NRF70 SoftAP Sample: Station Disconnects at Exactly 5 Minutes

[dev_nxp]

When running the NRF Connect SDK SoftAP sample, connected stations disconnect at **exactly 5 minutes** (300 seconds) into the session, regardless of activity or configuration. A new station can immediately reconnect, indicating the AP itself is functional.

## Environment
- **Board:** NUCLEO-U575ZI-Q
- **SDK:** nRF Connect SDK v3.1.1
- **Zephyr:** v4.1.99
- **Hardware:** NRF7002EK Wi-Fi chip 

## logs
```
[00:00:24.267] <inf> wpa_supp: wlan0: AP-STA-CONNECTED 8c:3b:4a:5c:73:02
[00:05:27.219] <inf> wpa_supp: wlan0: AP-STA-DISCONNECTED 8c:3b:4a:5c:73:02
```

- Station connects, then disconnects after ~5 minutes
- Timing is **consistent and precise** across multiple tests
- Happens **regardless of whether traffic is flowing** on the connection
- Second client can reconnect immediately afterward
- No error messages before disconnection

## What's Been Tried
1. Disabled inactivity timeouts:
   - `CONFIG_WIFI_MGMT_AP_STA_INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT=0`
   - `CONFIG_WIFI_NM_WPA_SUPPLICANT_BSS_MAX_IDLE_TIME=0`

2. Increased heap allocations:
   - `CONFIG_NRF_WIFI_DATA_HEAP_SIZE=80000`
   - `CONFIG_HEAP_MEM_POOL_SIZE=65536`
   - `CONFIG_MBEDTLS_HEAP_SIZE=32768`

3. Verified application code has no disconnect logic

Has anyone encountered this behavior? Is there a firmware setting, hidden Kconfig option, or known limitation causing the 5-minute session limit on the NRF70 in AP mode?

[00:00:00.004,000] <inf> wifi_nrf_bus: SPIM spi@40013000: freq = 8 MHz
[00:00:00.004,000] <inf> wifi_nrf_bus: SPIM spi@40013000: latency = 0
*** Booting nRF Connect SDK v3.1.1-e2a97fe2578a ***
*** Using Zephyr OS v4.1.99-ff8f0c579eeb ***
[00:00:00.336,000] <inf> net_config: Initializing network
[00:00:00.336,000] <inf> net_config: Waiting interface 1 (0x2000140c) to be up...
[00:00:00.336,000] <inf> net_config: IPv4 address: 192.168.1.1
[00:00:00.337,000] <inf> softap: Waiting for Wi-Fi to be ready
[00:00:00.337,000] <inf> wifi_supplicant: wpa_supplicant initialized
[00:00:00.474,000] <inf> softap: Regulatory domain set to 00
[00:00:00.474,000] <inf> softap: DHCPv4 server started and pool address starts from 192.168.1.2
[00:00:01.585,000] <inf> wpa_supp: wlan0: interface state UNINITIALIZED->ENABLED
[00:00:01.585,000] <inf> wpa_supp: wlan0: AP-ENABLED 
[00:00:01.585,000] <inf> wpa_supp: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to f4:ce:36:00:14:44 completed [id=0 id_str=]
[00:00:01.589,000] <inf> softap: AP enable requested
[00:00:01.590,000] <inf> softap: AP mode enabled
[00:00:01.592,000] <inf> softap: Status: successful
[00:00:01.592,000] <inf> softap: ==================
[00:00:01.592,000] <inf> softap: State: COMPLETED
[00:00:01.592,000] <inf> softap: Interface Mode: ACCESS POINT
[00:00:01.592,000] <inf> softap: Link Mode: UNKNOWN
[00:00:01.592,000] <inf> softap: SSID: Myssid
[00:00:01.592,000] <inf> softap: BSSID: F4:CE:36:00:14:44
[00:00:01.592,000] <inf> softap: Band: 2.4GHz
[00:00:01.592,000] <inf> softap: Channel: 1
[00:00:01.592,000] <inf> softap: Security: WPA2-PSK
[00:00:01.592,000] <inf> softap: MFP: Disable
[00:00:01.592,000] <inf> softap: Beacon Interval: 100
[00:00:01.592,000] <inf> softap: DTIM: 2
[00:00:01.592,000] <inf> softap: TWT: Not supported
[00:00:24.266,000] <inf> wpa_supp: wlan0: AP-STA-CONNECTED 8c:3b:4a:5c:73:02
[00:00:24.267,000] <inf> softap: Station connected: 8C:3B:4A:5C:73:02
[00:00:24.267,000] <inf> softap: AP stations:
[00:00:24.267,000] <inf> softap: ============
[00:00:24.267,000] <inf> softap: Station 1:
[00:00:24.267,000] <inf> softap: ==========
[00:00:24.267,000] <inf> softap: MAC: 8C:3B:4A:5C:73:02
[00:00:24.267,000] <inf> softap: Link mode: WIFI 4 (802.11n/HT)
[00:00:24.267,000] <inf> softap: TWT: Not supported
[00:00:24.267,000] <inf> wpa_supp: wlan0: EAPOL-4WAY-HS-COMPLETED 8c:3b:4a:5c:73:02
[00:05:27.219,000] <inf> wpa_supp: wlan0: AP-STA-DISCONNECTED 8c:3b:4a:5c:73:02

[Simonr]

Hi

A few suggestions you can try:

Try using https://docs.zephyrproject.org/latest/doxygen/html/structwifi__ap__config__params.html#a289866d9209450e893281b4c198a546a to set the max inactivity time for SoftAP through API and if using shell then https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/blob/main/subsys/net/l2/wifi/wifi_shell.c#L2158 wifi ap enable ... -t<> .

