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[Q] Connect to Wi-Fi router not broadcasting SSID?

Just got my Gtab yesterday and haven't had time to mod/root yet (aside from the automatic update that installed when 1st connected) but was wondering if there's a way with stock ROM to enable the ability to connect to a Wi-Fi router that's not broadcasting its SSID.
I have the connection set up, but it will only find my router when it's broadcasting the SSID, which I'd prefer not to do, and I don't see an option to connect even though the router's not broadcasting it.
I was hoping that once it established the connection, it would remember and reconnect even after disabling the SSID broadcast, but it doesn't.
If not possible with the stock ROM, is this possible with any of the alt ROMs out there?

Hidden SSID

WTF!! Anyone know hot to get the tablet to connect to a network with SSID hidden. Tried 3 routers, no deal. Running vegan 5.1, would swith back to TNT if necessary.
Thanks.

raggededge said:
WTF!! Anyone know hot to get the tablet to connect to a network with SSID hidden. Tried 3 routers, no deal. Running vegan 5.1, would swith back to TNT if necessary.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a similar issue. I have two routers: The westell, it connected to no worries. The Cisco/Linksys I couldn't connect to to save my life. As soon as I let the ssid broadcast, it picked it up and connected. I can even re-hide it again, and it will connect.
I've tried a few ROM's on my Incredible, and the same thing. It connects to the Westell, no worries. But I have to broadcast the SSID for the phone to connect to the Linksys. It turns out Android is somewhat well-known for this. and I believe it to be a system issue, not specific to any ROM or branch.
In reality though, NOT broadcasting the SSID doesn't add much in the way of privacy. A script-kiddie with a WinMo 5 fone can find and connect to them. I used to use my Wizzie to find and connect to WiFi networks when I traveled. Just make sure you are using a secure connection like WPA2 or something.

Tell me about it it drives me insane!!! I'm using a dlink dsl-2740b with/ without MAC filter and i can't get it to find my hidden SSID.
did the kernel mod 2.6.32.28 - from pershoot still no go. Anyone else found a fix?

I'm running an old Linksys WRT54v1.1 with DD-WRT installed...
Non-Broadcast SSID, MAC Filtering, WPA2 -- no issues...
Worked for me right away....on all ROMs (so far) -- Stock, TnTLite, & Vegan...My phone has Cyanogenmod so I'd assume it will work as well...
I'd highly recommend DD-WRT as a new firmware for your Cisco/Linksys if it is a supported model...

aaltieri said:
In reality though, NOT broadcasting the SSID doesn't add much in the way of privacy. A script-kiddie with a WinMo 5 fone can find and connect to them. I used to use my Wizzie to find and connect to WiFi networks when I traveled. Just make sure you are using a secure connection like WPA2 or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know it's totally not the point of this post but, exactly.
It in fact creates more problems than it does any type of good on any level at all because it makes it more trouble for you, the user to connect to your own network. Some chipsets have issues connecting to hidden SSIDs as well, as shows with the Tablet. Phones can have the problem too. Computers less so just because of the detailed configurations of the software.
You don't even have to be a script kiddie or hacker, there are easily downloaded, well known tools that show hidden SSIDs, along with mac addresses of any and all routers and also which sniff wifi signals. So pretty much anyone that knows more than how to check emails can get into your network if they need/want to and you're not using WEP. WEP is of course only a step up and still simple to get into with just that much more effort (not much, at all).
In these days and times in terms of privacy, if you're not at the very least using WPA with AES then just go ahead and leave it open.

Block SSIDs From Being Listed On Android Device

Good afternoon.
I'm setting up an android device for someone and I want to know if it is possible to block all broadcast SSIDs from showing on the device? Leaving them only able to connect to one router with a hidden SSID.
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More details:
In wifi settings there is a list of available networks as well as previously connected networks (not in range). I am trying to set the device up so that the user (and any apps they install) cannot see the list of neighboring SSIDs. They will be connected to one router via a hidden SSID.
Is this possible?
Thank you.

Help with WIFI OP8T_O2_BETA_2

Hi all, just received my 8T on Friday. I migrated from a Pixel 4XL which was having microphone issues I think. After migration, tried to set up the phone, and I could not get the 8T to connect to my home's WPA2-PSK wifi network to log back into my google account, get OS and app updates, add email accounts, etc. Had to do all that over 4G. Finally discovered by accident that the phone will connect to unencrypted networks like hotspots. Eventually, I run a debug trace on my home wifi infrastructure (Cisco 9130 with embedded wireless controller & other Cisco 3800's) and I can see that the phone connects just fine to "open" network that I created to test with, but as soon as I try to connect to the WPA2 network everything in the house runs on, the entries in the trace stop... meaning the phone isn't even trying to connect to the access point. On the phone, when you click to connect to the secured wifi, you can see the status go from "saved" to "connecting" back to "saved", while the access point sees no connection attempt whatsoever. So it's either software or hardware problem with the phone. Seeing as I've been on at least two different versions of the OS, I suspect hardware.
So my question is this: is anyone else able to connect an 8T to a wifi network that's secured with WPA2 preshared key? Is it just me having trouble? I've been on chat with OnePlus support two different times, now I'm waiting since Sunday for a shipping label for RMA to OnePlus.
Any help greatly appreciated!

