Automatic MAC Configuration

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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.

 

If the miniport driver is operating in Extensible Station (ExtSTA) mode, it can support the automatic MAC configuration mode. If this mode is enabled, the operating system assumes that the media access control (MAC) is configured through Native 802.11 modules that are provided by the independent hardware vendor (IHV), such as its miniport driver or IHV Extensions DLL. For more information about the Native 802.11 modules provided by the IHV, see Native 802.11 Software Architecture.

The automatic MAC configuration mode is set or queried through the OID_DOT11_AUTO_CONFIG_ENABLED object identifier (OID).

When the automatic MAC configuration mode is enabled, the configuration of the MAC is set through one of the following:

  • Automatically, by the 802.11 station.

  • Dynamically, through NIC-specific extensions that are defined by the IHV. NIC-specific extensions are set or queried through a method request of OID_DOT11_NIC_SPECIFIC_EXTENSION.

  • Optionally, through the OIDs defined in 802.11 MAC Configuration. When these OIDs are set, the miniport driver can either pass or fail the set request. If it fails the set request because automatic MAC configuration mode is enabled, the miniport driver must return NDIS_STATUS_DOT11_AUTO_CONFIG_ENABLED from its MiniportOidRequest function.

When automatic MAC configuration mode is disabled, the operating system sets the MAC configuration through the OIDs defined in 802.11 MAC Configuration. The miniport driver must accept the set request if the data that accompanies the set request is valid.

Note  For the Windows Vista operating system, only the OID_DOT11_FRAGMENTATION_THRESHOLD and OID_DOT11_RTS_THRESHOLD OIDs are affected by automatic MAC configuration mode.