Question Why does new router always broadcast hidden networks?

[MWink]

I just bought a new TP-Link Archer A7 AC1750 router and I noticed that it ALWAYS broadcasts a hidden network on each band (2.4GHz and 5GHz). I manually configured the Wi-Fi networks and all of them are set to broadcast their SSID. I've even tried disabling the wireless radios and these hidden networks remain. Does anyone know what their purpose is or how to disable them? Thanks.

 

[JackMDS]

Maybe this can Help.

https://www.google.com/search?q=rou...t+ALWAYS+broadcasts+a+hidden+network&ie=UTF-8

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/hidden-wi-fi-networks

 

[dave_the_nerd]

If you disabled the radios and there's still a "hidden network"... maybe it's not actually your router?

 

[MWink]

Maybe this can Help.

https://www.google.com/search?q=rou...t+ALWAYS+broadcasts+a+hidden+network&ie=UTF-8

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/hidden-wi-fi-networks

Thanks but I still don't really see anything that answers my question.

If you disabled the radios and there's still a "hidden network"... maybe it's not actually your router?

I'm 99% sure it's this router. I can tell by the MAC addresses, signal strength, and the fact the networks appear/disappear depending on if this router is powered on. There are not a lot of neighboring networks and definitely none that could have this signal strength.

 

[mxnerd]

https://emulator.tp-link.com/webpages_a7v5_new/pages/userrpm/basic_wireless.html

https://emulator.tp-link.com/webpages_a7v5_new/pages/userrpm/basic_guest.html

Couldn't you hide SSID?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Maybe it's firmware cheesiness, and when you disable the "guest network", it still gets broadcast, but not via the set SSID? Seems like sloppy coding on the part of the firmware devs, though.

Edit: Disabling the radios, should physically disable the radios, not just the logical SSIDs. If it doesn't, the firmware is broken, and the product should be returned. Some people have electromagnetic sensitivities.

 

[ch33zw1z]

ttiwwp - post pics of your router config, and post pictures of the networks you see

 

[MWink]

Maybe it's firmware cheesiness, and when you disable the "guest network", it still gets broadcast, but not via the set SSID? Seems like sloppy coding on the part of the firmware devs, though.

Edit: Disabling the radios, should physically disable the radios, not just the logical SSIDs. If it doesn't, the firmware is broken, and the product should be returned. Some people have electromagnetic sensitivities.

It does not seem to have anything to do with the "guest networks". If they are enabled then it broadcasts 3 networks per band. I tried disabling the Wi-Fi using the physical button on the back of the router and even then it STILL broadcast the two hidden networks.

I finally decided to try flashing a different firmware. I flashed it to the previous version and that made these stray hidden networks disappear. It definitely appears to be firmware related. I'm not sure if it's a bug or related to some new feature that was implemented in the latest firmware. I believe the newest version added support for OneMesh and some Alexa/IFTTT stuff. I wonder if that could have anything to do with it?

 

[who?]

Maybe your ISP wants to use your router as a hotspot for their customers.

 

[Rifter]

If it has mesh support this could be how they are implementing the mesh network across multiple routers, read the manual.

 

[halcy0n]

I just bought a new TP-Link Archer A7 AC1750 router and I noticed that it ALWAYS broadcasts a hidden network on each band (2.4GHz and 5GHz).

I have this same router and found that it is broadcasting a couple of hidden networks since I upgraded the firmware to v1.0.10

The wireless stability has also gone from pretty good, to disconnecting every few hours.

I downgraded the firmware to v1.0.7 to resolve these issues. I am not comfortable with my router broadcasting a bunch of hidden networks that cannot be turned off. As another poster said, it appears to relate to the OneMesh feature.

 

[sanjaypatel]

I just bought a new TP-Link Archer A7 AC1750 router and I noticed that it ALWAYS broadcasts a hidden network on each band (2.4GHz and 5GHz). I manually configured the Wi-Fi networks and all of them are set to broadcast their SSID. I've even tried disabling the wireless radios and these hidden networks remain. Does anyone know what their purpose is or how to disable them? Thanks.

Hi, Even i have the same router Archer A7 V5. it is a very good router. i have found the cause of the problem which you are facing, when i had updated my firmware to Archer A7(EU)_V5_190810 even i had the same problem. actually in latest 2 firmwares they have given support for One Mesh, and thats why the Hidden network getting started..my laptop's internet was getting hanged several times a day. so i downgraded the firmware back to Archer A7(EU)_V5_181210. after doing this the hidden network is gone & internet works very smooth without any disconnection problem. on tp link usa site the downgraded firmware is not available so if you want it to download then get it from tp link india site, it is still available there.

 

[DefaultExploit]

If it has mesh support this could be how they are implementing the mesh network across multiple routers, read the manual.

I joined this forum just to let everyone know that one mesh was what was creating the hidden network. Thanks for this.

 

[fkoehler]

I'll suggest anyone running the C7 consider getting OpenWRT.
I used DD-WRT forever until it started acting up, so decided last ditch effort to try Open. Works great, and tons more features than stock.
It supports wireguard also.
Which reminds me, I need to get my Aruba Instant On's going with the RPi .