Privacy: How to set a random MAC address upon every Wi-Fi connection

Privacy: How to set a random MAC address upon every Wi-Fi connection
I post this for two reasons, the first being I just learned this and therefore I want others to benefit from my newfound knowledge:
"Every time your device connects to a new network it can use a randomized MAC address. Why is this important? To put it simply: Privacy."​which seems to apply to a variety of Android releases:
"Starting in Android 8.0, Android devices use randomized MAC addresses when probing for new networks while not currently associated with a network. MAC randomization prevents listeners from using MAC addresses to build a history of device activity, thus increasing user privacy."​
And the second reason is that those who know more than I do can further add technical value to this topic.
What I did on Android 11 was I changed the following two settings which I believe add to privacy.
Android11-Settings > Connections > Wi-Fi > GearIcon > Advanced > MAC Address Type
Set to either {Randomized MAC} or top {Phone MAC}
Settings > Developer options > Networking > Enhanced Wi-Fi MAC randomization
Turn either {ON} or {OFF}
"Change this phone's MAC address each time it connects to a network that has MAC randomization turned on."
One caveat is the following:
"Once a random MAC address is used for a given network profile, the mobile device will continue to use the same random MAC address even after the user deletes the network profile and recreates the SSID/network profile."
Another caveat is the following:
"There is a bit which gets set in the OUI portion of a MAC address to signify a randomized / locally administered address. The quick synopsis is look at the second character in a MAC address, if it is a 2, 6, A, or E it is a randomized address."
If you're aware of additional technical information on this privacy topic, please add it to this thread so that we all benefit from your knowledge.

Thanx,
I did option 2 - Settings - Developer Options - Networking - Enhanced Wi-Fi MAC Randomization - as to On, and I tried googling where to find your first option 'Randomized MAC' on Android 11, but I can't find a solution as to why I don't see that 'Randomized MAC' option there on my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, it is updated.
May you possibly tell me if you know of whether if I should have both your suggested options enabled and why I maybe can't see option 1 for me?

Hi, I cant find the setting Privacy - Use Randomized MAC on my Galaxy Note 8 but on my Mi Mix 2S, this option is there. Tried MacRandomizationEnabler module on Magisk but there's no changes. Tried it on various Roms Q/R/S for Note 8 but cant seem to get it to appear.

helionexusbiz said:
Thanx,
I did option 2 - Settings - Developer Options - Networking - Enhanced Wi-Fi MAC Randomization - as to On, and I tried googling where to find your first option 'Randomized MAC' on Android 11, but I can't find a solution as to why I don't see that 'Randomized MAC' option there on my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, it is updated.
May you possibly tell me if you know of whether if I should have both your suggested options enabled and why I maybe can't see option 1 for me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try going in WiFi setting while being connected to a WiFi network. You will see a 'gear' icon beside the connected WiFi name. click on that then click on 'advanced'. Hope you will find what you are looking for.
Though I might be too late to reply, but anyway. I just got into (and presumably out of) this mess.

I think I might know where other people might be having issues...
Some routers are set to recognize devices by their MAC address (which won't work anymore with MAC randomization).
First, let me state unequivocally that I have been successfully using MAC randomization on Android 11 (which randomizes per SSID and only changes that randomization under certain circumstances) and I've been successfully using MAC randomization on Android 12 (which randomizes on every connection if you set the Developer options for that).
But I changed a few other (unrelated!) Wi-Fi settings that others might not be setting; (but maybe they matter?).
I don't think most of those Wi-Fi changes I've made are needed for MAC randomization to work per connection, though, as I did them only because I have other tools (like scrcpy and vysor and webdav which you can see in the screenshots below) which work best with a static IP address on the phone (and I hide my router broadcasts for privacy reasons - and yes - I said privacy and not security as Google/Mozilla/Kismet/Wigle/etc. still get your SSID even if you add "_nomap" and "_optout_" to that SSID).
But that's what I think may be DIFFERENT in my setup than in your setup (but I would think my setup would be harder to set up than for most people since my router doesn't broadcast the SSID and my phone doesn't try to reconnect to that SSID when I leave the home due to geofencing tricks).
Anyway, the things I did different from (perhaps?) most people are:
I set Developer options to Enhanced Wi-Fi MAC randomization
(Enhanced Wi-Fi MAC randomization = on)
I set the Android Wi-Fi to request a static IP address
(IP settings = Static)
I set the router to address reservation for that IP address
(Address Reservation = on)
I set the Android Wi-FI to not attempt to reconnect upon failure
(Auto reconnect = off)
I set Developer options to allow wireless debugging
(Wireless debugging = on)
But I want to stress that almost all those Wi-Fi settings I changed that may be different from others weren't necessarily for the MAC randomization feature to work but for other Wi-Fi privacy and functionality features to work, including:
Causing a new Wi-Fi MAC randomization on every connection
Not broadcasting the home Wi-Fi SSID (on the phone) whenever I'm away from home
Not broadcasting the Wi-Fi SSID (on the router) when I'm at home (in addition to using "_optout_" & "_nomap" names).
Mounting the entire phone (root & external SD included) as a read/write drive letter on Windows over Wi-Fi (using WebDav)
Mirroring the Android phone on Windows over Wi-Fi so that I can use the Windows keyboard & mouse & clipboard on the phone (using Vysor and/or Scrcpy) & so that I can just slide an APK from Windows to Android over Wi-Fi to install it onto Android
etc.