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Forum Discussion
AX600/RBK852 - is it possible to disable SSID broadcast on the main network?
Brand new system, firmware was upgraded to the latest (V7.2.6.31_5.0.24). Everything works fine, but I want to disable broadcast of SSID of the main network. Going through various web searches, it ...
Main WIFI radios can not be disabled on Orbi MESH systems. Would cause RBS to disconnect. Intended design of Orbi MESH systems is to have wifi running 24/7.
That information may pertain to non mesh router systems.
Not looking to disable the Wifi - just the broadcast of the SSID. This is fairly common feature that has existed for over 20 years.
Yes existed on NON Mest systems. Not supported on MESH systems.
I have seen screenshots of the exact same Orbi web admin interface as mine (v7 firmware) but it has additional options to disable SSID broadcast. So the option was once available and has been removed? If so, does anyone know if older firmware can be applied to toggle the setting, and then new firmware applied while maintaining the setting?
May have been there on the older Orbi AC series at one point, Was never seen or supported on newer Orbi AX and AXE series thus no FW had anything to support this. Nighthawk systems are completely different from MESH systems that may support that. Orbi has different FW and hardware requirements that cause some features seen else where to be not compatible or has limited uses or has no need to be implemented.
"People usually disable SSID broadcast in hopes to make their wireless networks invisible. But the access points still send out beacon frames and WiFi scanners find hidden networks just as easy as the broadcasting ones. Security through obscurity have few benefits but may give a person a false sense of security. Instead, create a hard to guess password, use strong encryption, like WPA3, turn off WPS, enable access control, regularly update firmware, use guest networks for visitors, and monitor for connected devices."
tg12422455 wrote:
Not looking to disable the Wifi - just the broadcast of the SSID. This is fairly common feature that has existed for over 20 years.
There are many WiFi features that were common in the past and have now disappeared, such as:
- The concept of scheduling the WiFi system to turn off and back on.
In today's 24/7 world with dozens of "Internet of Things" devices in most houses, this is simply no longer practical. - Creating separate SSIDs for the 2.4G and 5G WiFi networks. The norm for modern mesh systems is for them to be the same.
- "Hiding" the SSID by not broadcasting it. This was touted as a security measure years ago, but was found to be pointless. Internet search for "discover hidden WiFi SSID" pulls up numerous articles pointing out that this provides little in the way of increased security.
No matter. The Netgear Orbi products do not provide any of these features. If they are essential, find some other product (but research it carefully before purchasing).
- The concept of scheduling the WiFi system to turn off and back on.
