Hotspot SSID broadcast -- bug

Currently, when the Personal Hotspot function is activated, the WiFi SSID for the hotspot is only advertised for a few minutes when the hotspot is first activated. In my scenario, I use the hotspot so that my in-car GPS can access internet-based traffic data. But, becuase the SSID is not advertised after the frist few minutes, I experience a problem.
Here is the scenario:
1. Get in car, activate hotspot.
2. Internet-using GPS hotspot client connects to hotspot, works great.
3. I arrive at first destination, leave car to go into store, for example.
4. Once inside store, HotSpot is out of range of client, so client disconnects
5. I complete errand, hop back into car.
6. SSID is not being actively advertised by iPhone.
7. Internet-using GPS client does not connect to hotspot.
8. In order to re-connect to hotspot, I have to use iPhone control panel to disable, then re-enable personal hotspot.
7. Internet-using GPS client is now able to reconnect to hotspot.
If the SSID were not hidden, but advertised from time to time, the client would be able to autoamatically reconnect, and this would be preferable even if it took a few minutes to re-connect.

If you do not have the check box enabled for broadcast, then it will not broadcast. Maybe make sure you apply it again and on your wireless client, make sure the profile is not saved, or else it will show up like it is broadcasted.
For ease of guest deployment, you should broadcast the ssid... just my opinoin!

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IPod Touch - WiFi - SSID Broadcast Works/SSID No Broadcast Doesn't Work

This is maddening in so many different ways:
I have two (2) 2nd Generation iPod Touch 8Gb products. Both are nearly identical in every way -- how they connect, OS, Library, similar Apps (but not the same all the time), etc.
iPod Touch "A" works flawlessly. No issues, no problems, no complaints
iPod Touch "B" started behaving badly by first loosing my WPA security but recognizing my home network. Strong password creation was a hassle but I got cleaver. Over time, it got worse to the point that it would not even recognize the existence of my 802.11g home network.
CAVEATS 1) We live in a rural area and on my property, not another network can be found. 2) Plenty of 2.4 Ghz stuff around including other wireless computers but... 3) This is my profession and I am flummoxed but have ideas....
FINDINGS: 1) iPod "B" works fine in the public space. All wireless networks work just fine and dandy. 2) I turn on my home network SSID BROADCAST and this iPod works fine (after being set up again). 3) Turn off SSID Broadcast and once this iPod sleeps or is turned off/on, no more network but go to any place that has a public broadcast SSID and no security and it's fine again... 4) No matter what I have and what I do, iPOD "A" works flawlessly.
WHAT I HAVE DONE: 1) made sure that I have plenty of DHCP scope -- yup. 2) Checked my leases - when connected I see perfectly valid MACs and leases without incident. 3) Check for overlapping or conflicts in IP Address allocation and MAC addresses (you never know...) - no problems there. 4) Quadruple checked "A" vs. "B" settings -- identical. 5) Dumped the entire flash and OS and started with a clean slate -- same issues with no apps, music, photos, movies -- nada... just a raw iPod like it came out of the box... same problem 6) Asked Apple to replace it as it's under warranty -- done. 7) Started testing again as a clean slate and found that it worked... replacing the iPod did the trick...
So, I "RESTORE" the iPOD to garner all the hard work that was put into it -- contacts, settings, etc. I "SYNCH" the iPOD to recover my angel's precious photos, apps, movies, music.... I return it back to it's originally desired state EXCEPT that one must completely reconfigure things like networking by hand -- OK.
It's back to normal, as desired, in the configuration we want and it WORKS!!!! Albeit... only for a day... and now we are back to where we started -- again...
iPod "A" works flawlessly and the new "B" is back to it's same old tricks --
OK - What does a restore do anyway? Is there some small pile of firmware that writes over the fresh load from OS? In order to preserve my contacts and other things a restore supports, did I uncover the super secret bug that Apple will refuse to acknowledge? Can I still say that I hate iTunes without being flamed a thousand deaths? Is there a diagnostic easter egg I can try?
And before I started this soliloquy -- I watched my functioning iPod "B" go to sleep with a working home network... only to wake her from her slumber... tuned out - with Not Connected living in her Wi-Fi field.... <sigh - simply maddening>
The only thing that sets these two apart are the nuances associated with configs that are part of the user's own personal interface desires and resident app input (contacts, calendar, etc...).
AGE

