This is a short post about how to direct the internal NIC on a MacBook to connect to a particular AP BSSID through setting the target channel.

• Symlinking the airport utility
• airport channel locking procedure

Symlinking the airport utility

First things first. Let’s make it easy to find the hidden but included airport utility by creating a symbolic link to a directory on the PATH environment variable.

Symlink the airport utility to /usr/sbin.

sudo ln -s /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport /usr/sbin/airport

airport channel locking procedure

1. Disassociate

2. Set target channel with the airport utility

   sudo airport --channel=120
   

   Confirm with-

   airport -I
   

3. Associate

Fingers crossed the Wi-Fi NIC connects to the target channel. I’ve tested with some success on macOS Ventura 13.2.1 on an Intel-based MacBook Pro. Let me know if it works or doesn’t.