Is there any way to "not advertise" my wireless network to the world in Windows XP SP3? I'm not relying on this for intrusion security. I've read the article. My wireless network has WPA2 with a secure password that only I know.
At the same time, I do not really want to advertise to the world that I have a wireless network. It's a relatively public location with no other WiFi anywhere nearby; I don't need 100 strangers walking in to ask if they can "just use my WiFi" for a moment. Call it stumble across security.
NOTE: Regarding security, I'm not so worried about packet sniffers tracking me down. The data is all secure anyways. 1 in 1,000 people will find the network, and see it's encrypted. Somehow I don't think they'll walk in and say "I packet sniffed out your hidden network, do you think I can use it for awhile?"
Best Answer
If you want to stop your SSID being broadcast such that it appears in unregistered clients' lists of networks, you'll need to disable it on your wireless access point (or wireless router). If you don't know how to manage the device, try putting its address into a browser. If you don't know its address, look for the default router in the output of
ipconfig.The location of the option to disable SSID broadcast obviously varies by vendor, but to give you an idea, this is what it looks like on a Linksys X3500:
The article you cite covers the disadvantages nicely, so I'll assume you understand the implications of doing this.