WiFiMulti won't work for an added SSID that is a hidden network

[mahboud]

Board

ESP32 boards

Device Description

Any ESP32

Hardware Configuration

Basic chip with WiFi, using WifiMulti

Version

latest master (checkout manually)

IDE Name

PlatformIO

Operating System

MacOS 13.3

Flash frequency

40Mhz

PSRAM enabled

yes

Upload speed

115200

Description

When WiFi.scanNetworks runs, the results for networks that are hidden is to not return an SSID name. RSSI, BSSID, and other info is returned but no SSID.

When the APList items are compared to the SSID of that hidden network:

                for(uint32_t x = APlist.size() ; x > 0; x--) {
                    WifiAPlist_t entry = APlist[x-1];

                    if(ssid_scan == entry.ssid) { // SSID match  <======= For SSIDs that are hidden, ssid_scan is ""
                       …
                    }

There won't be a match. If we pass our SSID to WiFi.begin("hidden ssid name", "password"); that will work, but not with WiFiMulti.run() as the ssid added via WiFiMulti.addAP("hidden ssid name", "password") will never match the empty string that results from the scan.

Sketch

/*
 *  This sketch trys to Connect to the best AP based on a given list
 *
 */

#include <WiFi.h>
#include <WiFiMulti.h>

WiFiMulti wifiMulti;

void setup()
{
    Serial.begin(115200);
    delay(10);

    wifiMulti.addAP("hidden_SSID", "password1");  <=== This network never gets selected despite that AP is the stronger one. The AP is set to hide that network SSID.
    wifiMulti.addAP("ssid_2", "password2");

    Serial.println("Connecting Wifi...");
    if(wifiMulti.run() == WL_CONNECTED) {
        Serial.println("");
        Serial.println("WiFi connected");
        Serial.println("IP address: ");
        Serial.println(WiFi.localIP());
    }
}

void loop()
{
    if(wifiMulti.run() != WL_CONNECTED) {
        Serial.println("WiFi not connected!");
        delay(1000);
    }
}

Debug Message

Here is an output of a wifi scan. The first network is not hidden, and the second one is. Both networks are resident on the same AP (which somewhat explains the oddly similar BSSIDs).

[  5935][I][KiniNetworking.cpp:820] wifi_scan(): [scan] SSID            Kini Test Net
[  5942][I][KiniNetworking.cpp:821] wifi_scan(): [scan] RSSI            -56
[  5948][I][KiniNetworking.cpp:823] wifi_scan(): [scan] BSSID           18:E8:29:57:B5:4A
[  5955][I][KiniNetworking.cpp:721] print_auth_mode(): [scan] Authmode  WIFI_AUTH_WPA2_PSK
[  5963][I][KiniNetworking.cpp:756] print_cipher_type(): [scan] Pairwise Cipher         WIFI_CIPHER_TYPE_CCMP
[  5972][I][KiniNetworking.cpp:780] print_cipher_type(): [scan] Group Cipher    WIFI_CIPHER_TYPE_CCMP
[  5981][I][KiniNetworking.cpp:828] wifi_scan(): [scan] Channel                 1

[  5987][I][KiniNetworking.cpp:820] wifi_scan(): [scan] SSID 
[  5992][I][KiniNetworking.cpp:821] wifi_scan(): [scan] RSSI            -59
[  5998][I][KiniNetworking.cpp:823] wifi_scan(): [scan] BSSID           1E:E8:29:57:B5:4A
[  6005][I][KiniNetworking.cpp:721] print_auth_mode(): [scan] Authmode  WIFI_AUTH_WPA2_PSK
[  6013][I][KiniNetworking.cpp:756] print_cipher_type(): [scan] Pairwise Cipher         WIFI_CIPHER_TYPE_CCMP
[  6022][I][KiniNetworking.cpp:780] print_cipher_type(): [scan] Group Cipher    WIFI_CIPHER_TYPE_CCMP
[  6031][I][KiniNetworking.cpp:828] wifi_scan(): [scan] Channel                 1

Other Steps to Reproduce

Use WiFi.scanNetworks in an environment where you have hidden and unhidden SSID.

I have checked existing issues, online documentation and the Troubleshooting Guide

• I confirm I have checked existing issues, online documentation and Troubleshooting guide.

[SuGlider]

@mahboud - This feature has been requested before in #7189.
Arduino team is currently working on IDF 5.1 refactoring for the new Arduino Core 3.0.0.

It may take some long time for us to work on it.
Please feel free to post a PR at any time.