Our setup is the following:
- 5 halowlink 2 configured in an 802.11s mesh network
- 1 with internet uplink in a static location
- 2 in a chain going “around” an obstruction
- 2 on mobile robots that are driving around the L shaped area covering around maybe a 1x1km L shape.
Settings on the device are mostly defaults, and nearly identical. The only major difference is that the robots have mesh forwarding turned off, which keeps the mesh “backbone” limited to the 3 fixed position devices.
The issue appears to be that as the robots drive in and out of range of the mesh nodes, they eventually saturate the link limit of 10, despite there only being 5 devices on the network.
We get this log message repeating on the mesh node (and/or robot side):
Wed Jul 29 16:51:55 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Rebooting halow devices on both ends clears this for a while, but so long as the robots are driving in and out of connection it will recurr reliably after a fairly short time.
The “over quota” doesn’t align with what we see in the web-ui or cli:
ubus -v call mesh11s get_topology
{
"nodeinfo": {
"macaddress": "94:83:c4:82:6b:ec",
"hostname": "MeshNode144",
"mesh_peer_count": 2
},
"neighbors": [
{
"mac": "94:83:c4:82:73:b4",
"signal": -78
},
{
"mac": "94:83:c4:82:6b:b0",
"signal": -83
}
],
"paths": [
]
}
(the two devices are the two other static halow devices. One the robot in question that can’t connect is ‘94:83:c4:7d:f4:c0’ which will occasionally show up on the mesh graph with a strong connection in one direction and MCS0 in the other (after a log message wlan0: new peer notification for 94:83:c4:7d:f4:c0 )
iw dev wlan0 mpath dump
DEST ADDR NEXT HOP IFACE SN METRIC QLEN EXPTIME DTIM DRET FLAGS HOP_COUNT PATH_CHANGE
94:83:c4:82:6b:b0 94:83:c4:82:6b:b0 wlan0 27793 1123 0 49970 400 0 0x15 1 1
94:83:c4:82:73:b4 94:83:c4:82:73:b4 wlan0 9616 1123 0 9910 400 0 0x15 1 7
mesh11sd status
{
"setup":{
"version":"1.2.0",
"enabled":"1",
"service":"running",
"checkinterval":"10",
"interface_timeout":"10",
"debuglevel":"1"
}
"interfaces":{
"wlan0":{
"mesh_retry_timeout":"100",
"mesh_confirm_timeout":"100",
"mesh_holding_timeout":"100",
"mesh_max_peer_links":"10",
"mesh_max_retries":"3",
"mesh_ttl":"31",
"mesh_element_ttl":"31",
"mesh_auto_open_plinks":"0",
"mesh_hwmp_max_preq_retries":"6",
"mesh_path_refresh_time":"10000",
"mesh_min_discovery_timeout":"400",
"mesh_hwmp_active_path_timeout":"50000",
"mesh_hwmp_preq_min_interval":"10",
"mesh_hwmp_net_diameter_traversal_time":"200",
"mesh_hwmp_rootmode":"0",
"mesh_hwmp_rann_interval":"5000",
"mesh_gate_announcements":"0",
"mesh_fwding":"1",
"mesh_sync_offset_max_neighor":"50",
"mesh_rssi_threshold":"-85",
"mesh_hwmp_active_path_to_root_timeout":"6000",
"mesh_hwmp_root_interval":"5000",
"mesh_hwmp_confirmation_interval":"2000",
"mesh_power_mode":"active",
"mesh_awake_window":"10",
"mesh_plink_timeout":"0",
"mesh_connected_to_gate":"0",
"mesh_nolearn":"0",
"mesh_connected_to_as":"0",
"interface":"unmanaged"
}
}
}
(from a mesh node that’s actively not allowing a robot to connect with the above log error about max 10 peers)
halowlink 2 image:
ubus call morseupgrade query
{
"board": "morse,halowlink2",
"openwrt_version": "23.05.6",
"morse_version": "Morse-2.11.13",
"target": "ramips/mt7621",
"rootfs_type": "squashfs"
}
mesh config:
cat /etc/config/mesh11sd
config mesh11sd 'setup'
option debuglevel '1'
option checkinterval '10'
option interface_timeout '10'
option enabled '1'
config mesh11sd 'mesh_params'
option mesh_fwding '1'
option mesh_max_peer_links '10'
option mesh_rssi_threshold '-85'
option mesh_ttl '31'
option mesh_hwmp_rootmode '0'
option mesh_gate_announcements '0'
option mesh_nolearn '0'
config mesh11sd 'mbca'
option mbca_config '1'
option mesh_beacon_timing_report_int '10'
option mbss_start_scan_duration_ms '2048'
option mbca_min_beacon_gap_ms '25'
option mbca_tbtt_adj_interval_sec '60'
config mesh11sd 'mesh_beaconless'
option mesh_beacon_less_mode '0'
config mesh11sd 'mesh_dynamic_peering'
option enabled '1'
option mesh_rssi_margin '5'
option mesh_blacklist_timeout '60'
Is this error happening on the linux side, or on the halow chipset itself?
