Why hiding ssid

Let's take a look at one of the silliest myths out there. This myth has been around for a very long time, and we aren't expecting everybody to receive this news with happy agreement. You're welcome to state your case in the comments for why hidden wireless networks are a great idea, but we think if you keep reading, you'll realize that it's just not a security feature.

It's never a good sign when manufacturers create technologies that don't follow the agreed-upon spec documents that ensure interoperability between vendors—it's usually a way for them to make more money with vendor lock-in features that require you to buy their hardware. Image by Chaotic Good In this particular case, the A wireless network has an SSID to distinguish it from other wireless networks in the vicinity. The SSID was never designed to be hidden , and therefore won't provide your network with any kind of protection if you try to hide it.

Relax and be free from anxiety Take back good sleep and help alleviate pain. Obviously feature demand drives the specifications, so even though everybody eventually supported hidden SSIDs, the point is that there's no extra protection from hiding your SSID.

Read on. It's extremely easy to find the ID for a "hidden" network-all you have to do is use a utility like inSSIDer , NetStumbler , or Kismet to scan the network for a short while to show all of the current networks out there. It's really that simple, and there's plenty of other tools that do the same job. Don't believe me? Grab a copy, start it up, and then click the Start Scanning button—within a minute you'll see a list of every single network in range.

By hiding your SSID, you make networking more difficult for yourself while also preventing the addition of any more security to your network. There are downsides to not broadcasting your SSID, mostly if you use a legacy computer. Windows 10 is pretty good at Wi-Fi networking and can hold a connection to a network regardless of whether you broadcast the SSID or not. Rather than connecting to known or the strongest connection, older computers and some mobile devices would opt for a lower strength signal with an SSID broadcasted.

Windows XP and Windows 7 had this problem as did early versions of Android. If disabling your SSID has no impact on the security of your network, what does?

How can you keep hackers and the unwanted intruders out of your Wi-Fi network? Ideally, you should instigate these three the moment you unbox your router. Most third-party routers enforce a password change when you first log in, yet some network provider routers do not. At most, hiding the network name prevents people who are not a threat from connecting to the network.

Any person determined to find the name of the network or try to connect to it will find a way. In order to discover networks that are broadcasting in the same area, you only need to type the following command into your command prompt:. The first picture shows that there are 21 networks that are currently visible. The second picture, however, shows a network with a hidden SSID that can still be picked up by wireless network card.

To discover the name of the hidden network, users need to use software and These captured frames can then be analyzed in programs like Wireshark. Wireshark can analyze In fact, hackers, or people with malicious intentions, will actively seek out networks with hidden names for several reasons.

These are security protocols with strong encryptions that are extremely difficult to crack. Encryption protocols are the golden standard for security since they protect your network and information. While it may seem secure, hiding your SSID is impractical and only invites attackers to attempt to intrude on your network.