connecting to a hidden WAP router

[Derek Broughton]

David McGlone wrote:

> On Tuesday 20 January 2009 10:41:40 am Joel Oliver wrote:
>> > So how do folks connect to routers that don't broadcast their essid's
>> > -- what is the point of that router option if one cannot connect to it?
>> >
>> There's really no security benifit at all by hiding your essid, as it
>> can be sniffed in the air.  Just like the "MAC" address filter, which
>> also sounds like a good idea... Hey, I will only let my computers
>> connect and block all others.  It's a simple matter of sniffing and
>> spoofing it.
> 
> This is what I do. I only let my mac addresses connect to my network.

Not really.  You only let network interfaces _claiming_ to be your MAC 
addresses connect to the network.  Unfortunately, every NIC is required by 
the ethernet protocol to announce its MAC address with every packet it 
sends, and any sniffer can find the MACs on your network - and then making 
another NIC send that address is trivial.