First off -- thank you all for replying and providing your insight, stories, and findings with your own iPod Touch, MAC, and iPhone WiFi fun...
You are all wonderful contributors.
Just to be clear, as others have mentioned -- this is not a feature and we should not have to tolerate it. This iPod, like the other one and yours too, once worked flawlessly and then continued to degrade to a point of not functioning according the 802.11g ieee standard. Something that has been in development for over 10 years and has been an adopted standard in consumer electronics for more than 7 years -- an eternity in this industry.
To be clear, I performed TWO ultimate resets -- completely wiping the firmware and OS of the original hardware and tested a completely wiped iPod Touch to no avail and the second "reset" was a brand new replacement -- right out of the box -- under warranty. No network resets necessary. The new iPod worked as expected without any original data loaded. Once a backup was "restored," and the iPod was synch'd with the library of choice, then the troubles started again. The networking does not restore -- you have to build a secure network from scratch. And again, the "A" iPod exhibits none of this odd behavior.
It is a testament that Apple has a problem in code when other iPods running similar OS behave the same. The reason that I mention the geeky standard above is because we should not have to broadcast our SSID for this to work -- it's an open standard, not something proprietary. We should not have to conform to "work around" solutions. And, yes, NOT broadcasting SSID is part of the entire package of sound security. I have to strongly disagree with all the nay-sayers. You don't go walking around the streets with money hanging out of your pockets or your wallet sticking out of your shirt pocket for a reason -- but I bet that you have cash on you and I can find it pretty quickly. It's why purse snatching is a crime of violence and rampant in larger cities and pick-pockets use finesse. One is easy pickings for anyone to try and the other requires tools and skills. If you don't flaunt it, the low level threat is removed.
As for strong security, the option for WEP is not an option. I use multiple levels of acceptable stronger encryption, logging, limited DHCP scopes, MAC controls at times, stateful firewall controls, and other radio tricks of the trade. My only failings is having to pander to the lowest common denominator within my home network.
Anyway, I spent a bit more time surfing and find this problem ubiquitous in 2.2.1 and forward. Something is amiss at Apple. All my Window based products work just fine (as does my Wii).
Keep those cards and letters coming folks.
AGE

Can you disable the SSID broadcast without turning off WIFI?

Is there a way to disable the SSID broadcast without disabling WIFI altogether? Prior to the 4.3 IOS upgrade I could keep my WIFI enabled and when at home, the phone would automatically switch to my hi speed WIFI. The new upgrade now turns your phone into a WIFI/MYFI hotspot and broadcasts your phones SSID to the world.
Message was edited by: KevInFWB

KevInFWB wrote:
The new upgrade now turns your phone into a WIFI/MYFI hotspot and broadcasts your phones SSID to the world.
Message was edited by: KevInFWB
Only if you have enabled and setup personal hotspot settings in your network settings, AND have the hotspot conneciton active AND are sharing the hotspot connection via wifi.
If you do not have Personal Hotspot features enabled or active, your iPhone is not broadcasting any network connection ID information, with or without wifi enabled.
P.S. according to the iOS release notes, even if you leave Hotspot active, it will stop broadcasting the SSID after a timeour with no connections, since the HotSpot feature turns off after a short timeout with no activity.

Idea Tab a2109a wont connect to wifi without ssid broadcast

I have Idea Tab a2109a that connects to my wifi just fine, until i shut off the ssid broadcast from the router. At that point it stops connecting and says out of range. Laptops and a KindleFire have no problems maintaining a connection without the broadcast.
Running Android version 4.1.1
Kernel version 3.1.10
Model number IdeaTab A2109A
How do i maintain a connection on this tablet WITHOUT the ssid broadcast?

I tried your suggestions as much as I could at the corner coffee shop, but they didn't help.
I didn't follow them exactly because I misinterpreted turn WiFi on as turn it off. But when I sort of made up for that, I could not access it.
I realized my mistake when I came back home, went back to the coffee shop and tried again. Unfortunately, the signal was now one bar, and so I'm not sure that I've proved anything.
As I came back home, I searched for my network. I found it almost at my front door and with a strong signal. I walked around the outside and the access would come and go. Every time I could get access again it was always strong, even as neighbors' networks varied in signal strength. So, I couldn't double check if I would have gotten through with a weak signal.
So, I can access the web on my iPod touch on a closed network but not an open network.
I can access it at home with an ActionTec GT701-WG DSL modem. I can access it with a coffee shop provided access to ClearWire, a wireless Internet provider. This latter requires registration at hotspots.
I have software version 2.0.2 (5C1).

