Ssid meaning wifi

This can be both confusing and frustrating, especially for guests and others that are connecting for the first time. You are free to call your network whatever you want, so why leave it as an advertisement for the vendor?

This may be pre-configured by your vendor or service provider. Every device connecting will be making its own decision on which signal is the stronger and more appealing. In most cases this will be the 2. Band steering is becoming increasingly common in wireless access points. If you are in doubt about what is supported by your router, extender, or other access point, consult its documentation or contact your service provider if they supplied the equipment.

Knowing what Wi-Fi technologies your computers, smartphones, and other devices support, is also a good idea. Do you often have visitors that use their own devices on your wireless networks? For example your kids' friends? Then having a separate guest network with its own SSID and password is a good idea. We recommend against hosting an open Wi-Fi network.

You should choose a unique SSID, especially if you live near a lot of other people—for example, in an apartment building. This will prevent connection problems. However, you may be able to do this via an app instead of you use something like Google Wifi that offers an app. This will work unless you or someone else with access to the router has changed it. Consult the manual for your specific model of router for more information.

But, even if you hide your SSID, the router still broadcasts traffic wirelessly. Wi-Fi networks with hidden SSIDs may not appear in the list of Wi-Fi networks on a PC or smartphone, but they will be detectable to anyone with easy-to-use wireless traffic monitoring software. Worse yet, creating a hidden network leads to connection problems and actually exposes your Wi-Fi connection details. When you use a hidden network, your device has to constantly broadcast its name and attempt to connect to find it.

Wi-Fi was never designed to work this way. The SSIDs around you are named by the people and businesses nearby. Use Google Fonts in Word. Use FaceTime on Android Signal vs. Customize the Taskbar in Windows What Is svchost.

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The SSID is different than the name that is assigned to a wireless router. For example, the administrator of a wireless network may set the name of the router, or base station, to "Office. Each packet sent over a wireless network includes the SSID, which ensures that the data being sent over the air arrives at the correct location.

Without service set identifiers, sending and receiving data in a location with multiple wireless networks would be chaotic and unpredictable to say the least. If you would like to reference this page or cite this definition, you can use the green citation links above. The goal of TechTerms. We strive for simplicity and accuracy with every definition we publish.