| Author |
Message |
Guest
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 Posted:
Thu Oct 27, 2005 7:26 am Post subject:
Compaq Laptop And Wireless Router Without SSID Broadcast? |
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To increase the security of my wireless network, I would like to be
able to disable SSID broadcasting from my Netgear Wireless-G router but
am running into a hassle. Can someone help me with this? (Compaq can't.
This seems to be over their heads.)
The problem is that "Wireless Network Connection" wizard (Or whatever.
This appears to be some sort of a default program that Microsoft
bundles with XP but I'm not sure.) on my Compaq M2105us laptop appears
to be dependent on there being such an SSID broadcast. With
broadcasting turned off, the laptop obviously doesn't see the router
and I don't know how to manually force it to try.
In contrast, the wireless networking software that came with a Netgear
Wireless-G USB adaptor allows me to make this connection effortlessly
after I create a "profile" for this connection. Temporarily enable SSID
broadcast, set up the connection, save this to a profile and I'm set. I
can then disable SSID broadcast but still be able to connect to the
router.
I should note that I did the above on a different PC other than the
laptop. I suppose that the next thing that I should try is to install
the Netgear software onto the laptop and see if it will work with the
internal wireless networking hardware of the laptop instead through the
Netgear USB adaptor. I don't know how locked into the Netgear hardware
this software may be.
By any chance, is there any 3rd-party software that I can use to
replace this laptop software?
Another distinction between the Netgear software and what's on the
laptop is that, in the "Wireless Networks" tab of "Wireless Network
Connection Properties", the check box for "Use Windows to configure my
wireless network settings" is enabled for the laptop but disabled for
the Netgear setup.
Also, if there's a better forum for this question, can you pont it out
for me?
Many thanks in advance. |
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Jerry Park
Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Oct 27, 2005 7:26 am Post subject:
Re: Compaq Laptop And Wireless Router Without SSID Broadcast |
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amuskratt@yahoo.com wrote:
| Quote: | To increase the security of my wireless network, I would like to be
able to disable SSID broadcasting from my Netgear Wireless-G router but
am running into a hassle. Can someone help me with this? (Compaq can't.
This seems to be over their heads.)
The problem is that "Wireless Network Connection" wizard (Or whatever.
This appears to be some sort of a default program that Microsoft
bundles with XP but I'm not sure.) on my Compaq M2105us laptop appears
to be dependent on there being such an SSID broadcast. With
broadcasting turned off, the laptop obviously doesn't see the router
and I don't know how to manually force it to try.
In contrast, the wireless networking software that came with a Netgear
Wireless-G USB adaptor allows me to make this connection effortlessly
after I create a "profile" for this connection. Temporarily enable SSID
broadcast, set up the connection, save this to a profile and I'm set. I
can then disable SSID broadcast but still be able to connect to the
router.
I should note that I did the above on a different PC other than the
laptop. I suppose that the next thing that I should try is to install
the Netgear software onto the laptop and see if it will work with the
internal wireless networking hardware of the laptop instead through the
Netgear USB adaptor. I don't know how locked into the Netgear hardware
this software may be.
By any chance, is there any 3rd-party software that I can use to
replace this laptop software?
Another distinction between the Netgear software and what's on the
laptop is that, in the "Wireless Networks" tab of "Wireless Network
Connection Properties", the check box for "Use Windows to configure my
wireless network settings" is enabled for the laptop but disabled for
the Netgear setup.
Also, if there's a better forum for this question, can you pont it out
for me?
Many thanks in advance.
I can't provide assistance in connection issues with SSID turned off but |
would like to point out that turning off the SSID broadcast will not
significantly increase security.
For security, you should be using WPA or WPA2 encryption with a good
passphrase. If you are doing that, you are about as secure as you can be. |
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Guest
|
| Posted:
Thu Oct 27, 2005 9:27 pm Post subject:
Re: Compaq Laptop And Wireless Router Without SSID Broadcast |
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I AM using WPA. WPA-PSK to be more specific. I've also enabled access
control to allow only several Wireless MAC addresses to make a
connection. WPA2 is not available on my router.
Jerry Park wrote:
| Quote: | amuskratt@yahoo.com wrote:
To increase the security of my wireless network, I would like to be
able to disable SSID broadcasting from my Netgear Wireless-G router but
am running into a hassle. Can someone help me with this? (Compaq can't.
