Changing SSID name

You change the ssid in the router using the router configuration tools.  Since you don't say which router you have, it is difficult to give more precise instructions.

Steve

The documentation that came with your router should be the same as that on the Dell web site:

<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

On that page, after reading how to access the web based configuration utility, click on the link for Basic Settings, then under Wireless Settings, you can change the SSID.

Steve

"you can change the SSID"

This is a basic question but what are the advantages of selecting a different name for the SSID? I dont see how this improves the security of the network.

Thanks for your experiences.

Btw, I see where to change the SSID in the 2300 but does one need to do something with the wireless card (1300) as well? 

This is one of the most basic of security measures.  The default SSID for Linksys is, guess what, "Linksys"!

The password is admin.  War drivers with scanners know this and look for open wireless networks.  How does this affect you?  Well suppose your 16 yr old neighbor's kid was jumping onto your wireless LAN and downloading illegal MP3 files.  Guess who the RIAA is going to come after?  You, because your IP Address is being used.

Change the SSID, the password, stop the broadcasting of the SSID, and enable encryption along with MAC filtering and you will have a really secure network from 99.9% of the bad guys.

Message Edited by jmwills on 02-09-2004 09:42 AM

Sorry in advance for the basic qs. I really have learned alot about my simple wireless network with your postings. Thanks.

I had changed the username and password on the router.

But I am still confused why changing the SSID is helpful. Even if I change the name from the default wont it still be visible to others? For example I easily see my next door neighbours connection and his *non default* SSID as well as some of the details (eg channel, signal strength, security...). I guess one could stop the broadcasting of the new SSID but then if one does that what is the importance of the actual SSID?

That is why you should also hide your ssid or disable the boadcast of the ssid.  That way people trying to hack your network will have to guess at the ssid to find it and changing the name will make it more difficult.  If it remains at the default, the guessing becomes easier.

Steve

"That is why you should also hide your ssid or disable the boadcast of the ssid."

I have disabled SSID Broadcast on my 2300 router.

But if I open my wireless network connection on my XP laptop and view the
available networks, I still see my SSID listed.  Perhaps I'm not
understanding this properly, but I thought if SSID broadcast was
disabled, my wireless SSID name would not show up to outsiders *and* me?

Once you have identified the network by ssid, your laptop will remember it and find it.

Steve

But others will not see it until they have typed the name in, which they hit by luck or you give it to them.