Employee and "hotspot" ssids

Greetings,
Trying to set up both an Employee and Hotspot ssid connection. The Hotspot is working fine. The Employee is not broadcasting SSID (by design) and will not connect from a manually configured preferred network entry. Also - Dot11Radio0 interface is working - Dot11Radio1 is in reset mode. Can someone please take a look at the attached config and to see where I'm going wrong?

Well, one fix that jumps out at me is:
int d0
no encryption mode ciphers aes-ccm tkip
encryption vlan 2 mode ciphers aes-ccm tkip
IIRC, I believe a radio may go into reset mode if it has no clients on it. Try connecting on A (once you have G working properly) and see if that works.

Disabling SSID broadcast sets NAT to strict for XBOX 360, even if wired to WRT160N

I don't know if this is true with all routers, but with my WRT160N, I found that disabling SSID broadcast causes NAT to go into STRICT mode, and there's no way to get back to OPEN (port forwarding, DMZ, etc, unless you enable it.) Unfortunately I had just upgraded my firmware, which sent me and the Linksys tech down the wrong path. The bummer is that XBOX is wired to my router, so not sure why this would've been affected. Hopefully this helps, since I've seen several **bleep**!?! threads around this. I just happened to stumble across this after my NAT opened up when I reset my router to factory settings. Stepped through the changes I had made from default, and wallah, it was the the stupid disabled SSID broadcasting.
Message Edited by daveyhatton on 01-26-2010 01:42 PM

You are wasting more "cycles" if you disable the broadcast because your wireless devices have to actively search your network instead of simply listening to the list of broadcast SSIDs and connect to the correct one.
If "normal folk" want to crack your network they will quickly give up if they do it manually (assuming you have a strong WPA2 passphrase set on your router). Those few attempts won't cause you problems. Your router and wireless network will far more affected by other wireless networks and interference then some failing connection attempts.
Of course, I assume here that you have changed the SSID from "linksys" to something unique. If you still use "linksys" you will probably see quite a few failing connection attempts, not intentionally but because some people had their computer configured to connect to "linksys" before and still use it or did not remove it from their list of preferred networks. And if it is still "linksys" hiding the SSID won't make a change here, too...
They provide the option because that's what people want to see and buy. It does not matter whether it is really useful or not. Marketing says you can "hide" your router and people believe it. If you take the first computer at hand and look for networks the normal way it won't list it. Great, people believe it's "invisible". Sells good. Just like people need firewalls to "stealth" their computers in the internet which neither hides their computer not makes it any more secure...
As long as marketing does not mention that a simple network sniffer will immediately show the existence of the router and very soon will also reveal the SSID... It wouldn't sell so good anymore...
Of course, the setting should not affect port forwarding and your "NAT" level. Could be a firmware bug in the WRT160N.
Message Edited by gv on 01-27-2010 07:40 PM

SSID Broadcasting even when disabled

I have two 5508 wireless controllers with two WLANS. One is public and SSID broadcasting is enabled. The other is our secured network and was configured with broadcasting disable. When looking at the controlling both through prime and on the controller itself, broadcasting is still not enabled, however the SSID is showing up in the available networks list on our computers. We haven't changed anything on the wireless network for quite a long time and this is a recent discovery. Anyone know how to remedy this situation?

Id like to add.
Your PCs that show the SSID mean they are configured for that WLAN. This is why you see it someone configure these clients for this WLAN.
If you have devices not seeing this its becuase they havent been configure for it.
As for the 'hidden' you need to mark this if your wlan is not broadcasting the SSID. No checky checky no worky worky ..
"Satisfaction does not come from knowing the solution, it comes from knowing why." - Rosalind Franklin
‎"I'm in a serious relationship with my Wi-Fi. You could say we have a connection."

How to enable SSID broadcast? (E4200 Cloud f/w)

I got E4200 v.2 with the latest cloud firmware. On the previous (non-cloud) firmware there was an option to enable or disable SSID broadcast, and I disable it. Now I want to enable it back, but can not find this option in Cisco Connect Cloud.
So there is a question: how to enable SSID broadcast on the E4200 v.2 with Cisco Connect Cloud firmware?
wbr, bg

In your case, you need to reset the router to factory defaults, at which point the SSID will be set to broadcast and it cannot be disabled. To know more about why there is no option to disable the SSID broadcast anymore on the Cloud firmware, click here.

