How to Make Your SSID Invisible on NETGEAR

You can turn off the SSID broadcast in your Netgear router to make the SSID invisible.

Service Set Identification, or SSID, is a 32-character string of letters and numbers broadcast by your Neatgear or other wireless router. The SSID is used to identify your wireless network and lets network devices like a laptop or smartphone easily locate and connect to the network. You can disable SSID broadcasts from your router and make the SSID invisible to network devices. If your router does not broadcast the SSID, you must know the settings for the network and manually connect.

Instructions

1. Open a browser window and type “www.routerlogin.net” to connect to the Netgear SmartWizard Router Manager stored on the router. You can also connect by typing the IP address of the router in the address bar of your browser, usually “192.168.1.1” or “192.168.0.1.”

2. Click “Wireless Settings” in the “Advanced” panel.

3. Click the “Enable SSID Broadcast” check box in the “Wireless Router Settings” panel to uncheck the box. Click “Apply.”

Tips & Warnings

• If you turn off SSID broadcast, the SSID of the router can still be detected with third-party scanning programs. To secure your wireless network, you should always include WEP encryption or the more secure WPA2 encryption.

• If you do not broadcast your SSID, many devices will be unable to automatically connect to the network, even if you have saved the configuration on the device.

References

• Netgear: What is a Wireless Network's SSID?
• Netgear: Router and Networking FAQ
• Netgear: Netgear RangeMax Next Wireless Router WNR834B User Manual
• How-To Geek: Debunking Myths - Is Hiding Your Wireless SSID Really More Secure?

Resources

• Netgear