Title: I keep showing a "Hidden Network" in a rural area. I am not the one broadcasting it...that I know of. What is causing it?
Tags: networking;wireless-networking;wireless-router
Question: I have an old Netgear WND router with the 5GHz radio DISABLED and the 2.4GHz broadcasting its SSID, which shows up along with a "Hidden Network". I have ONE neighbor that is about 50 yards away and I see his NETGEAR99 router with low signal occasionally. 

Heres the really weird part (and I realize how it sounds) - if I power off my Netgear router, the Hidden Network signal goes from full strength to a single bar.

Comment: Use WireShark to grab the MAC of the Hidden Network and compare it against the MACs from your router and any device capable of broadcasting an Ad Hoc or Hotspot network.  If the MACs don't match any of the devices, it could be a myriad of things, including long-range WiFi broadcast via a commercial long-range antenna (range of several miles, and is one way mass events provide public WiFi coverage over a large area).

Comment: It seems reasonable that the device is somewhere on your property. If the channel number is the same as your main network, it may very well be a second network coming off the same router. There is a possibility you could use a deauth attack to find the SSID of the network, but a user would actually need to be connected to it. http://www.thelinuxgeek.com/content/find-hidden-ssids Do not do this on networks you do not own!

Comment: What happens when you try connecting to it? Do you have WiFi on your modem?

Comment: @HazardousGlitch - I have FTTH which plugs into my ancient Netgear WNDR3700v4 router. As far as I know, there is no WiFi functionality on the phone companies box mounted outside on my house. I am not 100% sure though. What baffles me is how powering down my router causes the signal strength to drop drastically. If the router has no power, but I still see the Hidden Net (even though only a single bar) it cant possibly be coming from the router right? What about clandestine devices? I wish I had a tool that could physically walk me toward the signal source with a direction needle.

Comment: @Andy Hello Andy, thanks for the link. This is something I thought of myself but lack the experience without ample written instruction. The other thought I had was my laptop itself. Perhaps software I installed, or maybe a virus or malware?


Here is another answer: The device might be a wireless repeater. Have you noticed any strange IPs or MAC addresses on your network? If the router is old enough and broadcasting it's name as they are prone to do at start up, it may have been compromised. You are assuming that your neighbor only has one piece of equipment. What if they put in a repeater to get better access to your network.

The sensible advice would be stay sensible, but to check your router and monitor it for strange connections. You can also use software to monitor how much bandwidth your using to see if there is a discrepancy between what your cable provider reports.


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