How to stop SSID broadcasting

Where do I find the option to stop SSID broadcasting in my Actiontec MI424WR Rev. F Router?
The user guide is located here:
http://onlinehelp.verizon.net/consumer/bin/pdf/ActiontecMI1424WRUserManual.pdf
and it shows where that option is but the screens in the manual do not match the screens you see when you login into the router (not even close). I looked through every screen while logged into the router and I could not find it. I would expect it to be a check box to turn broadcasting on or off in the same screen that you assign the SSID name but the option is not there.
In addition, where can I find a link to download the user guide that matches this router?
I wanted to email Verizon tech support to ask them this but they do not accept email questions concerning Wireless issues. They should accept email questions about any issues concerning their equipment. I tried thrie chat support a few times but it keeps saying it is unavailable even during the listed hours of operation.
Thanks to anyone who can help me out.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

The following FAQ will help you
http://www.dslreports.com/faq/11468
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WRT54G with USB11 v 2.6: Can't automaticaly reconnect after SSID broadcast disabled

Hi All,
I'm trying to make my network more secure. I've done all the basics, including disabling the SSID broadcast. The only problem is that after a few hours, I lose connectivity on the USB 11 wireless adapter and have to directly connect to the router via a cat 5 cable and reset the SSID to broadcast, which causes my network to find it and logs in. I reset the SSID broadcast to disable and get a few more hours of conenctivity until it drops again.
My router is ver 2.0 and my adapter is 2.6. This is the first time in 4 years I've had any probs with my wireless network.
My PC is brand new and pretty mid-high-end. Intel duo-core, 2 GB ram, etc...
Any help would be appreciated.

Best thing is to just enable SSID. It's a myth that disablling helps with security, it does for the average joe... a bit. but not really.
I found a great article about how disabling SSID doesn'treally do much for security at all, but i can't seem to laocte ti right now. I was googling wireless security stuff about a month or so ago, guess i should have bookmarked that one.

Survey fail even with SSID broadcast

I fail the initial survey every time I try with the WRE54G. No wireless networks show up - and I get over 20 when I try with other devices. I usually have SSID broadcast disabled, but have enabled it on the WRT54G router when setting up the RE. Any advice?Thanks in advance!

Hi,
Just make sure that the range expander is properly configured and well synchronized with the router , and make sure that the ssid broadcast on the range expander is also enabled.

SSID Broadcasting problem

Hi,
until yesterday I used a Linksys WAP4400N access point to connect my MacBook via WLAN to my LAN. When SSID broadcasting was enabled, everything worked fine. However, as soon as I disable SSID broadcasting, my MacBook does not find my WLAN anymore. My WLAN is entered in the list of 'known' WLANs.
Yesterday, I bought an Apple Time Capsule and with SSID broadcasting everything works fine, but without SSID broadcasting, my MacBook is not able to connect anymore. It thus seems to be a problem of my MacBook instead of a problem with the access points.
I tested another notebook running Windows XP, and that notebook connects fine (both with and without SSID broadcasting).
Is this problem known to any of you? If so, does anyone of you know how to fix this problem?

OK, so it finally happened again. Here are some screenshots:
Hovering over the network icon, I see the factory SSID:
http://www.delorenzo.ca/temp/a.png
Click to open it, it shows two different SSIDs:
http://www.delorenzo.ca/temp/b.png
My network scanner only shows one network, no factory SSID:
http://www.delorenzo.ca/temp/c.png
This condition persists until I disconnect and reconnect the network.
Windows 7 only knows one network (Starbuck). Apple Network is not in my network list. When this is happening, Windows 7 thinks I am connected to a public network and so firewall blocks some of my applications.

