How To Make Your Wireless Network Invisible
Anyone that uses a wireless router for home or office purposes knows that anyone with a wireless card and is in range will be able to see that network regardless if it is encrypted or not. If you are someone like me then you don’t want your neighbors seeing and possibly trying to gain access to your network.
The name that people see for your network is known as its SSID (Service Set Identifier) which is usually set to a default depending on your router. Changing the SSID to something more familiar will help some, but since Windows XP automatically searches out nearby SSIDs, displays their name, and lets you easily connect to them, you need to tell your router to not broadcast its real name, essentially making it invisible. Since you will know the real name, you will be able to connect your own computers to the network with no hassle.
All routers are going to display their controls a bit differently, but they all work the same fundamentally. I’m going to give the steps using a Linksys router, but if you have NetGear or 3com you should be able to figure it out just easily.
1. Login to the router by opening your browser and going to http://192.168.1.1 . If you have never logged in the default login/pw is admin/admin, you can change this password in the router settings later if you like.
2. Click on the Wireless tab and in the Wireless Network Name (SSID) Box type a new name for your network, something unique that can’t easily be guessed is preferred.
3. In the Wireless SSID Broadcast section select disabled.
4. It is also a good idea to periodically change the channel on which your wireless is broadcast. You can do this in the Wireless Channel drop-down list.
5. Click Save Settings
6. Now you just need to tell your computer to connect to the SSID you assigned your network. To do this click on the small wireless icon in the notification area. Once that opens click on the Change Advanced Settings and then select the Wireless Network tab. Click the Add button in Preferred Network section and type in your unique SSID and click ok. Now your computer will know that network without seeing the SSID being broadcast and you’re done.
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This doesn’t hide the network at all – many if not most WiFi drivers will still see your network (Intel drivers are good this way) and in fact this makes using WiFi harder and under Windows unreliable.
Just to be picky, you really aren’t making your AP invisible, you are just turning off the flashing neon lights saying “look at me.” If someone is really interested in connecting to your network they can still sniff the airwaves and pull down the data they need to crack into it.
Not to say this isn’t a good idea, as it probably discourages 99% of the people who would try and connect to your network.
That’s pretty intresting. I didn’t know you could do that. I will try it.
Some routers have a little feature called invisable. Tendnet, I have not tried it but
I have a similar question to the topic of conversation here and was hoping to get your input before I go out and buy a router. I’m heading back to school and since the university has their own WiFi on campus, they forbid anyone to set up a personal wireless network. Since their WiFi blocks out almost every type of usage an average internet user would want to do (download, webcam, online gaming, sharing etc…) they say students can go through local ISP’s to deliver faster and less limited internet. Last year I tried using a wireless router with my own ISP and everyone on campus immediately got an email saying that IT has detected a router set-up within residence and if it isn’t removed completely within a week, they’ll (without permission) come in and find it and remove it. Of course, that could just be a threat and unlikely, but it still got me nervous enough to return the wireless router and just go with a hard-wired one.
Now, I’m heading back to school tomorrow and wanted to do the same thing, but I’m thinking about just disabling the SSID. Will this stop them from detecting my wireless internet network setup? Is there anything else I can do? I run both a PC and a Mac and am quite computer savvy, so if there’s anything over complicated, I’ll with no question give it a try.
Let me know!!
If you’re paying for your own Internet access that completely bypasses the campus network, I don’t think they can say much. I can see them getting upset if you hook a wireless box to their network, but as I understand things, you’re not planning on doing that.
Of what I know about the average campus network weenie, most of them are marginally competent, and the ones who are competent are not going to be snooping around for illegal wireless boxes. Hide the SSID broadcast, set up a strong encryption key, and Mac filtering, and you’ll probably be fine.
If you’re worried about them stealing your box, bolt a metal box to a heavy piece of furniture, stick the antenna of the AP outside of the box, and lock it up.
Campus network nazis can be so annoying.
My ssid is broadcasted, but it remains invisible on my ipod touch. What is going on? I own a d-link dir-628 router. Help!
thank you very much.now i’ve solve my problem with the network.
this is bad my wifi is now invisible and i cant get into it anymore what can i do?