[wifi] Keep ESP8266's report of a replaced attempt from failing the next one (#20183)

esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component.cpp

@@ -762,7 +762,7 @@ void WiFiComponent::restart_adapter() {
   // and check_connecting_finished() is called after cooldown without going
   // through start_connecting() first. Without this clear, stale errors would
   // trigger spurious "failed (callback)" logs. The canonical clear location
-  // is in start_connecting(); this is the only exception to that pattern.
+  // is in start_connecting() (ESP8266 also clears after wifi_station_connect()).
   this->error_from_callback_ = false;
 }
 
@@ -1218,8 +1218,9 @@ void WiFiComponent::start_connecting(const WiFiAP &ap) {
 
   // Clear any stale error from previous connection attempt.
   // This is the canonical location for clearing the flag since all connection
-  // attempts go through start_connecting(). The only other clear is in
-  // restart_adapter() which enters COOLDOWN without calling start_connecting().
+  // attempts go through start_connecting(). restart_adapter() also clears it, as it
+  // enters COOLDOWN without calling start_connecting(), and ESP8266 clears it again
+  // after wifi_station_connect(), whose callbacks fire synchronously.
   this->error_from_callback_ = false;
 
   if (!this->wifi_sta_connect_(ap)) {

esphome/components/wifi/wifi_component_esp8266.cpp

@@ -376,17 +376,17 @@ bool WiFiComponent::wifi_sta_connect_(const WiFiAP &ap) {
 
   this->wifi_apply_hostname_();
 
-  // Reset flags, do this _before_ wifi_station_connect as the callback method
-  // may be called from wifi_station_connect
-  this->sta_state_ = static_cast<uint8_t>(ESP8266WiFiSTAState::CONNECTING);
-
   ETS_UART_INTR_DISABLE();
   ret = wifi_station_connect();
   ETS_UART_INTR_ENABLE();
   if (!ret) {
     ESP_LOGV(TAG, "wifi_station_connect failed");
+    this->sta_state_ = static_cast<uint8_t>(ESP8266WiFiSTAState::ERROR_FAILED);
     return false;
   }
+  // Reset after, not before: wifi_station_connect() synchronously reports the attempt it replaces as failed
+  this->sta_state_ = static_cast<uint8_t>(ESP8266WiFiSTAState::CONNECTING);
+  this->error_from_callback_ = false;
 
 #if USE_NETWORK_IPV6
   bool connected = false;