
    Carlos E.R. wrote:


    The interesting clues are that the Linux machines and Motorola phones
    connect normally, another identical Lenovo tablet has the same problem, and >> forgetting the WiFi network and adding it again fixes the problem.

    Since you just factory reset the router, I would check the WiFi security
    settings. In particular, see whether it is now using WPA2/WPA3 mixed mode
    instead of WPA2-Personal/AES, whether WPA3 is enabled, or whether
    PMF/802.11w is set to required.

    That's an interesting idea.

    The security is at default settings, WPA2-PSK-AES, and is greyed
    out. To change it, I have to get into the advanced setting pages. The
    page in question is not familiar, I did not touch those settings
    previously.

    Alternatives are

    Open/EnhancedOpen Open&OWE - warning: disables easy mesh
    EnhancedOpen Open&OWE - warning: disables easy mesh
    WPA2/WPA3 PSK&SAE - warning: not all repeaters/extender are compatible
    WPA3 SAE - Warning: make sure your devices support it.

    The only one I might have been tempted to try of those is the third
    one. I enabled it now, the tablet is still complaining.


    No, I don't worry about it at all, I'm just curious, because it is a
    nuisance to have to reenter the credentials.


    My guess is that the BSSID changed, but the router config doesn't
    report it. It is mentioned somewhere as MAC, though

    Ah, found it, for 2.4Ghz. It is not the same as reported by my Linux
    laptop in that room, there is one digit difference. Not configurable.

    Ah, there is one for 2.4G and another for 5G, they differ in the last
    digit. It matches the laptop info for 5GHz, I did not know that old
    laptop had the 5Gh band.


    Bingo! It changed. This command finds the change:

    Legolas:~ # grep "wlan1: authenticate with" /var/log/messages


    <0.6> 2026-09-07 12:05:12 Legolas kernel - - - [ T1159] wlan1:
    authenticate with 70:8b:... (local address=a0:d3:7a:...)
    <0.6> 2026-09-07 12:26:22 Legolas kernel - - - [ T1159] wlan1:
    authenticate with 90:d3:... (local address=a0:d3:7a:...)


    So, one more tidbit for you: my router changes the BSSID on factory
    reset, so it can not be tracked across different owners. :-)

    Any chance it has a setting to offer separate WLANs on 5 GHz and 2.4
    GHz, and that this setting now is set to show two "separate" APs?

    --
    Nuno Silva

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Carlos E.R.@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, September 08, 2026 11:51:44
    On 2026-09-08 10:51, Nuno Silva wrote:
    On 2026-09-08, Carlos E.R. wrote:

    On 2026-09-08 03:50, Maria Sophia wrote:
    Carlos E.R. wrote:


    The interesting clues are that the Linux machines and Motorola phones
    connect normally, another identical Lenovo tablet has the same problem, and >>> forgetting the WiFi network and adding it again fixes the problem.

    Since you just factory reset the router, I would check the WiFi security >>> settings. In particular, see whether it is now using WPA2/WPA3 mixed mode >>> instead of WPA2-Personal/AES, whether WPA3 is enabled, or whether
    PMF/802.11w is set to required.

    That's an interesting idea.

    The security is at default settings, WPA2-PSK-AES, and is greyed
    out. To change it, I have to get into the advanced setting pages. The
    page in question is not familiar, I did not touch those settings
    previously.

    Alternatives are

    Open/EnhancedOpen Open&OWE - warning: disables easy mesh
    EnhancedOpen Open&OWE - warning: disables easy mesh
    WPA2/WPA3 PSK&SAE - warning: not all repeaters/extender are compatible
    WPA3 SAE - Warning: make sure your devices support it.

    The only one I might have been tempted to try of those is the third
    one. I enabled it now, the tablet is still complaining.


    No, I don't worry about it at all, I'm just curious, because it is a
    nuisance to have to reenter the credentials.


    My guess is that the BSSID changed, but the router config doesn't
    report it. It is mentioned somewhere as MAC, though

    Ah, found it, for 2.4Ghz. It is not the same as reported by my Linux
    laptop in that room, there is one digit difference. Not configurable.

