How Can Wifi Devices Connect to a Router NOT Broadcasting SSID?

[dwp]

I have an old Asus RT-N10+ on which I run DD-WRT acting as a Repeater Bridge so that a couple devices in one area of my house can use Ethernet as they have no wifi ability.

It seems that in this configuration, the repeater bridge still has its wifi radio ON - surely it has to do so in order to make the bridge connect to the main router. But I do NOT want any devices connecting to the wifi on the repeater bridge. So in the wifi setup, I specifically disable the broadcast of SSID (which is the same as the main router - as the DD-WRT setup instructions say it must be, along with the channel).

With my phone and some wifi analyzer apps, I can occasionally see an access point briefly displayed with the repeater bridge's MAC but only ? (or hidden) shown as the SSID. It is on the channel I expect - same as the main router.

But I am regularly finding that devices do indeed manage to connect to the repeater bridge's wifi. I am not sure but this MAY happen while the main router performs its nightly reboot. I do not understand how this can be given the lack of SSID. What am I not understanding here? Is there some way to ensure that no devices connect to the wifi here?

BTW - I realize that I should, in theory, be able to use the MAC filtering on the repeater bridge to prevent this. And over time, I have added to the size of the prevented MACs list. I once tried using allow-only. But I rapidly found myself not able to manage the device. So I avoid that.

Thanks.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Probably a question best asked in the DD-WRT forums. It might also be a hardware limitation of the RT-N10+ which doesn't allow you to disable the transmitting side of the repeater in repeater mode.

 

[dwp]

Probably a question best asked in the DD-WRT forums. It might also be a hardware limitation of the RT-N10+ which doesn't allow you to disable the transmitting side of the repeater in repeater mode.

Thanks, I will try that.

It seems like I need both receive and transmit for the bridge to work and ethernet connected clients to actually get anything done. But I am not very well informed...

 

[dwp]

I guess I should have looked more first... I googled a bit and found:

WiFi clients can connect to an access point that doesn't broadcast its SSID by manually adding the network's name (SSID), security type, and password in the device's settings. The client must then initiate a connection, often by sending a probe request that includes the specific network name, which the access point can then respond to.

So hiding the SSID seems to accomplish just about NOTHING that I expected/hoped-for. It is in no way a security or access-prevention mechanism.

I am a dope!

 

[ColinTaylor]

WiFi clients can connect to an access point that doesn't broadcast its SSID by manually adding the network's name (SSID), security type, and password in the device's settings. The client must then initiate a connection, often by sending a probe request that includes the specific network name, which the access point can then respond to.

Yes, this is correct.

Sorry, I didn't read your first post carefully enough. I had assumed you were trying to disable the repeater's radio transmitter. But now I see you were just hiding the SSID.

 

[RMerlin]

"Hide SSID" in a router setting does not prevent broadcasting. It simply makes the broadcast packet contain an empty SSID value. That's why for instance a wireless scanning application will list all these "hidden" networks.

It's also why it's being mentionned that that setting does nothing to improve privacy. Your router will still be broadcasting.