Hide (not broadcast) SSID = my pcs also cant see SSID?

[boots2k]

Assume 1 pc with wireless router.

2 other pcs with wireless receivers.

if all the pcs get internet fine and then i suddenly hide the SSID in the router, will the 2 pcs not see the ssid any more or becuase they now the settings they will still see the router?

thanks

[Fergal1982]

for the sake of two pcs, why not just try it?

I think that you will need to manually configure the pcs to connect to the AP once you hide the SSID, since at the moment they will be connecting automatically whenever they see the SSID, you need to explicitly tell them that the SSID is hidden, and to try connecting to it anyway.

[hbroomhall]

Fergal is correct - hiding the SSID is much the same as changeing it - you will probably have to reconfigure all the machines that want to jolin that network.

But why do this? Hiding the SSID doesn't give you any more protection except to casual sniffers.

Harry.

[Boyce]

..and it usually causes the connection between laptop/wireless card and access point to drop more frequently - don't bother!

[grim]

hiding the SSID is pointless because it takes seconds to find it and it'll cause you problems because new and sometimes current machines wont see it. I tried it a while back and it caused more problems than it was worth.

Grim

[Bluerinse]

I agree with the others, it's a myth that hiding the SSID adds any real kind of extra security and it does give you more hassle.

Set it up and enable WPA2 encryption, that will be sufficient for home use.

[Fergal1982]

Originally Posted by Bluerinse

I agree with the others, it's a myth that hiding the SSID adds any real kind of extra security and it does give you more hassle.

Set it up and enable WPA2 encryption, that will be sufficient for home use.

QFT.

I have a WPA2-PSK setup, with a 63 character key, generated using this site. never had any issues.

Admittedly, I have to open the system occasionally (if I want to hook the DS up to the wireless, for instance). Roll on being able to have a wireless system where you can lock it down, but use the MAC to provide open access to specific devices at the same time.

[BosonMichael]

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't have any hassles/drops with hidden SSIDs.

[Sparky]

Originally Posted by BosonMichael

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't have any hassles/drops with hidden SSIDs.

Yup, I hide the SSID as well. I configure it manually on my laptop and PC, no issues so far.

[grim]

Originally Posted by BosonMichael

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't have any hassles/drops with hidden SSIDs.

i was fine with hiding mine until i added my shuttle to the network with a belkin wireless NIC. although i put it down to the NIC as its the first time.....and last time i use belkin because they are far too much hassle with the problems it caused.

Grim

[Bluerinse]

Originally Posted by BosonMichael

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't have any hassles/drops with hidden SSIDs.

I suggest you read this white paper Michael..

http://www.icsalabs.com/icsa/docs/ht...sid_hiding.pdf

snippet

SUMMARY

Contrary to a common belief that the SSID is a WLAN security feature and its exposure a security risk, the
SSID is nothing more than a wireless-space group label. It cannot be successfully hidden. Attempts to
hide it will not only fail, but will negatively impact WLAN performance, and may result in additional
exposure of the SSID to passive scanning. The performance impact of this misguided effort will be felt in
multiple WLAN scenarios, including simple operations like joining a WLAN, and in significantly longer
roaming times.

[BosonMichael]

Originally Posted by Bluerinse

I suggest you read this white paper Michael..

http://www.icsalabs.com/icsa/docs/ht...sid_hiding.pdf

snippet

SUMMARY

The computers on my home network always joined to the WLAN, and they do not roam. Thus, I have no problems.

Further, I don't think I need a lecture on the fact that a hidden SSID can indeed be seen by many apps - this isn't my first rodeo. However, I thank you for the good intentions.

[Bluerinse]

Originally Posted by BosonMichael

The computers on my home network always joined to the WLAN, and they do not roam. Thus, I have no problems.

Further, I don't think I need a lecture on the fact that a hidden SSID can indeed be seen by many apps - this isn't my first rodeo. However, I thank you for the good intentions.

But that was my reason for posting the white paper, if you had read it you would know that the computers do not need to actually roam from AP to AP.

Here's another egg to suck from my previous link..

In order for a station to roam, it must discover APs and choose one. Roaming is not just for stations on the
move, but can happen any time that the station determines that it has a weak signal from its current AP.
The method of this determination and the definition of “weak” is very vendor specific. In general, this
determination is made when the station’s view of its Radio Frequency environment changes. This change
could be triggered by physical motion, either of the station, the access point, or of other objects in the
vicinity, by changes in interference caused by other stations, by antenna blockage, by microwave oven
leakage, or other factors.

edit.. a bit more info..

A network that has only one AP is still faced with roaming behavior and active scanning if SSIDs are
hidden. The same events mentioned above still can occur even if there is only one AP. Even with only one
AP and even if it is configured to use channel 1, the station will still scan all channels checking for other
APs. In the end, the station will ASSOCIATE with its original AP, exposing the SSID.

[BosonMichael]

Originally Posted by Bluerinse

But that was my reason for posting the white paper, if you had read it you would know that the computers do not need to actually roam from AP to AP.

Here's another egg to suck from my previous link..



edit.. a bit more info..

But... dude... you're not listening. My wireless PCs don't roam. They sit - in fact, one's a desktop. And they're not blocked by anything that would cause interference. Signals are strong, and they stay strong. Thus... I have no problem with wireless access behavior. I don't. Really, I promise.

[Theprof]

If you setup your wireless with no SSID broadcast, like others mentioned, you'll have to add the connection manually. However from past experience I never really had any issues with that.


My setup is basically WPA-PSK. I woud use WPA2 but the ipod touch does not support WPA2. Then I have MAC filtering to only allow the PC's with that specific MAC address that I added to the list plus the hidden SSID.

All this aside, I know that hiding SSID does not do much, it can very easily be found. On the second note I wanted to set this up for practice because I was doing a wireless setup at my friends house and he wanted the max possible securuty.