When connecting to a wireless network, most wireless networks identify themselves by broadcasting their SSID. In Windows 7, if your wireless adapter is turned on, your computer will provide you with a list of the networks it has detected. While not common, you may need to occasionally connect to a wireless network that does not broadcast its SSID, thereby masking its presence. This quick tutorial provides instructions on how to create a manual connection to a wireless network that is not broadcasting its SSID.
From Manage wireless networks ; Select Add. Select Manually create a network profile. A window should appear indicating the PublicW7 network was successfully added. Select Close. This option provides a convenience for you to easily connect to it by clicking on your SSID and entering the security key. However, this also allows the nearby hackers to find your network and also see the signal strength with the security type being used directly from Windows without even the need to run a network scanning tool.
Non broadcasting wireless networks are not totally invisible as well because they can be detected by any of the tools mentioned below. It is easy to use and understand without all the confusing configuration. After installation, running inSSIDer will automatically select your wireless adapter to start scanning for available access points. The hidden wireless network is shown in the first line with an empty SSID but the rest of the information about the network is displayed.
Inssider for Windows Inssider for Android. Winhotspot is actually a stand alone application that allows you to easily create a hotspot to share your Internet connection using your wireless adapter. However it also comes with a scanner which can be accessed from the WiFi Stats tab and clicking the Refresh button shows all the available wireless networks including the hidden ones.
This utility is only KB in size and works only in Windows 7 and 8. Download Winhotspot. CommView for WiFi is a special edition of CommView designed for capturing and analyzing network packets on wireless It gathers information from the wireless adapter and decodes the analyzed data.
In addition, CommView lets you see the list of network connections and vital IP statistics and examine individual packets.
