A hidden #SSID breaks #Wifi neighbourhood watch!

Your router goes dark, forcing others to assume its channel is free (the omitted beacons may be the solely reliance of neighbouring routers).

Result? Collisions, interference, slower speeds for ALL nearby.

Its usage is self-sabotage!

Your connecting devices will still scream the SSID in probes anyway.

Plus if you do not turn the device Wi-fi off when leaving, this will assist draining your device’s battery, rather than the rented router…

You can do better!

Hidden SSIDs undermine privacy and your battery devices lifetime!

Plus you’ll have to type it on every device - error prone and tedious. For what?

A false sense of security? Minimal gain, max annoyance...

If neighbours use hidden SSIDs (and won’t listen):

1- manually set your channel (auto may be blind to hidden nets)
2- monitor interference (packet loss is not your fault or the device’s)
3- check if their ISP enforces channel by “factory settings” (#OUI lookup)

The only benefit of hidden SSIDs is not showing up in casual scans, but:

- Your probes still advertise the SSID
- You annoy nerds who now have to debug channel conflicts
- You scream “I’m hiding something “ (WPA3 incapable? Not using randomized MACs? You hide gold?) <-- interesting target

Stop causing trouble - for yourself and others.