    Ah, there is one for 2.4G and another for 5G, they differ in the last
    digit. It matches the laptop info for 5GHz, I did not know that old
    laptop had the 5Gh band.


    Bingo! It changed. This command finds the change:

    Legolas:~ # grep "wlan1: authenticate with" /var/log/messages


    <0.6> 2026-09-07 12:05:12 Legolas kernel - - - [ T1159] wlan1:
    authenticate with 70:8b:... (local address=a0:d3:7a:...)
    <0.6> 2026-09-07 12:26:22 Legolas kernel - - - [ T1159] wlan1:
    authenticate with 90:d3:... (local address=a0:d3:7a:...)


    So, one more tidbit for you: my router changes the BSSID on factory
    reset, so it can not be tracked across different owners. :-)

    Any chance it has a setting to offer separate WLANs on 5 GHz and 2.4
    GHz, and that this setting now is set to show two "separate" APs?

    No, they are paired by default, same settings on both, if the setting
    exists. They can be separated, but I prefer paired.

    --
    Cheers, Carlos.
    ES??, EU??;

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Carlos E.R.@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, September 08, 2026 12:45:11
    On 2026-09-08 09:41, Carlos E.R. wrote:
    On 2026-09-08 03:50, Maria Sophia wrote:
    Carlos E.R. wrote:


    The interesting clues are that the Linux machines and Motorola phones
    connect normally, another identical Lenovo tablet has the same
    problem, and
    forgetting the WiFi network and adding it again fixes the problem.

    Since you just factory reset the router, I would check the WiFi security
    settings. In particular, see whether it is now using WPA2/WPA3 mixed mode
    instead of WPA2-Personal/AES, whether WPA3 is enabled, or whether
    PMF/802.11w is set to required.

    That's an interesting idea.

    The security is at default settings, WPA2-PSK-AES, and is greyed out. To change it, I have to get into the advanced setting pages. The page in question is not familiar, I did not touch those settings previously.

    Alternatives are

    ÿ Open/EnhancedOpen Open&OWE - warning: disables easy mesh
    ÿ EnhancedOpen Open&OWE - warning: disables easy mesh
    ÿ WPA2/WPA3 PSK&SAE - warning: not all repeaters/extender are compatible
    ÿ WPA3 SAE - Warning: make sure your devices support it.

    The only one I might have been tempted to try of those is the third one.
    I enabled it now, the tablet is still complaining.

    But tapping on it, it does connect silently, not as before. So it was
    using WPA3.

    --
    Cheers, Carlos.
    ES??, EU??;

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Carlos E.R.@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, September 08, 2026 13:35:47
    On 2026-09-08 12:51, Andy Burns wrote:
    Carlos E.R. wrote:

    I recently did a factory reset to the main router of the house. I
    recreated the AP with the same credentials. My Linux computers connect
    fine to it. My Android phones (Motorola G52, G62) connect fine. But
    not the Lenovo Tablet (Lenovo Idea Tab 11" (8GB 128GB)).
    Has the factory reset changed the to a high wifi channel number that
    some devices don't support? (e.g. 13 or 14)

    No, that is defined by the default country (Spain).

    --
    Cheers, Carlos.
    ES??, EU??;

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Carlos E.R.@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, September 08, 2026 18:54:39
    On 2026-09-08 18:02, Maria Sophia wrote:
    Carlos E.R. wrote:

    Pop quiz!

    Which three of the following are factory burned BSSIDs, vs randomized?
    a. 00:1A:2B:3C:4D:50
    b. 40:1A:2B:3C:4D:50
    c. 80:1A:2B:3C:4D:50
    d. 02:1A:2B:3C:4D:50
    e. 46:1A:2B:3C:4D:50
    f. 8A:1A:2B:3C:4D:50

    HINT: Look at the binary representation of the second character
    (check the second-to-last bit, i.e., the Universal/Local flag).


    d e f


    --
    Cheers, Carlos.
    ES??, EU??;

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)