Re: [PATCH] device: prefer wifi over wwan by default

[Bastien Nocera <hadess hadess net>]

On Wed, 2015-07-22 at 18:29 +0200, Jean-Christian de Rivaz wrote:
> Le 22. 07. 15 17:56, Dan Williams a écrit :
> > On Wed, 2015-07-22 at 10:53 +0200, Lubomir Rintel wrote:
> > > On Tue, 2015-07-21 at 11:37 +0200, Tore Anderson wrote:
> > > > This makes wifi preferred to wwan (the modem and bluetooth 
> > > > device
> > > > types
> > > > to be specific) by default, so that users that care about being
> > > > connected at all times can keep both enabled with auto-connect. 
> > > > As
> > > > wifi
> > > > is usually unmetered and often faster than wwan, it makes sense 
> > > > to
> > > > prefer it. This is also how pretty much every smart-phone in 
> > > > the
> > > > world
> > > > behaves, so it aligns better with user expectations too.
> > > >
> > > > https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=744754
> > > > ---
> > > >   src/devices/nm-device.c | 8 ++++----
> > > >   1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
> > > >
> > > > diff --git a/src/devices/nm-device.c b/src/devices/nm-device.c
> > > > index eba15a3..332182a 100644
> > > > --- a/src/devices/nm-device.c
> > > > +++ b/src/devices/nm-device.c
> > > > @@ -721,14 +721,14 @@ nm_device_get_priority (NMDevice *self)
> > > >                 return 400;
> > > >         case NM_DEVICE_TYPE_BRIDGE:
> > > >                 return 425;
> > > > -       case NM_DEVICE_TYPE_MODEM:
> > > > -               return 450;
> > > > -       case NM_DEVICE_TYPE_BT:
> > > > -               return 550;
> > > >         case NM_DEVICE_TYPE_WIFI:
> > > >                 return 600;
> > > >         case NM_DEVICE_TYPE_OLPC_MESH:
> > > >                 return 650;
> > > > +       case NM_DEVICE_TYPE_MODEM:
> > > > +               return 700;
> > > > +       case NM_DEVICE_TYPE_BT:
> > > > +               return 750;
> > > >         case NM_DEVICE_TYPE_GENERIC:
> > > >                 return 950;
> > > >         case NM_DEVICE_TYPE_UNKNOWN:
> > >
> > > Thank you. Applied to master & 1.0 stable branch.
> > I'm OK with this too, though the original idea was that more
> > "intentional" connections would be preferred.  eg, WWAN is a lot 
> > less
> > automatic than WiFi, and often costs you more money, thus if you
> > activate a WWAN device you probably want to use it...
>
> Hi Dan,
>
> As a user I have to disagree with your doubt on this welcome change.
>
> While WiFi at least imply that the user select an SSID, there exists 
> SIM 
> cards that are delivered configured to not require a PIN code or a 
> APN 
> password from the user. This make the cellular modem connection even 
> 'less intentional' than a WiFi connection from a user point of view. 
> Still the cellular modem is far more costly than the WiFi, so it's 
> logic 
> to select the WiFi over the cellular modem by default.
>
> As a traveler, I alway want to select the WiFi over the cellular 
> modem 
> even if the cellular modem is fully configured, to obviously avoid a 
> much as possible the cellular modem roaming cost when a nearby WiFI 
> provides a good enough internet access.
>
> Can't understand why it was not the default from the beginning.

I'll add that if and when we get access to EAP-SIM support, a number of
Wi-Fi hotspots will be able to use the SIM card as a mean of
authentication.