How do I find my Network once I turn off my SSID Broadcast?

Archived from groups: alt.internet.wireless (More info?)

Hey guys-
Got a new laptop and wireless hookup today- its working great. Upon reading
about wireless security, I found that you should turn off your SSID
broadcast, as well as other measures (WEP, MAC filtering, etc). So, I did
all that, but now I don't know how to tell my laptop to find the network. It
would find it fine with the broadcast turned on, but, how do I tell it to
find it once the broadcast turns off???

Funny thing- I have 2 other STRONG network signals in my living room- I
assume from neighbors. I hook into theirs just fine- man that's scarey...
thanks for the help!
D

Archived from groups: alt.internet.wireless (More info?)

On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 11:59:24 -0700, in alt.internet.wireless , "D"
<d@d.com> wrote:

>Hey guys-
>Got a new laptop and wireless hookup today- its working great. Upon reading
>about wireless security, I found that you should turn off your SSID
>broadcast, as well as other measures (WEP, MAC filtering, etc). So, I did
>all that, but now I don't know how to tell my laptop to find the network.

Tell it what the SSID is.


--
Mark McIntyre
CLC FAQ <http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html>
CLC readme: <http://www.angelfire.com/ms3/bchambless0/welcome_to_clc.html>


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Archived from groups: alt.internet.wireless (More info?)

"Ron Bandes" <RunderscoreBandes @yah00.com> wrote in message
news:S4nIc.710$_b.844621@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net...
> "gary" <pleasenospam@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
> news:eTgIc.7794$%B2.2198@newssvr23.news.prodigy.com...
> > If SSID hiding is causing you problems, stop using it. Use WEP or WPA.
MS
> XP
> > zero-config autoconnect does not select correctly when there is a mix of
> > APs, some of which broadcast and some of which don't. Microsoft says
they
> do
> > not support SSID hiding because it does not conform to the standard.
> >
> > For more info, read
> >
> > http://www.icsalabs.com/html/commu [...] hiding.pdf
> >
> > http://support.microsoft.com/defau [...] -us;811427
> >
> >
> > "D" <d@d.com> wrote in message news:W5gIc.1465$i_3.61@fed1read04...
> > > Hey guys-
> > > Got a new laptop and wireless hookup today- its working great. Upon
> > reading
> > > about wireless security, I found that you should turn off your SSID
> > > broadcast, as well as other measures (WEP, MAC filtering, etc). So, I
> did
> > > all that, but now I don't know how to tell my laptop to find the
> network.
> > It
> > > would find it fine with the broadcast turned on, but, how do I tell it
> to
> > > find it once the broadcast turns off???
> > >
> > > Funny thing- I have 2 other STRONG network signals in my living room-
I
> > > assume from neighbors. I hook into theirs just fine- man that's
> scarey...
> > > thanks for the help!
> > > D
>
> Microsoft may say that they don't support SSID hiding, but it does work
with
> XP. That said, if you've been following this NG then you know that many
of
> us believe that you should broadcast your SSID. It helps neighbors to see
> what channel you're using so that they can avoid that channel.

You probably know I'm one of those who claims SSID hiding is irrelevant If
it doesn't get in your way, and you don't use roaming, it really doesn't
matter. It contributes nothing useful to security. Yes, you can always
connect by specifying the SSID. What's important about the MSKD entry is
that it's the closest thing I've found to an official statement of policy
from Microsoft. They are saying in plain English that if you discover any
problem related to SSID hiding, they are not interested in fixing it. They
are also saying, for those who care to listen, that it is their position
that it violates the standard. Which is true, in the sense that nowhere does
the standard say that the SSID information element is optional in a beacon
frame. Since active probing does not require SSIDs in beacons, some people
might suppose otherwise.

>
> If you really must hide your SSID, configure a preferred network in XP and
> specify the SSID. A hidden SSID makes it hard to browse networks, but you
> can connect directly to a network with a hidden SSID by explicitly
> specifying the SSID that you want to connect to.
>
> Ron Bandes, CCNP, CTT+, etc.
>
>