Netgear WG121 and ssid broadcast

I currently have a Netgear WG121 usb 2 adapter connecting to a netgear
DG834G wireless router. Also using Windows XP SP2 and the latest
drivers (ver 2.0) for the adapter.

If i disable ssid broadcast, the adapter does not connect, it scans
all the channels but is not able to connect using WPA-PSK encryption.
If I enable ssid broadcast then the machine connects successfully.

Is there a way for it to work without broadcasting the ssid?

There is a microsoft article about this. They reccommend not turning off
SSID broadcast just for the reason you are speaking of. They say it is by
design. Even if you are setting next to your AP, XP2 will not see you and
will connect to any other AP that is broadcasting down the street. Its also
a good idea to broadcast it, if for nothing else, to let your neighbor know
you are there and what channel you are using so he can switch to a different
one.
If you go to support.microsft.com and select XP and search SSID you should
find the article.


"Jerichohol" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) om...
> I currently have a Netgear WG121 usb 2 adapter connecting to a netgear
> DG834G wireless router. Also using Windows XP SP2 and the latest
> drivers (ver 2.0) for the adapter.
>
> If i disable ssid broadcast, the adapter does not connect, it scans
> all the channels but is not able to connect using WPA-PSK encryption.
> If I enable ssid broadcast then the machine connects successfully.
>
> Is there a way for it to work without broadcasting the ssid?

Thanks for the reply.

Here is the article

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;811427

Yeah my neigbour uses the ssid "Netgear" so I dont that should be a problem either.

I suppose the best way to secure it is using WPA-PSK and a strong network key


"Airhead" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<419e72f3$0$793$(E-Mail Removed) >...
> There is a microsoft article about this. They reccommend not turning off
> SSID broadcast just for the reason you are speaking of. They say it is by
> design. Even if you are setting next to your AP, XP2 will not see you and
> will connect to any other AP that is broadcasting down the street. Its also
> a good idea to broadcast it, if for nothing else, to let your neighbor know
> you are there and what channel you are using so he can switch to a different
> one.
> If you go to support.microsft.com and select XP and search SSID you should
> find the article.
>
>

If you use the Windows Wireless Zero configuration utility, then yes,
you could possibly have "minor" problems if you disable the broadcast of
your SSID, however, if you use the utility that came with your device,
especially the awesome Netgear utility, I doubt if you experience such
minor issues. Still, I recommend that you change many of your "DEFAULT"
settings, including the IP address. A long encryption key would be
great especially if your devices support non-ascii characters.

Jerichohol wrote:
> Thanks for the reply.
>
> Here is the article
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;811427
>
> Yeah my neigbour uses the ssid "Netgear" so I dont that should be a problem either.
>
> I suppose the best way to secure it is using WPA-PSK and a strong network key
>
>
> "Airhead" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<419e72f3$0$793$(E-Mail Removed) >...
>
>>There is a microsoft article about this. They reccommend not turning off
>>SSID broadcast just for the reason you are speaking of. They say it is by
>>design. Even if you are setting next to your AP, XP2 will not see you and
>>will connect to any other AP that is broadcasting down the street. Its also
>>a good idea to broadcast it, if for nothing else, to let your neighbor know
>>you are there and what channel you are using so he can switch to a different
>>one.
>>If you go to support.microsft.com and select XP and search SSID you should
>>find the article.
>>
>>