Struggling to create WiFi AP with Network Manager

[NickH]

Hi,
I'm brand new here but have heaps of experience with ClearOS, a CentOS derivative. I'm trying out CentOS because I'd like to see how to use WiFi with Network Manager but I'm failing and I'd appreciate some help. With nmtui and nm-connection-editor and I have a couple of configs:

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HWADDR=00:19:CB:04:59:5B
SSID=zyxel
MODE=Ap
KEY_MGMT=WPA-PSK
MAC_ADDRESS_RANDOMIZATION=default
TYPE=Wireless
PROXY_METHOD=none
BROWSER_ONLY=no
BOOTPROTO=shared
IPADDR=192.168.5.1
PREFIX=24
DEFROUTE=yes
IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL=no
IPV6INIT=yes
IPV6_AUTOCONF=shared
IPV6_DEFROUTE=yes
IPV6_FAILURE_FATAL=no
IPV6_PRIVACY=no
IPV6_ADDR_GEN_MODE=stable-privacy
NAME=wlp0s18f2u2
UUID=9f62048f-0e2c-4ed6-ab5f-1f8e4e94f8df
DEVICE=wlp0s18f2u2
ONBOOT=yes
ESSID=zyxel
CHANNEL=6

and

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HWADDR=74:DA:38:D4:1A:8B
SSID=edimax
MODE=Ap
KEY_MGMT=WPA-PSK
MAC_ADDRESS_RANDOMIZATION=default
TYPE=Wireless
PROXY_METHOD=none
BROWSER_ONLY=no
BOOTPROTO=shared
IPADDR=192.168.15.1
PREFIX=24
DEFROUTE=yes
IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL=no
IPV6INIT=yes
IPV6_AUTOCONF=shared
IPV6_DEFROUTE=yes
IPV6_FAILURE_FATAL=no
IPV6_PRIVACY=no
IPV6_ADDR_GEN_MODE=stable-privacy
NAME=wlp0s18f2u1
UUID=971033a6-9b18-431c-af4f-fd7dbdba9d73
DEVICE=wlp0s18f2u1
ONBOOT=yes
CHANNEL=11
ESSID=edimax

nmcli -d shows them:

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DEVICE       TYPE      STATE        CONNECTION
virbr0       bridge    connected    virbr0
enp3s7       ethernet  connected    enp3s7
wlp0s18f2u1  wifi      connected    wlp0s18f2u1
wlp0s18f2u2  wifi      connected    wlp0s18f2u2
enp2s0       ethernet  unavailable  --
enp3s6       ethernet  unavailable  --
lo           loopback  unmanaged    --
virbr0-nic   tun       unmanaged    --

But I cannot connect, I can see them running:

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ps aux | grep "5\.1"
nobody     984  0.0  0.0  15580  1188 ?        S    17:27   0:00 /usr/sbin/dnsmasq --conf-file --no-hosts --keep-in-foreground --bind-interfaces --except-interface=lo --clear-on-reload --strict-order --listen-address=192.168.5.1 --dhcp-range=192.168.5.10,192.168.5.254,60m --dhcp-option=option:router,192.168.5.1 --dhcp-lease-max=50 --pid-file=/var/run/nm-dnsmasq-wlp0s18f2u2.pid --conf-dir=/etc/NetworkManager/dnsmasq-shared.d
nobody    1005  0.0  0.0  15580  1188 ?        S    17:27   0:00 /usr/sbin/dnsmasq --conf-file --no-hosts --keep-in-foreground --bind-interfaces --except-interface=lo --clear-on-reload --strict-order --listen-address=192.168.15.1 --dhcp-range=192.168.15.10,192.168.15.254,60m --dhcp-option=option:router,192.168.15.1 --dhcp-lease-max=50 --pid-file=/var/run/nm-dnsmasq-wlp0s18f2u1.pid --conf-dir=/etc/NetworkManager/dnsmasq-shared.d

On my phone the zyxel connection stops at obtaining IP address and the edimax connection keeps asking the password/PSK so one is getting further than the other. I've had to give up on the network icon at the top right of the screen as every time you enable a Wireless Hotspot it plays tricks on your settings, sometime creating a new ifcfg file, changing the SSID and/or password. If I enable them by rebooting the network icon shows the SSID and PSK correctly for both NIC's but I can't connect.

Can anyone help me?

TIA, Nick.

[NickH]

More info. If I use nmtui to change the Security to "WEP 40/128-bit Key (Hex or ASCII)" or "WEP 128-bit Passphrase" and set appropriate PSK's, nmtui will not accept Authentication "Shared Key" and writes "SECURITYMODE=open" to the ifcfg file.

I can use nm-connection-editor with WEP to change Authentication to "Shared Key", the shared key is accepted and I can connect with my Phone WEP.

There is nothing I can find to get WPA to work. Any help, please?