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WNDR4300 shows two WiFi networks available on Win 8.1 and Win 10 but not Win 7
I recently installed a couple of NetGear N750 routers (at different sites) and they are working as expected (almost). I am puzzled why I see two WiFi network "signals" when viewing "Available WiFi connections" when using the bottom tray icon.
For example, I setup "CCHS WiFi" as the SSID. I see "CCHS WiFi" but also a "CCHS WiFi 2" in the network selection menu. I see this on both Win 8.1 and Win 10 computers. But on a Win 7 computer, I only see the "CCHS WiFi" selection as expected.
At first I thought this could be the Win 81. and Win 10 computers had dual band WiFi cards, but that is not the case. There is a Dell Wireless 1705 - 2.4 GHz in the Win 10 desktop and an Intel Centrino N-2230 is in the Win 8.1 laptop.
As mentioned, connectivity is working fine, this is more of a "what's going on with this?" kind of inquiry.
Thanks for looking for an answer . . . There really isn't much to see regarding a screen shot. When I would click on the WiFi icon in the bottom tray I would see two "WiFi"s available. The first was K0RC-2G and it said connected. The second was K0RC-2G 2 and it was not connected.
As mentioned before I drilled my way down into the "Preferred WiFi Networks" menu (where the list of every WiFi you have ever connected to will appear) and it ( the "2") was listed there. I simply deleted it and that seems to be the solution. The very odd aspect is that I have three computers on WiFi in this location. One is Win 7, one is Win 8.1, and a Win 10. The Win 7 did not capture the phantom "2" WiFi but both Win 8.1 and Win 10 did.
In any case, problem solved. The "2" network has not reappeared on either Win 8.1 or Win 10 since then, through many reboots and reconnects.
Thanks for your attention to this issue.
I am writing this off as a fluke.
4 Replies
Hello K0RC,
Welcome to the community!
That's a pretty odd. Kindly verify the SSID's that you have set on your Guest Network. Will the other one still show if you disable the SSID broadcast? Will the duplicate SSID automatically show up once you changed the SSID? If you have the Genie installed, verify if it will show that it's indeed your network. Look under WiFi Connection > WiFi Channel. From there you will be able to verify if it's your router that's broadcasting that SSID and not someone who's trying to set a trap.
Regards,
The Guest Network has always been disabled at this location.
Using Genie, and looking at the WiFi Connections, there is only the one SSID, occupying channel 1. Here is what is configured:
The 2.4 GHZ SSID is set to K0RC-2GThe 5.0 GHZ SSID is set to K0RC-5G
I don't have a 5.0 GHZ device available to verify what is being broadcast on that band.
I now looked in the "Preferred networks" menu selection and I see a variety of SSIDs, including the errant K0RC-2G 2 SSID. I deleted all but the desired K0RC-2G SSID and that seems to have cleared up this issue. I did not have to reset the router or restart the computer for the errant SSID to "go away."
Apparently "something" generated that faux SSID during the initial setup. I only defined the two SSIDs listed above when I installed this N750.
"Why" the Win 8.1 and Win 10 computers saw two SSIDs and the Win 7 only saw one remains a mystery too. Maybe someone will come along that knows "what happened" to create this odd situation.
I'm "set to go" at this point, but as a technically oriented person, if there is an explanation I would be interested in knowing (understanding) how this double SSID situation came about.
