Member Avatar for anukavi

Hi,

I had previously posted many question on SSID and have been solved successfully with your help.
Once again the question is related with SSID.

When i have my wireless router attached to PC, i can see the router name .
Is there anyway to stop broadcasting the SSID name using C++ code.
thanks

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Short answer for : you cannot reliably stop an access point (AP) from advertising its SSID from a normal client-side C++ program. Beaconing is done by the AP firmware (802.11 beacons), and client-side APIs (for example Windows Native Wi‑Fi) let you scan and connect but do not change how a remote AP advertises itself (). was pointing you toward the right place: the AP must be reconfigured.

If you have administrator access to the router you can automate the change, but the method is vendor-specific. Common approaches:

  • Script the router web UI (log in and POST the wireless-settings form) with a library like libcurl; handle CSRF tokens and cookies.
  • Use SSH/telnet to run the router’s config commands (use libssh/libssh2).
  • Use SNMP/TR-064 or a vendor REST API if the device exposes one.
    For routers running OpenWrt/DD‑WRT there are documented CLI/config methods you can call remotely — see the OpenWrt Wi‑Fi guide for how the firmware exposes settings (OpenWrt Wi‑Fi guide).

A few practical clarifications (to address your “turn off and on” confusion and ’s point): disabling SSID broadcast does not stop the network — it simply stops advertising the SSID in beacons. Clients that already know the SSID and key can still connect. To add a new device you either temporarily re-enable broadcast to make discovery easier or manually provision the new client with the SSID and passphrase. Note that hiding an SSID is not a meaningful security control (hidden networks can be found by packet capture) — see the SSID discussion (Service set identifier).

Recommended next steps: identify the router model and available management interface, make the change manually to confirm the behavior, then automate only after reverse‑engineering the router’s management traffic. Protect admin credentials, use HTTPS where possible, and test carefully so you do not lock out remote management.

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Member Avatar for Ancient Dragon

Why would you need to do that, other than being a hacker who likes to shut down people's wifi networks? If you want to turn it off just log into the router and turn it off. Once off you don't need to turn it back on.

Member Avatar for anukavi

@ancient dragon,

hi, this is one requirement from client. Eventually, they dont require to see their router name b broadcasted !!! Its a simple socket NFC program. The client communicates with server via this router. So once this router is connected to PC via USB, i can see name among Wireless Network connection. Anyway to hide the name from showing?
Is this possible?
Thanks

Member Avatar for nullptr

If they turn off broadcasting of the SSID from the router, then only wireless connections configured with that SSID and the security passphrase (key) will 'see' the SSID. Any other wireless connection will just see something like 'Unknown network'.

Member Avatar for Ancient Dragon

Good! that's the whole point of turning it off. If you need to connect a new device then turn it back on, connect the device, then turn it back off.

Member Avatar for anukavi

Thanks friends,

Dont want to rename the router.
If u can clarify this doubt of mine, it wud b gr8 help.

When the reader is connected to PC,i can see the wireless network name as "Router_123" and then the application works fine. Now when i unplug the reader from pc, naturally i wont be able to see the name.
Doubt is : According to prev reply
"If you need to connect a new device then turn it back on, connect the device, then turn it back off."
I dont understand this. Eventually the router name is displayed right?Then how it turn off nd on
Sorry, if u can , pls explain me this portion. I am confused here
My req. is when the reader is connected to PC, the name must not b broadcasted.
Thanks

Anu

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