Is there a setting that can avoid it?
My guesses are that either the limit isn’t being reliably decremented either on some linux service or on the module itself, either due to a corner case bug in wpa_supplicant_s1g, one of the underlying layers, or on the module firmware.
Rebooting the whole radio introduces knocks all devices offline for a solid minute, which is disruptive, and this seems like it shouldn’t be happening.
ubus call wpa_supplicant.wlan0 reload also seems to clear the issue and the device reconnects.
Here’s a full log of the device in this state and then reconnected:
Wed Jul 29 17:54:47 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:47 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:47 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:48 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:48 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:49 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: new peer notification for 94:83:c4:7d:f4:c0
Wed Jul 29 17:54:49 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:49 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:49 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:49 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:49 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:50 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:51 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: new peer notification for 94:83:c4:7d:f4:c0
Wed Jul 29 17:54:52 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:52 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:52 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:52 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:52 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:52 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:53 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:53 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:54 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:54 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:54 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:54 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:56 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: new peer notification for 94:83:c4:7d:f4:c0
Wed Jul 29 17:54:56 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:56 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:57 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:57 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:57 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:57 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:58 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: new peer notification for 94:83:c4:7d:f4:c0
Wed Jul 29 17:54:58 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:58 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:58 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:58 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:59 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:54:59 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: MPM: Peer link num over quota(10)
Wed Jul 29 17:55:22 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: morse_sta_configure_channelization: channelization scheme 3 country US
Wed Jul 29 17:55:22 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: morse_set_channelization_scheme: scheme=3
Wed Jul 29 17:55:22 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: MESH-GROUP-REMOVED wlan0
Wed Jul 29 17:55:22 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: leaving mesh
Wed Jul 29 17:55:22 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: MESH-PEER-DISCONNECTED 94:83:c4:82:6b:b0
Wed Jul 29 17:55:22 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: MESH-PEER-DISCONNECTED 94:83:c4:82:73:b4
Wed Jul 29 17:55:22 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: interface state ENABLED->DISABLED
Wed Jul 29 17:55:22 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: AP-DISABLED
Wed Jul 29 17:55:22 2026 daemon.notice netifd: Network device 'wlan0' link is down
Wed Jul 29 17:55:22 2026 kern.info kernel: [420283.325456] br-wlan: port 4(wlan0) entered disabled state
Wed Jul 29 17:55:22 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=94:83:c4:82:6b:ec reason=3 locally_generated=1
Wed Jul 29 17:55:22 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-DSCP-POLICY clear_all
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 kern.info kernel: [420285.931753] br-wlan: port 4(wlan0) entered disabled state
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 kern.info kernel: [420285.933721] device wlan0 left promiscuous mode
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 kern.info kernel: [420285.933870] br-wlan: port 4(wlan0) entered disabled state
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 kern.info kernel: [420285.995379] br-wlan: port 4(wlan0) entered blocking state
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 kern.info kernel: [420285.995448] br-wlan: port 4(wlan0) entered disabled state
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 kern.info kernel: [420285.996138] device wlan0 entered promiscuous mode
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice netifd: wlan (3214): udhcpc: sending renew to server 192.168.1.1
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: morse_ap_configure_channelization: channelization scheme 3 country US
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: morse_set_channelization_scheme: scheme=3
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: S1G mapped HT channel 102
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: morse_ap_configure_channelization: channelization scheme 3 country US
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: morse_set_channelization_scheme: scheme=3
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: S1G mapped HT channel 102
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: mesh: ieee80211w:2 PMF:0
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: morse_set_interface: s1g_chan_center=22, ht_center_chan=102, ht_chan=100
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: S1G operating channel 22 (BW: 2, freq: 913000, local class: 2)
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: S1G primary channel 21 (BW: 1, 1MHz primary chan index: 0, global class: 68)
