The wireless ssid is the first line of defense for network security.

In wireless security configuration and network encryption, you must have heard of the SSID name. Do you know what it is? The following article will introduce the wireless ssid identification in detail. We hope that this article will give you a comprehensive understanding of the wireless ssid logo.

1. What is a wireless ssid identifier and how to configure it?

The ssid/essid (service set identifier) is the abbreviation of "service area identifier matching" and "service Group identifier". It can contain a maximum of 32 characters, it is like the "Working Group" logo in a wired LAN, or like a password between a wireless client and a wireless router. Only when the same, can the wireless Nic access the wireless router, this is also an important measure to ensure the security of wireless networks.

A wireless workstation equipped with a wireless network adapter must have the correct wireless ssid ID and the same ssid as the Wireless Access Point (ap or wireless router) to access the ap; if the displayed ssid is different from the ssid of the ap or wireless router, the ap rejects access through the service area/Working Group. Therefore, the ssid can be considered as a simple password, which provides a password authentication mechanism to ensure security. To change the ssid of a wireless network adapter, you can also change the ssid in the operating system.

Take windows 98 as an example. In windows, right-click "Network neighbors" and click "properties ". Select the network adapter to be modified in "network configuration", select the name of the wireless network adapter used in "network", select the network adapter, and click "properties ", select the "advanced" column. In the "advanced" option, enter the ssid name of the Wireless AP or route in the ssid/essid option, and then enter the key value in the ssid/essid option as the ssid name.

However, Wireless Access Point ap broadcasts its ssid outward, reducing the security level. In addition, generally, users configure their own client systems, so many people know this ssid and it is easy to share it with illegal users. The standard working group also said: some manufacturers support the "any" ssid method. As long as the wireless client is within the ap range, it will automatically connect to the ap, which will bypass the ssid security function. Therefore, the ap or wireless route support for this technology is not to allow the ap or wireless router to broadcast its ssid number, in this way, the wireless workstation must provide the correct ssid to connect with the ap or wireless router.

Ii. Whether the wireless ssid can ensure the security of wireless use

Ssid security issues mainly come from two types of user groups: first, personal users who are new to wireless networks, office users, and users who are not very concerned about security, they generally use Wireless AP or the default ssid to allow the broadcast mode. One is the wireless hotspot used in public wireless networks (that is, the wireless access point, also composed of Wireless AP or wireless route, such as hotels, libraries, bars, and universities. To enable wireless access for all the public or users in the service area, ssid broadcasting is also enabled.

In the last two years, wlan wireless LAN has been widely favored by mainstream users. from home, campus to coffee shop, various wireless access points may exist. Wireless Local network devices are cost-effective and allow anyone to establish a wireless access point. For a wireless access point that needs to broadcast its ssid at will, malicious users or hackers can use the same ssid to access any 802.11 Access Point and easily steal valuable information from users.

In addition, if a public wireless access platform broadcasts its wireless ssid ID, anyone who knows a technology knows that the same ssid can be used to set another 802.11 access point, if the signal is stronger or worse than the hotspot signal, it is easy for the user to select a strong signal and enter according to the familiar ssid, while enjoying its service for "free", you are even more familiar with the false Wukong Wireless Access Point like "edevil twin. For convenience, in windows, dhcp does not really care about the hotspot you are connected to because the user sets up a wireless network to automatically connect to the same wireless network, this allows users to enter the ssid wireless access point that is similar to the Public Wireless Access Point without knowing it.

Therefore, for general users, while providing free services through wireless access points, if they have important information that requires security protection (such as various user names and passwords ), in actual settings, the default "Allowed to broadcast ssid" of most Wireless AP or wireless routers is "Do not broadcast ssid ". In this way, if other users want to automatically enter your wireless access point, they must manually enter the correct "ssid" to enter the network. This ensures the security of wlan usage to a certain extent, prevent malicious users from randomly wandering in a personal wlan that is not too secure or not too secure.

In addition, in addition to windows xp and other operating systems (the 802.11i standard extends the definition of ssid broadcast, and the information of extended wireless ssid identification can be placed inside the original broadcast package; windows xp sp2 wpa2/802.11i patches can all be viewed with the extended ssid) can automatically scan outside the Wireless Access Point, you will find that there is an "any (first available access point)" option in the drivers/configuration programs of mainstream wireless NICs. What is this? In fact, it means automatically detecting the wireless network ssid with the strongest signal. When you use a wireless network adapter in a region with multiple wireless networks or unknown wireless network conditions, this option is optional, it will automatically detect the wireless ssid identifier and connect it to the wireless network. This is why the Broadcast ssid can be easily accessed by almost all mobile devices with wireless NICs.

Therefore, users who need security can use mac address access control, wep, 802.11x, wpa, and other security standards to achieve the security of wireless access points. However, the advantages and disadvantages of things are mostly complementary. First, wep itself is prone to cracking, in addition, not all wireless network cards support the wep key, 802.11x, and wpa encryption methods of 128 or more. Some old wireless network cards may only support 40-bit encryption or 64-bit encryption, others are not supported at all. Not all NICs can support the 802.11x and wpa standards. Some NICs can be supported by upgrading the driver, but most early NICs cannot.

Therefore, when setting wep, 802.11x, and wpa encryption for Wireless AP or wireless routers, you need to plan the settings based on the wireless network card situation. For public wireless hotspots, it is impossible to perform these wireless security settings (mac address access control is not realistic) because it is actually a service. Therefore, when a personal computer user enters a wireless hotspot, it is necessary to install firewall software (set to a high level) when there are few shared files.

Iii. FAQs about wireless ssid Identification

◆ Q: I have a new wireless router installed in my house and shared the Internet through it. But recently I found that my neighbors are also sharing my network, which slows down the Internet access speed or cannot open the webpage during peak network hours. What should I do?

A: You can use basic wireless security settings to prevent unauthorized sharing. The following two points are useful:

① Disable ssid broadcast. On the configuration page of the wireless router, select "Disable ssid broadcast" to prevent a special ssid "any" in the wireless Nic ", any allows other users to access the ap or wireless router with the best peripheral performance when the wireless Nic is configured with the wireless ssid ID. After the ssid is disabled, the user cannot scan it.

② Because the home wireless network is a small network, the mac address Access Control (mac filter) function is quite useful. You can enable the mac filter function on the web configuration page of the Wireless AP or wireless router, then, manually enter the mac addresses of the wireless/wired network cards of several computers in your home. In this case, even if the Broadcast ssid is illegal, users cannot share the access through the wireless router.

◆ Q: Disable the Broadcast ssid function of the Wireless ap or wireless router. "any" is not selected in the NIC of the wireless client, but the client only needs to be within the range of the ap or wireless router of the other Broadcast ssid, the system will still automatically switch to the wireless router. What should I do?

A: It may be related to the settings in windows xp. If you select "automatically connect to a non-preferred network" in windows, it will also be automatically connected. You can open "Control Panel"> "network connection" and "properties" of "wireless network connection ". Click "wireless network"> "advanced" and remove the check box "automatically connect to a non-preferred network.