'Hidden' network -but it's not!!

Question

My airport base station is set to create a hidden network, but my lap top from the office (Dell windows ;-( !) What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

Has the Dell ever been connected to the network before?
Hiding your network (not broadcasting the SSID) doesn't actually add any security, as you have discovered, some newer adapters can "see" hidden networks.
It use to be useful, but closing your Airport or wireless network (sometimes referred to as not broadcasting your SSID) is really no longer a real option when it comes to wireless security.
Unfortunately "Closed" networks, MAC access control lists, and reduction in transmission power are all more "feel good" security rather than real security. All these various approaches are dated and mistakenly lead to overconfidence.
WPA is your friend if you value wireless security.
My recommendation is not to worry about broadcasting your SSID but use WPA. This will be more secure than a closed WEP encrypted network. Closing your network makes it very difficult for neighbouring networks to see which channels are free thus causing potential interference problems.
Another thing to consider is that a closed network is still broadcasting and therefore is detectable (regardless of whether it is broadcasting a SSID). If someone was determined to hack into your network, then not broadcasting your SSID and MAC address access control is not going to stop them.
WPA is virtually uncrackable (only really vunerable to a dictionary attack if a real word is used as a password) and therefore will stop the casual user and the determined hacker.