This post was published 4 years 3 months 26 days ago. Therefore, it is likely to be outdated and may no longer be valid.
My ThinkPad T40 has suddenly taken a disliking to my hidden SSID.
Not broadcasting your SSID is one step in securing a wireless network. OK, on it’s own it’s not very effective security but I consider it worthy of inclusion in my home wireless LAN because it deters casual intruders. I’m fully aware that hidden SSIDs can be found but I still consider it good practice not to broadcast it.
However, today I’ve had to enable my SSID broadcast. This is because my ThinkPad T40 (build-in Intel PRO wireless LAN 2100 Mini PCI Adapter) has suddenly decided not to see my LAN – or more precisely, it sees it then gives me an IP conflict even when it’s set to auto-detect an IP address and, then gives me a random IP address in the 169.x.x.x range, naturally resulting in no connectivity.
I checked and double-checked my router, DHCP and wireless settings and all appeared to be as it should be. My PowerBook connected just fine as did my iPAQ. But my ThinkPad just wouldn’t play ball. While playing with my settings to see if I could understand what was going on I enabled my SSID broadcast and hey-presto old Thinky started to play just fine. Very strange. I re-hid my SSID and there you go Thinky threw a fit.
On closer inspection (well, a little bit closer), with my SSID hidden the wireless signal strength (detected through IBM Access Connections) averaged 55%. Broadcasting the SSID increased this to over 95% and produced no connectivity problems.
So, for now, my SSID is broadcast. Of course, others can see it but it’s encrypted using WPA with a very long key and access to my devices is also protected by secure passwords. Plus, all wired and wireless traffic also travels through a VPN so I’m fairly sure my security is adequate for any security risks I may have.
But, I’d prefer my SSID to be hidden without old Thinky sulking.