Force Vista To Connect To Wireless Network When SSID Is Not Broadcasting
I just installed a wireless network in my home and am having a problem with my laptop that runs vista. I noticed on my second PC which is running XP, that it will connect to the wireless network even if the SSID has been enabled or disabled to broadcast. For some reason vista will not connect if the SSID is not broadcasting.
Is there a setting in vista that will allow it to connect when a wireless network is not broadcasting?
There is actually an easy fix to force Vista to connect to Wireless Network that is not broadcasting it's SSID (Service Set IDentifier)
Just open up the Network and Sharing Center by clicking on Start, type the word network in the Start Menu search box and click on Network and Sharing Center link in the search results. Or go to Start \ Control Panel \ Network and Internet \ Network and Sharing Center.
In the left navigation pane, click on Manage wireless networks.
Then right click on your wireless network connection and select properties.
Click on the check box next to Connect even if the network is not broadcasting and click OK to save the change (no reboot is necessary).
Now when you need to connect to wireless network, when SSID is not broadcasting, Vista will make the connection all the time.
Also, as far a security goes, there is no real advantage to hiding the SSID since many programs can see you wireless device when it is not bradcasting. It does not hurt to enable it, but will not deter someone who is network savvy. At the very least it can be implement with other methods for securing your home wireless network
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Comments on Force Vista To Connect To Wireless Network When SSID Is Not Broadcasting
This doesnt seem to work if you first try to connect to a network that was hidden, and then you tick the box. Windows Vista seems to somehow remember its "bad experience" from the first attempt and no amount of enabling SSID broadcasting or ticking boxes is going to make it change its mind. Is there some file or registry entry that can deleted to force it to clear its memory of the time when it tried to connect whilst the box was unchecked?
@Annoyed With Vista
Good point. I have not been able to find a work around and would also be interested in finding out why Vista behaves this way.
This problem only seems to apply to Vista with Service Pack 1 installed. Without the service pack it behaves "normally".
Did u ever get a fix for this problem? We're having exactly the same issue and it's causing huge headaches for all Vista laptop users in our organisation.
Thank you for your help, i have been pulling out my hair for hours wondering why all of a sudden my Vista Laptop would not connect to my wireless network and my XP system would, even though it worked fine for weeks before!
THANK YOU!
My wireless network is recongnized by my computor but I cannot connect to the internet. The diagnosis says Hidden network wirless setting do not match. I have checked the "connect even if network is not broadcasting" box, but it still will not connect to the network. I can connect to my neighbors and orther wireless networks just not the Linksys at my home.
This would be a great tip, if it actually worked.
My SSID is hidden, I've set all the options that you've listed here even before I found this page.
Vista is literally doing … *nothing*.
The connection is there, I know because I've got an XP laptop using it right now, I've entered in all the details into vista under "manage wireless networks" and it flat out refuses to do anything at all.
I'm thrown back to a menu where it shows me a list of Wireless access points that it has picked up, shockingly enough because mine is hidden is does not appear in the list. From this point I'm 100% screwed.
I can not stand all the dumbing down and fragmenting of menus and options relating to network settings in this god forsaken operating system. Before it was all controlled from the adaptor settings menu in XP, now we have 3 different places to control the same thing, and NONE OF IT WORKS.
@Paul M
I can assure you it works on most PC's. Why it won;t work on yours, is something that you will either need to dig further or go back to XP (after all, isn't that the way Windows always is). One tip I have come across in a couple of situations, when it would not work, was to enable broadcasting and make the connection with the Vista PC to the wireless router. After setting the option (shown above in article), disable broadcasting.
If it still won't work for you, then don't worry about it and move on. Disabling broadcasting on your wireless router does nothing for security. Making sure you have strong encryption enabled is the better way to make use of your time.
Thx alot…not its work on my vista…i got headache searching for an answer…but this time it work perfectly
this does work only for you…
this is my problem ,
my wireless router does not appear in the " manage wireless connections "
how do i connect??
plz help;
thnx;
my email:
erjonkatrini@yahoo.com
Not to bring back an old topic … but … this site came up in search while trying to find something for a friend … So if this helps anyone it's worth it…
Was trying this thru win7 and having same experience as vista users here.
Attempt 1 – Desktop
While trying to add wireless connection to un-broadcasted router it wouldn't
connect. Router name was Jason and I was putting in ssid as jason under manage wireless connections … as soon as I capitalized J it connected!
Seems like it might be case-sensitive, not sure but make sure your spelling
ssid EXACT same way as it is in router.
Attempt 2 – Laptop
"Other network" showed up in my task bar network connections list when I tried to connect to that it asked me for ssid … from here same situation as above..
Put in jason no connection … tried again put in Jason and connected.
Good Luck!
@Jason
Good point (and tip) about the SSID being case sensitive. I know for the most part, Linksys routers are case sensitive, but not sure about other manufactures.