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Frequently I try to connect to various wireless networks and spend more time trying to determine the correct settings (WPA or WPA2? Personal or Enterprise? and so on) than anything else.

Why isn't this information automatically broadcast when connecting to a network for the first time?

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    What operating system are you using that doesn't show this? In Windows, click the wireless icon and hover your mouse over any network to get the info. – Henning Klevjer Oct 19 '12 at 15:48
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    @Henning: Non broadcasting SSIDs won't show. – iivel Oct 19 '12 at 15:50
  • Ah, that's right. I imagine inSSIDer can capture them, though. I can't see any hidden SSID's here (duh :D). – Henning Klevjer Oct 19 '12 at 15:55
  • I should have put that in an answer instead of a comment :\ – iivel Oct 19 '12 at 17:49
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This is pretty much status by design- if broadcast is turned off it is to reduce the number of connection attempts.

If broadcast is turned on your computer will pick these settings up automatically.

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  • Are we sure that the question is about silent SSIDs? – Henning Klevjer Oct 19 '12 at 16:54
  • Certainly looks that way now anyway.. – Henning Klevjer Oct 19 '12 at 17:25

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