If that doesn't work, please try setting CONFIG_NRF_WIFI_LOW_POWER=n in your prj.conf file and see if that makes a difference.

Best regards,

Simon

[dev_nxp]

Hi Simon,

Thanks, and sorry for the long wait.

I’m unable to set the AP configuration parameters via shell or through the following call:

ret = net_mgmt(NET_REQUEST_WIFI_AP_CONFIG_PARAM, iface,
               &ap_config, sizeof(struct wifi_ap_config_params));

Meanwhile, I tested the same behavior on the nRF7002DK — it also disconnects after about 5 minutes.

I’ve attached both sets of logs (from the shell and through net_mgmt).

[00:00:00.004,000] <inf> wifi_nrf_bus: SPIM spi@40013000: freq = 8 MHz
[00:00:00.004,000] <inf> wifi_nrf_bus: SPIM spi@40013000: latency = 0
[00:00:00.306,000] <inf> fs_nvs: 8 Sectors of 8192 bytes
[00:00:00.306,000] <inf> fs_nvs: alloc wra: 0, 1fd0
[00:00:00.306,000] <inf> fs_nvs: data wra: 0, 0
*** Booting nRF Connect SDK v3.1.1-e2a97fe2578a ***
*** Using Zephyr OS v4.1.99-ff8f0c579eeb ***                                    
Starting nucleo_u575zi_q with CPU frequency: 160 MHz                            
[00:00:00.307,000] <inf> wifi_supplicant: wpa_supplicant initialized            
<b>uart:~$ </b>wifi ap config -t 300                                                 
<b>Setting AP parameter failed: Not supported</b>                                      
<b>uart:~$ </b>wifi ap enable -s "MyAP" -c 6 -k 1 -p "password"
AP enabled
AP mode enable requested
[00:00:27.172,000] <b><wrn> net_if: iface 1 pkt 0x20053898 send failure status -1</b>
[00:00:27.191,000] <inf> wpa_supp: wlan0: interface state UNINITIALIZED->ENABLED
[00:00:27.191,000] <inf> wpa_supp: wlan0: AP-ENABLED 
[00:00:27.191,000] <inf> wpa_supp: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to f4:ce:36:00:14:44 completed [id=0 id_str=]
Station connected: 8C:3B:4A:5C:73:02
[00:00:36.670,000] <inf> wpa_supp: wlan0: AP-STA-CONNECTED 8c:3b:4a:5c:73:02
[00:00:36.670,000] <inf> wpa_supp: wlan0: EAPOL-4WAY-HS-COMPLETED 8c:3b:4a:5c:73:02
uart:~$

SEGGER J-Link V11.0, SN=821001746
Process: JLinkExe
[00:00:00.004,000] <inf> wifi_nrf_bus: SPIM spi@40013000: freq = 8 MHz
[00:00:00.004,000] <inf> wifi_nrf_bus: SPIM spi@40013000: latency = 0
*** Booting nRF Connect SDK v3.1.1-e2a97fe2578a ***
*** Using Zephyr OS v4.1.99-ff8f0c579eeb ***
[00:00:00.337,000] <inf> net_config: Initializing network
[00:00:00.337,000] <inf> net_config: Waiting interface 1 (0x2000140c) to be up...
[00:00:00.337,000] <inf> net_config: IPv4 address: 192.168.1.1
[00:00:00.337,000] <inf> softap: Waiting for Wi-Fi to be ready
[00:00:00.337,000] <inf> wifi_supplicant: wpa_supplicant initialized
[00:00:00.474,000] <inf> softap: Regulatory domain set to 00
[00:00:00.474,000] <inf> softap: DHCPv4 server started and pool address starts from 192.168.1.2
[00:00:01.587,000] <inf> wpa_supp: wlan0: interface state UNINITIALIZED->ENABLED
[00:00:01.587,000] <inf> wpa_supp: wlan0: AP-ENABLED 
[00:00:01.587,000] <inf> wpa_supp: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to f4:ce:36:00:14:44 completed [id=0 id_str=]
[00:00:01.591,000] <inf> softap: AP enable requested
[00:00:01.592,000] <inf> softap: AP mode enabled
[00:00:01.592,000] <err> softap: Failed to configure AP parameters: Not supported
[00:00:01.592,000] <err> softap: Failed to configure configure_ap_params

[Simonr]

Hi

Did you try setting CONFIG_NRF_WIFI_LOW_POWER=n in your prj.conf file for your project and confirm whether the timeout still occurs.

Best regards,

Simon

[dev_nxp]

Hi Simonr,

I forgot to mention in my previous message that I also tried setting CONFIG_NRF_WIFI_LOW_POWER=n, but the same issue still occurs.

[Simonr]

Thank you for confirming. I have forwarded this issue to our developers now and they had a few more suggestions you can try while we're looking into it.

Can you try setting skip_inactivity_poll=1 and ap_max_inactivity to a much higher value. That one seems to be 300 seconds by default. The skip_inactivity_poll setting seems to have stopped any disconnects from happening at least on our end.

Best regards,

Simon