Fixing wireless "hidden network" problem on Windows 7

Anonymous
2009-12-02T05:09:46+00:00

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

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Internet and connectivity

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2009-12-09T11:29:14+00:00

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

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.

Was this answer helpful?

100+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

44 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2011-03-02T11:08:04+00:00

    I don't know would be helpful but you can try it: right click on Computer desktop icon > Manage > Devices Management > Network adapters > right click on the Wireless... adapter > Update . I guess update won't change anything because it's gonna say it has most recent drivers, so.. Uninstall it.

    After that network adapter will be shown as unknown device... choose install drivers for that. It will install drivers using Windows Update. You can also go to the manufacture website of your laptop, look for drivers for Wireless adapter download them and use them to install this device under your laptop.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2011-04-04T07:01:32+00:00

    Howdy... I've been struggling with these problems ever since I upgraded to Windows 7. I was doing some reading today and trying out various suggestions ... install a new driver (which I did), reset the router, etc etc... but then I started looking at my router settings too.

    I have a Netgear WGR614 v7 and use WPA2-PSK [AES] for security. On the 'Wireless Settings' page, I had this enabled - Wireless Card Access List.

    I turned it off, and was able to connect to my wireless network. Hope this helps.

    Cheers!

    Just want to say thanks 'arnieshwartz' ..bullseye, you were right on the money with "wireless card access list" just added my knew pc to the list and worked fine, thanks for taking the time to post i was so sick going round and round in circle

    cheers

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2011-08-04T13:54:53+00:00

    Reason of not conecting  the  wirelless is the error on the server

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2011-08-09T15:00:45+00:00

    I had the same issue. Turns out the router I was trying to connect to was the exact same make and model as another router I had saved in my wireless networks. So when I attempted to connect to this new router, it attempted to apply all the same security passes and settings as it would to the old router.

    Basically I just had to delete the old router from my "manage wireless networks" section and that allowed me to connect to the new one.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments