Mint 21.1

After being out most of the afternoon I just tried to connect to a NG
and TB just wouldn't connect, even though I tried different news
servers. I then tried to connect to a webpage via a browser and got the
same page, with a BTWi-Fi address appearing instead of the address of
the page I was trying to connect to. Concerned about malware, I thought
I'd have a look at the logs to see if they helped. Searching for "BT"
returned a few entries, with three as the earliest:
16:34:01 NetworkManager: <info> [16xxxxx41.4120] policy:
auto-activating connection 'BTWi-fi' (b7xxxxx2-7ced-4108-a1e1-35a4f318c1f8)
16:34:01 NetworkManager: <info> [16xxxxx641.4139] device (wlp4s0):
Activation: starting connection 'BTWi-fi'
(b7xxxxx2-7ced-4108-a1e1-35a4f318c1f8)
16:34:01 NetworkManager: <info> [16xxxxx641.4164] device (wlp4s0):
Activation: (wifi) connection 'BTWi-fi' requires no security. No
secrets needed.
(I've substituted some values by xxxxx)

When I looked at the Network Manager, I found the default SSID was no
longer my router, but that of a BTWi-Fi router!

What the hell is an auto-activating connection? And what does
"'BTWi-fi' requires no security. No secrets needed." mean?

Is there a way of stopping Mint connecting to a strange SSID?

--

Jeff

Jeff Layman wrote:
> Is there a way of stopping Mint connecting to a strange SSID?

You didn't give us any background on your existing network topology.

Does your connectivity have anything to do w/ BT? Assuming BT to be
British Telecom.

Is your router something that is 'integrated' w/ your connectivity, such
as the way cable modems and routers are integrated in a gateway? Or is
it your 'own' personal free-standing router? Which you can access its
'innards' via a webpage?

I searched on noquote 'policy: auto-activating connection' and found
some reading. It appears that the 'default' is to auto connect to the
configured default connxn, which 'makes sense' 'tho' one could consider
that an imperfect security concept.

Here's a 3 y/o article:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1257549/is-there-any-way-to-disable-automatically-connect-to-this-network-when-availabl

> Is there any way to disable "Automatically connect to this network when available" permanently by default?

--
Mike Easter

On 15/08/2023 18:01, Mike Easter wrote:
> Jeff Layman wrote:
>> Is there a way of stopping Mint connecting to a strange SSID?
>
> You didn't give us any background on your existing network topology.

Apologies - I was trying to get the post out quickly in case there was a
security issue.

> Does your connectivity have anything to do w/ BT? Assuming BT to be
> British Telecom.

I have nothing to do with BT broadband (BT is British Telecom, and it
supplies the physical phone line and my landline telephone, but is not
my ISP). My ISP is Zen. I've been with them for 7 years, and they supply
preconfigured routers. The one I've had for over 3.5 years is a
Fritz!Box 7530. I've had absolutely no problem with it, and was able to
set up my Linux Mint to connect to it by WiFi very easily. I even set up
a guest access to it.

According to the Network Manager, there have always been several
wireless routers nearby identified as being available (although, of
course, they are not accessible without a password). These have included
BT routers, Vodafone routers, etc. I've never paid attention to these,
and my Mint has *never* tried to connect to anything other than my
Fritz!Box, either on boot or at any other time.

> Is your router something that is 'integrated' w/ your connectivity, such
> as the way cable modems and routers are integrated in a gateway? Or is
> it your 'own' personal free-standing router? Which you can access its
> 'innards' via a webpage?

Yes, I access via a webpage.

> I searched on noquote 'policy: auto-activating connection' and found
> some reading. It appears that the 'default' is to auto connect to the
> configured default connxn, which 'makes sense' 'tho' one could consider
> that an imperfect security concept.

And, as I mentioned above, that's the way it has always worked. Why it
should decide to "auto connect" to this new router is beyond me.

> Here's a 3 y/o article:"edit" icon,
> https://askubuntu.com/questions/1257549/is-there-any-way-to-disable-automatically-connect-to-this-network-when-availabl

I'll have a read of that and other refs I've found.

>> Is there any way to disable "Automatically connect to this network when available" permanently by default?

I just went into Network Manager, and clicked on "Network Connections".
That opens a box with all the available WiFi connections. If I select
any, and click on the "edit" icon, a new box opens at the "WiFi" tab. If
I open the "General" tab instead, I am offered a checkbox "Connect
automatically with priority". Now, whichever router I choose, the box is
checked, and the "priority" is set to 0. I thought I could change the
priority with the +/- buttons. Indeed, I can, but then the "save" button
is greyed out! However, if I just uncheck the checkbox, I can save that
state. I've unchecked it for the BT Wi-Fi auto-connection.

If I get any more problems I'll uncheck all except for the Fritz!Box.

--

Jeff