Fixing wireless "hidden network" problem on Windows 7

Anonymous

I've read a post by a previous user who seemed to be having a similar problem as me, but the response he received didn't help solve the problem and I suspect this to be a genuine bug in Windows 7, but that remains to be seen.

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7network/thread/0d9e680f-8025-4863-9242-f990c64ea8bd <- a link to the aforementioned thread.

Connecting to my wireless network (which has been online for years and served dozens of machines no problem), yesterday I attempted to connect running Windows 7 and received the following error message in my troubleshooting dialog: "Windows can't connect to the hidden network."

More specifically: "This network is marked as a "hidden" network and is either not in range of this computer or the wireless settings saved on this computer do not match the settings of the network."

My network is not hidden, SSID broadcasting is on, I am using a valid key and the network has full strength from my wireless connection utility. Does anyone know how to fix this problem or why it seems to be only happening on Windows 7, and only reporting that the problem is that the network is hidden?

Thanks

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Anonymous

Do you use WEP encryption?

Maybe I will answer to your question using google results. When you get to the last page of results for

"This network is marked as a hidden" (you will find 3 pages - 24 results)
"This network is marked as a hidden" wep (2 pages - 14 results)

Do you see some correlation? Majority of results include information about WEP. Some of topics were never answered. Those one were the solution was found include suggestion about changing WEP encryption.

Try to set another security type in your router's settings and use it in your network setting under Windows 7. I'm using security type: WPA2, and encryption type: AES and everything works fine.

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44 additional answers

Anonymous

2011-01-01T13:34:37+00:00

Thanks, man! it really helped me :) Happy new year!!!
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Anonymous

2011-01-19T00:03:12+00:00

Apple69. Thank you for the help! I had the same problems as everyone else. Your suggestion to change to Channel 1 saved the day!

WNDR3700 Netgear router, Gateway laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium. Fairly expert user.

This was one of the most frustrating problems I have ever had! No issues until my router died and I replaced my Dlink with a Netgear. All laptops on XP saw the network and connected no problem. The one Windows 7 laptop saw all the neighbor's networks but not mine! I did a million things like update wireless card drivers, disabling bluetooth drivers, etc. But once I changed from channel 8 to channel 1 the Windows laptop saw the network immediately.

Thank you again for taking the time to leave your edit after you fixed the problem! You saved me $100 buying a new router and a wife that is ready to have me buy her another $1000 laptop.

Take care.

Changeagentnow in Phoenix AZ.
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Anonymous

2011-02-14T12:41:49+00:00

Good answer, solved my wireless log in problems! I had this nightmare for 1 year now and is finally solved!
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Anonymous

2011-02-14T15:33:24+00:00

I was able to fix the issue by making my SSID visible. It was hidden previously and Windows 7 would not connect. When I ran the troubleshooter and clicked on the details. Windows thought that it was not a hidden network and thus would not connect or so it seems anyway.
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