Stop Hiding Your Wi-Fi Network

[learninmypc]

If you keep your Wi-Fi router’s SSID hidden, it might make you feel safer, but it doesn’t actually help with security—and likely serves as an unnecessary inconvenience. Here’s why.


[HEADING=1]Hidden SSIDs Can Be Found Easily[/HEADING]
Many Wi-Fi routers include an option to “hide” or make “invisible” their SSID (short for “service set identifier”), which means the name of your Wi-Fi network won’t show up when a device automatically scans for nearby access points to connect to. FULL ARTICLE

 

[Mark Fuller]

There is only one reason that I can think of for anyone to hide an ssid. I was coming home one day and noticed several police cars in the near vicinity one of which was an FBI blazer. When I booted up my computer to connect to a new router I noticed that there was an FBI van listed in available networks. This is a dead giveaway law enforcement is doing some investigations in the near vicinity, which brings me to the only reason I can see to hide an ssid, for the benefit of law enforcement.

 

[devozy]

In the navigation bar for a section titled Wireless or similar. If there are submenus, look around for something like to Wireless Settings, Wireless Options, Wireless > Basic Settings, etc. On our TP-Link router, this is under Wireless in the Basic menu, or Wireless > Wireless Settings under Advanced.

On this menu, you should be able to tweak the SSID, channel options, and possibly security, depending on your router. You're looking for an option called Enable SSID Broadcast, Hide SSID, Visibility Status, Enable Hidden Wireless, or similar.