OID_DOT11_START_AP_REQUEST

Important  The Native 802.11 Wireless LAN interface is deprecated in Windows 10 and later. Please use the WLAN Device Driver Interface (WDI) instead. For more information about WDI, see WLAN Universal Windows driver model.

When set, the OID_DOT11_START_AP_REQUEST object identifier (OID) requests that the miniport driver configure the NIC to start the infrastructure network and to serve as an access point (AP). The NIC must switch from ExtAP INIT mode to ExtAP OP mode.

Note  Support for this OID is mandatory.

The NIC must be in ExtAP INIT mode in order to configure new AP profile settings. If the NIC is in ExtAP OP mode, the operating system will issue an OID_DOT11_RESET_REQUEST before it configures a new AP profile.

Before the operating system issues an OID_DOT11_START_AP_REQUEST to start an 802.11 infrastructure network, it adds configuration parameters for the network by using set requests on one or more of the following OIDs:

• OID_DOT11_ADDITIONAL_IE

• OID_DOT11_AUTO_CONFIG_ENABLED

• OID_DOT11_BEACON_PERIOD

• OID_DOT11_CIPHER_DEFAULT_KEY

• OID_DOT11_CIPHER_DEFAULT_KEY_ID

• OID_DOT11_CIPHER_KEY_MAPPING_KEY

• OID_DOT11_CURRENT_CHANNEL

• OID_DOT11_CURRENT_FREQUENCY

• OID_DOT11_CURRENT_OPERATION_MODE

• OID_DOT11_CURRENT_PHY_ID

• OID_DOT11_DESIRED_PHY_LIST

• OID_DOT11_DESIRED_SSID_LIST

• OID_DOT11_DTIM_PERIOD

• OID_DOT11_ENABLED_AUTHENTICATION_ALGORITHM

• OID_DOT11_ENABLED_MULTICAST_CIPHER_ALGORITHM

• OID_DOT11_ENABLED_UNICAST_CIPHER_ALGORITHM

• OID_DOT11_EXCLUDE_UNENCRYPTED

• OID_DOT11_FLUSH_BSS_LIST

• OID_DOT11_FRAGMENTATION_THRESHOLD

• OID_DOT11_MULTICAST_LIST

• OID_DOT11_NIC_POWER_STATE

• OID_DOT11_OPERATIONAL_RATE_SET

• OID_DOT11_PRIVACY_EXEMPTION_LIST

• OID_DOT11_RESET_REQUEST

• OID_DOT11_SCAN_REQUEST

The following interaction sequence between miniport driver and operating system takes place:

1. The operating system sets the network service set identifier (SSID) by setting OID_DOT11_DESIRED_SSID_LIST.

2. The miniport driver should set the basic service set identifier (BSSID) to be the NIC's MAC address.

3. The miniport driver can optionally set OID_DOT11_BEACON_PERIOD to schedule the NIC's transmission of 802.11 Beacon frames.

4. The operating system sets security-related OIDs in the following order:

   • OID_DOT11_ENABLED_AUTHENTICATION_ALGORITHM
   • OID_DOT11_ENABLED_UNICAST_CIPHER_ALGORITHM
   • OID_DOT11_ENABLED_MULTICAST_CIPHER_ALGORITHM(optional). If this OID is not set, the NIC should use the unicast cipher algorithm.

   Any OIDs not listed here that can be set in ExtAP INIT mode can come to the miniport driver in any order.

   If the miniport driver receives an OID_DOT11_START_AP_REQUEST set request after it has indicated NDIS_STATUS_DOT11_STOP_AP but before it has indicated NDIS_STATUS_DOT11_CAN_SUSTAIN_AP, the driver should fail the OID request with a failure code of NDIS_STATUS_INVALID_STATE.

   The NIC should support 802.11 open authentication and shared-key authentication infrastructure security. The NIC can additionally support any of the following infrastructure security features:

   • WPA
   • WPA-PSK
   • RSNA
   • RSNA-PSK

5. For each enabled 802.11a PHY, the miniport driver should set OID_DOT11_CURRENT_FREQUENCY.

6. For each enabled 802.11b or g PHY, the miniport driver should set OID_DOT11_CURRENT_CHANNEL.

7. The operating system sets other Microsoft standard configuration parameters, such as a packet exemption list that exempts packets with certain Ethernet types from cipher operations.

For any optional settings that are not set by the operating system, the miniport driver should use the default values provided by the NIC manufacturer.

The miniport driver should use the first entry from the desired SSID list as the SSID for the NIC. The BSSID of the network must be the MAC address of the NIC. If the msDot11DesiredPhyList management information base (MIB) object is DOT11_PHY_ID_ANY, the miniport driver can start the new BSS on any PHY. If msDot11DesiredPhyList contains a list of specific PHY identifiers, the miniport driver should start the new BSS by using the first specified PHY identifier.

The NIC should send out 802.11 beacon packets periodically as specified in the IEEE 802.11 Standard. When the NIC does this, it should attach the list of additional information elements (IEs) to the end of each beacon packet. The operating system will guarantee that it will not set WPA and WMM IEs in its list of IEs. For more information on how the miniport driver should handle additional IE data, see OID_DOT11_ADDITIONAL_IE.

Requirements

See also

NDIS_STATUS_DOT11_CAN_SUSTAIN_AP

NDIS_STATUS_DOT11_STOP_AP

OID_DOT11_ADDITIONAL_IE

Native 802.11 Wireless LAN OIDs