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
