diff --git a/wpa_supplicant/config.c b/wpa_supplicant/config.c
index a0d151d7a..1aff67be2 100644
--- a/wpa_supplicant/config.c
+++ b/wpa_supplicant/config.c
@@ -4671,6 +4671,10 @@ struct wpa_config * wpa_config_alloc_empty(const char *ctrl_interface,
 		config->driver_param = os_strdup(driver_param);
 	config->gas_rand_addr_lifetime = DEFAULT_RAND_ADDR_LIFETIME;
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_TESTING_OPTIONS
+	config->mld_connect_band_pref = DEFAULT_MLD_CONNECT_BAND_PREF;
+#endif /* CONFIG_TESTING_OPTIONS */
+
 	return config;
 }
 
@@ -5306,6 +5310,23 @@ static int wpa_config_get_ipv4(const char *name, struct wpa_config *config,
 #endif /* CONFIG_P2P */
 
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_TESTING_OPTIONS
+static int wpa_config_process_mld_connect_bssid_pref(
+	const struct global_parse_data *data,
+	struct wpa_config *config, int line, const char *pos)
+{
+	if (hwaddr_aton2(pos, config->mld_connect_bssid_pref) < 0) {
+		wpa_printf(MSG_ERROR,
+			   "Line %d: Invalid mld_connect_bssid_pref '%s'",
+			   line, pos);
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+#endif /* CONFIG_TESTING_OPTIONS */
+
+
 #ifdef OFFSET
 #undef OFFSET
 #endif /* OFFSET */
@@ -5519,6 +5540,11 @@ static const struct global_parse_data global_fields[] = {
 	{ INT_RANGE(pasn_corrupt_mic, 0, 1), 0 },
 #endif /* CONFIG_TESTING_OPTIONS */
 #endif /* CONFIG_PASN */
+#ifdef CONFIG_TESTING_OPTIONS
+	{ INT_RANGE(mld_force_single_link, 0, 1), 0 },
+	{ INT_RANGE(mld_connect_band_pref, 0, MLD_CONNECT_BAND_PREF_MAX), 0 },
+	{ FUNC(mld_connect_bssid_pref), 0 },
+#endif /* CONFIG_TESTING_OPTIONS */
 	/* NOTE: When adding new parameters here, add_interface() in
 	 * wpa_supplicant/dbus_new_introspect.c may need to be modified to
 	 * increase the size of the iface->xml buffer. */
diff --git a/wpa_supplicant/config.h b/wpa_supplicant/config.h
index 7d2b57028..02139e6b2 100644
--- a/wpa_supplicant/config.h
+++ b/wpa_supplicant/config.h
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
 #define DEFAULT_OCE_SUPPORT OCE_STA
 #define DEFAULT_EXTENDED_KEY_ID 0
 #define DEFAULT_SCAN_RES_VALID_FOR_CONNECT 5
+#define DEFAULT_MLD_CONNECT_BAND_PREF MLD_CONNECT_BAND_PREF_AUTO
 
 #include "config_ssid.h"
 #include "wps/wps.h"
@@ -1777,6 +1778,20 @@ struct wpa_config {
 
 #endif /* CONFIG_TESTING_OPTIONS */
 #endif /* CONFIG_PASN*/
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_TESTING_OPTIONS
+	enum {
+		MLD_CONNECT_BAND_PREF_AUTO = 0,
+		MLD_CONNECT_BAND_PREF_2GHZ = 1,
+		MLD_CONNECT_BAND_PREF_5GHZ = 2,
+		MLD_CONNECT_BAND_PREF_6GHZ = 3,
+		MLD_CONNECT_BAND_PREF_MAX = 4,
+	}  mld_connect_band_pref;
+
+	u8 mld_connect_bssid_pref[ETH_ALEN];
+
+	int mld_force_single_link;
+#endif /* CONFIG_TESTING_OPTIONS */
 };
 
 
diff --git a/wpa_supplicant/config_file.c b/wpa_supplicant/config_file.c
index 9a474bd83..4db85f9c0 100644
--- a/wpa_supplicant/config_file.c
+++ b/wpa_supplicant/config_file.c
@@ -1612,6 +1612,16 @@ static void wpa_config_write_global(FILE *f, struct wpa_config *config)
 	if (config->wowlan_disconnect_on_deinit)
 		fprintf(f, "wowlan_disconnect_on_deinit=%d\n",
 			config->wowlan_disconnect_on_deinit);
+#ifdef CONFIG_TESTING_OPTIONS
+	if (config->mld_force_single_link)
+		fprintf(f, "mld_force_single_link=1\n");
+	if (config->mld_connect_band_pref != MLD_CONNECT_BAND_PREF_AUTO)
+		fprintf(f, "mld_connect_band_pref=%d\n",
+			config->mld_connect_band_pref);
+	if (!is_zero_ether_addr(config->mld_connect_bssid_pref))
+		fprintf(f, "mld_connect_bssid_pref=" MACSTR "\n",
+			MAC2STR(config->mld_connect_bssid_pref));
+#endif /* CONFIG_TESTING_OPTIONS */
 }
 
 #endif /* CONFIG_NO_CONFIG_WRITE */
diff --git a/wpa_supplicant/sme.c b/wpa_supplicant/sme.c
index 02114acae..26abdc69c 100644
--- a/wpa_supplicant/sme.c
+++ b/wpa_supplicant/sme.c
@@ -606,6 +606,88 @@ static void wpas_ml_handle_removed_links(struct wpa_supplicant *wpa_s,
 }
 