This seems to be over their heads.)
The problem is that "Wireless Network Connection" wizard (Or whatever.
This appears to be some sort of a default program that Microsoft
bundles with XP but I'm not sure.) on my Compaq M2105us laptop appears
to be dependent on there being such an SSID broadcast. With
broadcasting turned off, the laptop obviously doesn't see the router
and I don't know how to manually force it to try.
In contrast, the wireless networking software that came with a Netgear
Wireless-G USB adaptor allows me to make this connection effortlessly
after I create a "profile" for this connection. Temporarily enable SSID
broadcast, set up the connection, save this to a profile and I'm set. I
can then disable SSID broadcast but still be able to connect to the
router.
I should note that I did the above on a different PC other than the
laptop. I suppose that the next thing that I should try is to install
the Netgear software onto the laptop and see if it will work with the
internal wireless networking hardware of the laptop instead through the
Netgear USB adaptor. I don't know how locked into the Netgear hardware
this software may be.
By any chance, is there any 3rd-party software that I can use to
replace this laptop software?
Another distinction between the Netgear software and what's on the
laptop is that, in the "Wireless Networks" tab of "Wireless Network
Connection Properties", the check box for "Use Windows to configure my
wireless network settings" is enabled for the laptop but disabled for
the Netgear setup.
Also, if there's a better forum for this question, can you pont it out
for me?
Many thanks in advance.
I can't provide assistance in connection issues with SSID turned off but
would like to point out that turning off the SSID broadcast will not
significantly increase security.
For security, you should be using WPA or WPA2 encryption with a good
passphrase. If you are doing that, you are about as secure as you can be. |
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| Back to top |
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Jerry Park
Guest
|
| Posted:
Fri Oct 28, 2005 1:48 am Post subject:
Re: Compaq Laptop And Wireless Router Without SSID Broadcast |
|
|
amuskratt@yahoo.com wrote:
| Quote: | I AM using WPA. WPA-PSK to be more specific. I've also enabled access
control to allow only several Wireless MAC addresses to make a
connection. WPA2 is not available on my router.
SSID hiding and MAC address filtering are mostly useless as a security |
measure. If anyone can break your WPA encryption (not likely), they can
easily defeat the SSID hiding and MAC filtering.
Hiding the SSID can cause you problems connecting.
| Quote: |
Jerry Park wrote:
amuskratt@yahoo.com wrote:
To increase the security of my wireless network, I would like to be
able to disable SSID broadcasting from my Netgear Wireless-G router but
am running into a hassle. Can someone help me with this? (Compaq can't.
This seems to be over their heads.)
The problem is that "Wireless Network Connection" wizard (Or whatever.
This appears to be some sort of a default program that Microsoft
bundles with XP but I'm not sure.) on my Compaq M2105us laptop appears
to be dependent on there being such an SSID broadcast. With
broadcasting turned off, the laptop obviously doesn't see the router
and I don't know how to manually force it to try.
In contrast, the wireless networking software that came with a Netgear
Wireless-G USB adaptor allows me to make this connection effortlessly
after I create a "profile" for this connection. Temporarily enable SSID
broadcast, set up the connection, save this to a profile and I'm set. I
can then disable SSID broadcast but still be able to connect to the
router.
I should note that I did the above on a different PC other than the
laptop. I suppose that the next thing that I should try is to install
the Netgear software onto the laptop and see if it will work with the
internal wireless networking hardware of the laptop instead through the
Netgear USB adaptor. I don't know how locked into the Netgear hardware
this software may be.
By any chance, is there any 3rd-party software that I can use to
replace this laptop software?
Another distinction between the Netgear software and what's on the
laptop is that, in the "Wireless Networks" tab of "Wireless Network
Connection Properties", the check box for "Use Windows to configure my
wireless network settings" is enabled for the laptop but disabled for
the Netgear setup.
Also, if there's a better forum for this question, can you pont it out
for me?
Many thanks in advance.
I can't provide assistance in connection issues with SSID turned off but
would like to point out that turning off the SSID broadcast will not
significantly increase security.
For security, you should be using WPA or WPA2 encryption with a good
passphrase. If you are doing that, you are about as secure as you can be.
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