📶Wi-Fi 6E Client

Time for some High Efficiency Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band

In this lab we will connect one of your WLAN Pi Wi-Fi 6E modules to the 6 GHz radio of a Wi-Fi 6E AP.... And... Then we will try to capture the association of your Wi-Fi 6E client (your WLAN Pi Pro) using some of the steps from the Packet Capture lab.

Step 1 - Modify wpa_supplicant.conf

When you want the WLAN Pi to join a Wi-Fi network we need to provide configuration details for the Wi-Fi Module to follow. An empty configuration file already exists!

/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

Modify the file

sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

In the WPA3 section enter the SSID and PSK

...
WPA 3 SECTION

network={
  ssid="test6"
  psk="aruba123"
  priority=10
  key_mgmt=SAE
  ieee80211w=2
}

Save changes and exit

Step 2 - tmux

In order to proceed with this Wi-Fi association in a slick way, we will make use of the 'tmux' utility

OK, let's get fancy...

1. Launch tmux

   tmux

2. Next we will horizontally split the terminal window

   ctrl+b "

   - Press control and hold - Press b and hold - Release both keys - Press shift + " Now your screen is split into 2x panes\

3. Switch focus between the two panes

   ctrl+b o

   Your white insertion character should have jumped to the lower window Up / Down arrow keys will also work

   ctrl+b up-arrow

4. You now have 2x terminal shells available to you, on the same screen

5. Hop back to the top panel

Step 3 - Wi-Fi Connection Attempt

In your top pane initiate a Wi-Fi connection on interface wlan1

Be certain to specify wlan1

sudo wpa_supplicant -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf -i wlan1

If your association successful you should see output similar to the following:

Successfully initialized wpa_supplicant
wlan1: SME: Trying to authenticate with cc:88:c7:41:5b:90 (SSID='test6' freq=6575 MHz)
wlan1: SME: Trying to authenticate with cc:88:c7:41:5b:90 (SSID='test6' freq=6575 MHz)
wlan1: SME: Trying to authenticate with cc:88:c7:41:5b:90 (SSID='test6' freq=6575 MHz)
wlan1: SME: Trying to authenticate with cc:88:c7:41:5b:90 (SSID='test6' freq=6575 MHz)
wlan1: PMKSA-CACHE-ADDED cc:88:c7:41:5b:90 0
wlan1: Trying to associate with cc:88:c7:41:5b:90 (SSID='test6' freq=6575 MHz)
wlan1: Associated with cc:88:c7:41:5b:90
wlan1: CTRL-EVENT-SUBNET-STATUS-UPDATE status=0
wlan1: WPA: Key negotiation completed with cc:88:c7:41:5b:90 [PTK=CCMP GTK=CCMP]
wlan1: CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to cc:88:c7:41:5b:90 completed [id=0 id_str=]

How to scroll in tmux

Ctrl-b then [ then you can use your normal navigation keys to scroll around (eg. Up Arrow or PgDn). Press q to quit scroll mode.

Alternatively you can press Ctrl-b PgUp to go directly into copy mode and scroll one page up (which is what it sounds like you will want most of the time)

Step 4 - Verify Connection

Confirm you are indeed connected to a 6 GHz radio

Switch focus to the lower panel

ctrl+b o

View the status of interface wlan1

iw wlan1 info

Which channel are you connected? 😎

Step 5 - Packet Capture

Using interface wlan0 start a capture on the channel which you identified wlan1 is connected to the 6 GHz AP

Hop back to the top panel

you should know the command by now

Disconnect your client from the AP by killing this process

ctrl+c

Reconnect your 6 GHz client again, by issuing the command again

Can you find your client's traffic in the packet capture?

Step 6 - 6E Speed

Initiate an internet speedtest from the WLAN Pi with:

ookla-speedtest

or

Initiate a local segment speedtest to the Ookla Speedtest Server

ookla-speedtest-local

Step 7 - Closing out of tmux

To detach from tmux, i.e. return to your original terminal session with the WLAN Pi

ctrl+b d

Although you have 'detatched' from tmux, the session is still alive

You can re-attach to the session

tmux -a

Gracefully shutdown your tmux session with command

exit