How to connect to access point by MAC address?

I called up the hotel support and they changed the channel of one of the access points from 6 to 9 (they all have the same SSID).

If we can't connect by choosing the MAC address of the desired access point, can we at least connect somehow aiming for the channel?

How can we specify the CHANNEL or MAC to connect to given a series of access points all of which have the same SSID?

Where is Jeff Liebermann when I need him!

I'm still stuck at the hotel with a lousy signal even though a perfectly good signal is right next to the one my windows xp computer connected to! :(

Using netstumbler, I can *see* the best hotel connection (graphed below)

00:00:00:00:00:01 SSID = hotel1 Channel = 9 SNR = 45 00:00:00:00:00:02 SSID = hotel1 Channel = 5 SNR = 36 00:00:00:00:00:03 SSID = hotel1 Channel = 6* SNR = 24

bethgreen hath wroth:

At the local hospital running pre-op tests. I'm about to have a large portion of my bank account surgically removed.

You can't do that using Windoze Wireless Zero Config. It only selects connections using SSID.

What you need is a connection manager that's somewhat smarter than WZC. I think WiFi Hopper will do the trick:

It's a combination connection manager and Netstumber style site survey tool. After the trial period, the connection manager part stops working, but it should run long enough to solve your problem.

Bingo. I found this under the features list for the connection manager. "Only connect to a network when the BSSID matches that of the configured network." The BSSID is the access point MAC address.

Try it and see what it does. I can't try it because I stupidly left my laptop at the office. Let us know what happens.

I know one time I was at a motel and must have been right in the middle of a few access points because my connection was horrible.. All I was doing was bouncing between two or three access points.. None of them stayed at a consistant enough single to stay connected to with windows.. Finally did some checking with netstumbler and found out the mac accress of the ap that had the best consistant signal. I used the dell wireless utility which allowed me to specify a mac address to connect to.. Once I did that everything was fine.

I have a Dell laptop. What/where is that Dell wireless utility?

bethgreen hath wroth:

If your unspecified model Dell laptop happens to be running W2K or XP, and it coincidentally arrived with an Intel wireless card, it's probably also running Intel's client manager which is called "Proset". See:

Jeff Liebermann hath wroth:

I forgot to mumble that Broadcom and Atheros also have their own client managers. I guess you'll just have to disclose what model laptop and wireless contrivance you have if you want a sane answer.

Inspiron B130. I'm testing out the program you recommended. Having some issues but will try to work them out.

bethgreen hath wroth:

The wireless card is a Dell 1470 a/b/g MiniPCI card.

How to Determine the Program that Manages the Wireless Network Connection in Microsoft® Windows® XP

It comes with the "Dell Wireless Utility" also known as yet another screwy wireless connection manager:

If the program I recommended happens to be:

there's a few gotchas. It installs itself as a Windoze service. This sometimes has caused me problems when I have a mess of other connection managers installed on the same machine. Dive into: Control Panel -> Admin Tools -> Services and temporarily turn it off if there's a conflict. Also, don't be suprised if you lose your connection to some wireless access point.

Thanks. This makes sense that a plus in netstumbler means it's not the access point you're currently connected to, but one you were previously connected to in the not too distant past.

Given multiple access points with the same SSID (as in a hotel), I still haven't been able to choose which MAC or Channel I connect to - but I'm still trying!

Jeff Liebermann, you are a godsend! What I love about you is you seem to genuinely CARE about people enough to post USABLE links that are specific to the person asking the question yet which also help all OTHERS who have SIMILAR questions!

They should nominate you for the Nobel prize for nobility!

I'm having problems with my network (intermittent hotel connectivity) but I will report back as soon as I can!