SSID broadcasts a secure network but no security configured

Hi,
I have a wireless network using Cisco 1231G AP's in autonomous mode. Each AP is configured with a guest VLAN and this points to a BBSM server.
The issue I'm having is the SSID for guest access is configured as open with no security parameters set. However, my client (CB21AG) sees the network being broadcast sometimes as open and other times as secure.
AP configuration:
ssid bbsm
vlan 295
authentication open
guest-mode
IOS Version: 12.2(13)JA4
Output captured from AP scan logs:
2008-10-01 12:43:36 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:A7:F5:30,-50,Secure,G,1
2008-10-01 12:43:36 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:A7:F3:B0,-71,Open,G,11
2008-10-01 12:43:36 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:AE:A7:B0,-78,Secure,G,2
2008-10-01 12:43:36 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:AE:7B:90,-91,Open,G,10
2008-10-01 12:43:36 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:B6:58:60,-91,Secure,G,13
2008-10-01 12:43:36 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:B6:66:F0,-92,Secure,G,13
2008-10-01 12:43:36 ,BTOpenzone,00:02:8A:A3:04:A4,-71,Open,B,6
2008-10-01 12:43:36 ,hpsetup,02:13:02:00:02:15,-88,Open,G,11
2008-10-01 12:43:36 ,Voyager test,00:16:E3:32:58:A9,-43,Open,G,5
2008-10-01 12:43:56 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:A7:F5:30,-52,Secure,G,1
2008-10-01 12:43:56 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:A7:F3:B0,-69,Secure,G,11
2008-10-01 12:43:56 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:AE:A7:B0,-77,Secure,G,2
2008-10-01 12:43:56 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:AE:7B:90,-89,Secure,G,10
2008-10-01 12:43:56 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:B6:58:60,-91,Secure,G,13
2008-10-01 12:43:56 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:B6:66:F0,-92,Secure,G,13
2008-10-01 12:43:56 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:AE:9B:00,-93,Secure,G,5
2008-10-01 13:20:36 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:A7:F5:30,-52,Open,G,1
2008-10-01 13:20:36 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:A7:F3:B0,-67,Open,G,11
2008-10-01 13:20:36 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:B6:58:60,-91,Open,G,13
2008-10-01 13:20:36 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:AE:A7:B0,-75,Open,G,2
2008-10-01 13:20:36 ,bbsm,00:12:DA:AE:7B:90,-94,Open,G,10
2008-10-01 13:20:36 ,BTOpenzone,00:02:8A:A3:04:A4,-69,Open,B,6
2008-10-01 13:20:36 ,Voyager test,00:16:E3:32:58:A9,-40,Open,G,5
Any ideas or help on why I sometimes see the ssid broadcast as secure?
Thanks
Simon

It is one of mine. Yes. It connects to it no problem, just doesn't connect to the actual internet. Network diagnostics has all green lights until the ISP and/or Internet point. If I walk through diagnostics, it will get to the point where it says that the network requires a WEP password. I don't know why it does that because my network is not password-protected (husband claims it doesn't work well with his VPN system to get into work network). If I leave it blank, the connection will work. Eventually, after the computer is put to sleep, I will have the same problem upon waking up. I just tried renaming the network and removing all preferred networks and rebooting. Let's see how that works.

MacBook Pro and SSID Broadcast

Hi All,
New MacBook Pro and I am having some strange issues. By default I disable SSID Broadcast on my Netgear, and all of the other wireless devices work fine. Including my 15inch Powerbook. They only way I can connect with the MacBook Pro is to enable SSID Broadcast. Both of the laptops are setup with the same Airport configs.
Software update is up to date, so I'm kind of stumped. Anyone have any thoughts?
Thanks,
Dan R

Try changing the Airport network selection from Automatic to Preferred networks in the Networks System Preference and additionally make sure the network you're trying to join is at the top of the list. If it isn'tdrag it there. Failing that, try deleting the network profile, apply the change and then readd the network manually and see if that helps.

Adapter can't detect router if the SSID Broadcast is disabled, why? =(

Why can't my Linksys WUSB300N Adapter detect my Linksys WRT54GX SRX Router unless I broadcast the SSID?
I want my Router to be hidden, but everytime I try to disable the SSID Broadcast of my Router, my Linksys Adapter fails to locate it and I end up losing my connection to the router altogether. I am running Windows Vista and I have the 1.0.0.1 driver for Vista. What could I be doing wrong? Please help.

This is a common problem. Are there several other networks in your neighborhood? Are other users also not broadcasting their SSID?
I used to recommend that SSID broadcast be set to "disabled" for security reasons. But newer cracking methods have made this old trick worthless. It adds little or no security to your system. I now recommend that SSID broadcast be set to "enabled". This will help your computer find, and lock on to your router's signal. And this should give at least some slight boost in network performance.
For wireless security, you should be using WPA2, or at least WPA encryption, and a strong password. By strong password I mean at least 24 random characters including capital letters, small letters, and digits (but no spaces.). If you are using this type of security, you do not need to worry about broadcasting your SSID.

Hotspot SSID broadcast -- bug

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