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I was searching for my home WiFi AP (router's broken and am trying to fix it), when I found a WiFi access point that does not have any security but does have WPS enabled:

enter image description here

Thinking that it probably had a MAC address filter, I tried connecting to it. I was able to connect successfully and Internet worked.

WPS is weak by design, but having it enabled on a secured WiFi AP (such as the one above NETGEAR_EXT) makes sense. Having it enabled on an unsecured AP where anyone can connect doesn't; it's like having a lock on a door, when the door is open already.

Does using WPS on an unsecured WiFi AP improve security. If so, how?

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  • Satellite tv? dish has AP's for DVR and multiple receivers. IDK if it's WEP though
    – Bryan
    Commented May 17, 2016 at 17:22
  • @user110903 It's a standard DSL router with a local ISP providing the Internet access.
    – AStopher
    Commented May 17, 2016 at 17:23
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    @user110903, OP was asking about WPS (that button you push on the router, or on the router GUI), not WEP (the deprecated wifi security scheme now replaced by WPA and WPA2).
    – Mathieu K.
    Commented May 17, 2016 at 17:25

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You've hit it pretty hard on the head of the nail here and driven it home. It doesn't make sense. This really only matters if some sort of other filter is in place to prevent connection, and it wasn't present on this one. Even then you'd still probably have a key in place to make sure no one can snoop on plaintext. It just doesn't make sense to do this.

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