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: interface state UNINITIALIZED->ENABLED
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: AP-ENABLED
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'wlan' has lost the connection
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.warn dnsmasq[1]: no servers found in /tmp/resolv.conf.d/resolv.conf.auto, will retry
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: joining mesh <our_ssid>
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice netifd: Network device 'wlan0' link is up
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to 94:83:c4:82:6b:ec completed [id=1 id_str=]
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: MESH-GROUP-STARTED ssid="<our_ssid>" id=1
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 kern.info kernel: [420286.202018] br-wlan: port 4(wlan0) entered blocking state
Wed Jul 29 17:55:25 2026 kern.info kernel: [420286.202100] br-wlan: port 4(wlan0) entered forwarding state
Wed Jul 29 17:55:26 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: new peer notification for 94:83:c4:82:6b:b0
Wed Jul 29 17:55:26 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: new peer notification for 94:83:c4:82:73:b4
Wed Jul 29 17:55:29 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: mesh plink with 94:83:c4:82:73:b4 established
Wed Jul 29 17:55:29 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: MESH-PEER-CONNECTED 94:83:c4:82:73:b4
Wed Jul 29 17:55:29 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: mesh plink with 94:83:c4:82:6b:b0 established
Wed Jul 29 17:55:29 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: MESH-PEER-CONNECTED 94:83:c4:82:6b:b0
Wed Jul 29 17:55:31 2026 daemon.notice netifd: wlan (3214): udhcpc: broadcasting select for 192.168.1.190, server 192.168.1.1
Wed Jul 29 17:55:32 2026 daemon.notice netifd: wlan (3214): udhcpc: lease of 192.168.1.190 obtained from 192.168.1.1, lease time 3600
Wed Jul 29 17:55:32 2026 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'wlan' is now up
Wed Jul 29 17:55:32 2026 daemon.info dnsmasq[1]: reading /tmp/resolv.conf.d/resolv.conf.auto
Wed Jul 29 17:55:32 2026 daemon.info dnsmasq[1]: using nameserver 192.168.1.1#53
Wed Jul 29 17:55:32 2026 daemon.info dnsmasq[1]: using only locally-known addresses for test
Wed Jul 29 17:55:32 2026 daemon.info dnsmasq[1]: using only locally-known addresses for onion
Wed Jul 29 17:55:32 2026 daemon.info dnsmasq[1]: using only locally-known addresses for localhost
Wed Jul 29 17:55:32 2026 daemon.info dnsmasq[1]: using only locally-known addresses for local
Wed Jul 29 17:55:32 2026 daemon.info dnsmasq[1]: using only locally-known addresses for invalid
Wed Jul 29 17:55:32 2026 daemon.info dnsmasq[1]: using only locally-known addresses for bind
Wed Jul 29 17:55:32 2026 daemon.info dnsmasq[1]: using only locally-known addresses for lan
Wed Jul 29 17:55:32 2026 user.notice firewall: Reloading firewall due to ifup of wlan (br-wlan)
Wed Jul 29 17:56:17 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: new peer notification for 94:83:c4:7d:f4:c0
Wed Jul 29 17:56:18 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: mesh plink with 94:83:c4:7d:f4:c0 established
Wed Jul 29 17:56:18 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3287]: wlan0: MESH-PEER-CONNECTED 94:83:c4:7d:f4:c0
Additionally I’m seeing auth failure blocks:
Wed Jul 29 19:23:22 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: new peer notification for 94:83:c4:82:73:70
Wed Jul 29 19:23:37 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: MESH-SAE-AUTH-FAILURE addr=94:83:c4:82:73:70
Wed Jul 29 19:23:54 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: MESH-SAE-AUTH-FAILURE addr=94:83:c4:82:73:70
Wed Jul 29 19:24:10 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: MESH-SAE-AUTH-FAILURE addr=94:83:c4:82:73:70
Wed Jul 29 19:24:26 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: MESH-SAE-AUTH-FAILURE addr=94:83:c4:82:73:70
Wed Jul 29 19:24:26 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: MESH-SAE-AUTH-BLOCKED addr=94:83:c4:82:73:70 duration=300
Wed Jul 29 19:28:29 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: new peer notification for 94:83:c4:82:73:70
Wed Jul 29 19:28:46 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: MESH-SAE-AUTH-FAILURE addr=94:83:c4:82:73:70
Wed Jul 29 19:29:00 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: MESH-SAE-AUTH-FAILURE addr=94:83:c4:82:73:70
Wed Jul 29 19:29:16 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: MESH-SAE-AUTH-FAILURE addr=94:83:c4:82:73:70
Wed Jul 29 19:29:20 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: new peer notification for 94:83:c4:82:73:70
Wed Jul 29 19:29:22 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: new peer notification for 94:83:c4:82:73:70
Wed Jul 29 19:29:33 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: MESH-SAE-AUTH-FAILURE addr=94:83:c4:82:73:70
Wed Jul 29 19:29:47 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: MESH-SAE-AUTH-FAILURE addr=94:83:c4:82:73:70
Wed Jul 29 19:29:57 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: MESH-SAE-AUTH-FAILURE addr=94:83:c4:82:73:70
Wed Jul 29 19:30:16 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: MESH-SAE-AUTH-FAILURE addr=94:83:c4:82:73:70
Wed Jul 29 19:30:16 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: MESH-SAE-AUTH-BLOCKED addr=94:83:c4:82:73:70 duration=300
Wed Jul 29 19:31:49 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: mesh plink with 94:83:c4:82:73:70 established
Wed Jul 29 19:31:49 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: MESH-PEER-CONNECTED 94:83:c4:82:73:70
Wed Jul 29 19:32:09 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: new peer notification for 94:83:c4:82:71:68
Wed Jul 29 19:32:27 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: new peer notification for 94:83:c4:82:71:68
Wed Jul 29 19:32:43 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: MESH-SAE-AUTH-FAILURE addr=94:83:c4:82:71:68
Wed Jul 29 19:32:48 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: mesh plink with 94:83:c4:82:71:68 established
Wed Jul 29 19:32:48 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: MESH-PEER-CONNECTED 94:83:c4:82:71:68
Wed Jul 29 19:39:14 2026 daemon.notice wpa_supplicant_s1g[3535]: wlan0: MESH-PEER-DISCONNECTED 94:83:c4:82:73:70