Hide SSID of an ad-hoc MacBook pro network

Question

I have a MacBook Pro, with which I share my ethernet connection over wifi. However, I would like to hide the ssid of the generated ad-hoc wifi network.

How would I do this?

Solution 1

It doesn't appear to be possible to setup an Ad-hoc network without SSID broadcasting, at least not with through the System Preferences / Sharing / Internet Sharing controls....

You can change the channel, you can change password, and encryption, but I don't see a way to tell it to not broadcast your SSID.

One option, would be to use an Airport Express, it's a low cost alternative, and does allow you to choose an hidden SSID.... After all, hidden SSID's are really more of an router feature.....

Solution 2

It doesn't make much difference if you broadcast it or not.

Sure, it is easier for a novice to detect if you are broadcasting, however it is trivial to detect networks even when their SSIDs are disabled. Don't rely on this for security - setup a good WPA password and whitelist the MACs of the systems allowed to connect.

This will give you all the security you need.

Comments

[Admin]

Interesting question. I used fseventer to see what files get modified when ad-hoc networking is enabled, and it doesn’t appear to save that information to the filesystem—at least not right away. If it did, there might be a .plist file you could tweak.

[Austin Hyde]

I don't want it for security, I just don't want to advertise I'm sharing my wifi. If anyone really wants to use it, it would be easy to discover it, but I do have a password set already. On another note, how does that answer my original question? I want to know how to hide it. NOT what the benefit is.

[Konrad]

How does hiding your SSID prevent your wifi network from being advertised?! That was what I was trying to point out, it won't fool anyone.

[Austin Hyde]

I don't want to fool anyone. I just don't want it to show up in the casual passerby's listing of networks, even if I do have it passworded.