220-1102 Question 547
Single answerDisabling SSID broadcastA small medical office wants to make its guest Wi-Fi less visible to casual visitors in the waiting room. A technician disables SSID broadcast on the guest wireless network. Later, several staff members report that new tablets cannot find the guest network during setup, even though devices that were previously connected still work. Which action should the technician take to allow the new tablets to connect while keeping the SSID hidden?
- A
Manually create the wireless profile on each tablet by entering the SSID, security type, and password
- B
Disable WPA2/WPA3 security so the hidden network appears in the list of available networks
- C
Enable MAC filtering so the tablets automatically detect the hidden network
- D
Change the router from 5 GHz to 2.4 GHz so hidden SSIDs are broadcast during discovery
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
Disabling SSID broadcast hides the network name from casual scans, but it does not provide meaningful security by itself because the network can still be detected through other wireless traffic analysis methods. In real deployments, hidden SSIDs often create support issues because new devices must be configured manually with the correct SSID and security settings. Existing devices may continue to connect because they already have a saved profile. Best practice is to rely on strong wireless security such as WPA2 or WPA3 with a strong passphrase, and use SSID hiding only if the organization understands the usability tradeoffs. This aligns with common wireless configuration guidance from enterprise and vendor documentation: hidden networks require manual client configuration and are not a replacement for proper authentication and encryption.
- A. Correct.
Correct. When SSID broadcast is disabled, the network name is not advertised in beacon frames, so new devices typically will not see it in the normal list of available networks. To connect, the technician must manually configure the network on each tablet with the exact SSID, security mode, and passphrase. This is the standard method for joining a hidden wireless network.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Disabling wireless security would not make a hidden SSID properly appear for secure onboarding, and it would create a serious security risk. SSID hiding is not a substitute for encryption, and removing WPA2/WPA3 protection weakens the network rather than solving the discovery issue.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. MAC filtering controls which devices are allowed to associate based on hardware address, but it does not cause a hidden SSID to appear in scan results. This option reflects a common misconception that access control settings affect wireless network discovery.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. The radio band affects compatibility and range, but it does not change how SSID broadcast works. A hidden SSID remains hidden whether the access point is using 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz. Changing bands may help with compatibility issues, but it does not address the inability to discover a nonbroadcast network.