I currently have a Netgear WG121 usb 2 adapter connecting to a netgear DG834G wireless router. Also using Windows XP SP2 and the latest drivers (ver 2.0) for the adapter.
If i disable ssid broadcast, the adapter does not connect, it scans all the channels but is not able to connect using WPA-PSK encryption. If I enable ssid broadcast then the machine connects successfully.
Is there a way for it to work without broadcasting the ssid?
There is a microsoft article about this. They reccommend not turning off SSID broadcast just for the reason you are speaking of. They say it is by design. Even if you are setting next to your AP, XP2 will not see you and will connect to any other AP that is broadcasting down the street. Its also a good idea to broadcast it, if for nothing else, to let your neighbor know you are there and what channel you are using so he can switch to a different one. If you go to support.microsft.com and select XP and search SSID you should find the article.
Thanks for the reply.
Here is the article
I suppose the best way to secure it is using WPA-PSK and a strong network key
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