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_TESTING_OPTIONS
+static struct wpa_bss * wpas_ml_connect_pref(struct wpa_supplicant *wpa_s,
+					     struct wpa_bss *bss)
+{
+	unsigned int low, high, i;
+
+	wpa_printf(MSG_DEBUG,
+		   "MLD: valid_links=%d, band_pref=%u, bssid_pref=" MACSTR,
+		   wpa_s->valid_links,
+		   wpa_s->conf->mld_connect_band_pref,
+		   MAC2STR(wpa_s->conf->mld_connect_bssid_pref));
+
+	/* Check if there are more than one link */
+	if (!(wpa_s->valid_links & (wpa_s->valid_links - 1)))
+		return bss;
+
+	if (!is_zero_ether_addr(wpa_s->conf->mld_connect_bssid_pref)) {
+		for (i = 0; i < MAX_NUM_MLD_LINKS; i++) {
+			if (!(wpa_s->valid_links & BIT(i)))
+				continue;
+
+			if (wpa_s->mlo_assoc_link_id == i)
+				continue;
+
+			if (os_memcmp(wpa_s->links[i].bssid,
+				      wpa_s->conf->mld_connect_bssid_pref,
+				      ETH_ALEN) == 0)
+				goto found;
+		}
+	}
+
+	if (wpa_s->conf->mld_connect_band_pref == MLD_CONNECT_BAND_PREF_AUTO)
+		return bss;
+
+	switch (wpa_s->conf->mld_connect_band_pref) {
+	case MLD_CONNECT_BAND_PREF_2GHZ:
+		low = 2412;
+		high = 2472;
+		break;
+	case MLD_CONNECT_BAND_PREF_5GHZ:
+		low = 5180;
+		high = 5985;
+		break;
+	case MLD_CONNECT_BAND_PREF_6GHZ:
+		low = 5955;
+		high = 7125;
+		break;
+	default:
+		return bss;
+	}
+
+	for (i = 0; i < MAX_NUM_MLD_LINKS; i++) {
+		if (!(wpa_s->valid_links & BIT(i)))
+			continue;
+
+		if (wpa_s->mlo_assoc_link_id == i)
+			continue;
+
+		if (wpa_s->links[i].freq >= low && wpa_s->links[i].freq <= high)
+			goto found;
+	}
+
+found:
+	if (i == MAX_NUM_MLD_LINKS) {
+		wpa_printf(MSG_DEBUG, "MLD: No match for connect/band pref");
+		return bss;
+	}
+
+	wpa_printf(MSG_DEBUG,
+		   "MLD: Change BSS for connect: " MACSTR " -> " MACSTR,
+		   MAC2STR(wpa_s->links[wpa_s->mlo_assoc_link_id].bssid),
+		   MAC2STR(wpa_s->links[i].bssid));
+
+	/* Get the BSS entry and do the switch */
+	bss = wpa_bss_get_bssid(wpa_s, wpa_s->links[i].bssid);
+	wpa_s->mlo_assoc_link_id = i;
+
+	return bss;
+}
+#endif /* CONFIG_TESTING_OPTIONS */
+
+
 static void wpas_sme_ml_auth(struct wpa_supplicant *wpa_s,
 			     union wpa_event_data *data,
 			     int ie_offset)
@@ -686,11 +768,27 @@ static void sme_send_authentication(struct wpa_supplicant *wpa_s,
 		return;
 	}
 
+	os_memset(&params, 0, sizeof(params));
+	if (wpas_ml_element(wpa_s, bss, ssid)) {
+		wpa_printf(MSG_DEBUG, "MLD: In authentication");
+#ifdef CONFIG_TESTING_OPTIONS
+		bss = wpas_ml_connect_pref(wpa_s, bss);
+
+		if (wpa_s->conf->mld_force_single_link) {
+			wpa_printf(MSG_DEBUG, "MLD: Force single link");
+			wpa_s->valid_links = BIT(wpa_s->mlo_assoc_link_id);
+		}
+#endif /* CONFIG_TESTING_OPTIONS */
+		params.mld = true;
+		params.mld_link_id = wpa_s->mlo_assoc_link_id;
+		params.ap_mld_addr = wpa_s->ap_mld_addr;
+		wpas_ml_handle_removed_links(wpa_s, bss);
+	}
+
 	skip_auth = wpa_s->conf->reassoc_same_bss_optim &&
 		wpa_s->reassoc_same_bss;
 	wpa_s->current_bss = bss;
 
-	os_memset(&params, 0, sizeof(params));
 	wpa_s->reassociate = 0;
 
 	params.freq = bss->freq;
@@ -699,14 +797,6 @@ static void sme_send_authentication(struct wpa_supplicant *wpa_s,
 	params.ssid_len = bss->ssid_len;
 	params.p2p = ssid->p2p_group;
 
-	if (wpas_ml_element(wpa_s, bss, ssid)) {
-		wpa_printf(MSG_DEBUG, "MLD: In authentication");
-		params.mld = true;
-		params.mld_link_id = wpa_s->mlo_assoc_link_id;
-		params.ap_mld_addr = wpa_s->ap_mld_addr;
-		wpas_ml_handle_removed_links(wpa_s, bss);
-	}
-
 	if (wpa_s->sme.ssid_len != params.ssid_len ||
 	    os_memcmp(wpa_s->sme.ssid, params.ssid, params.ssid_len) != 0)
 		wpa_s->sme.prev_bssid_set = 0;