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An access point’s SSID is the name of the Wi-Fi network it advertises. Devices use it to recognize and select that network, but it does not uniquely identify the physical access point.
What does SSID mean?
SSID stands for Service Set Identifier. It is the name associated with an IEEE 802.11 wireless network—the label you typically see when choosing a Wi-Fi network on a phone, computer, or other device. The IETF describes the SSID as the name of the IEEE 802.11 network and says it differentiates one network from another in RFC 7839, published in June 2016.
How does an access point use its SSID?
An access point includes the SSID in information that nearby devices can discover through Wi-Fi beacon and probe-response messages. These discovery mechanisms help devices find access points and learn about their capabilities, which is why the network name appears in a device’s available Wi-Fi list. The IETF explains this in RFC 5113, published in January 2008.
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No. An SSID names a wireless network; it is not a unique identifier for the access point’s hardware or for one particular point of attachment. Multiple access points can advertise the same SSID, such as access points that provide access to the same network. RFC 5113 describes the SSID as a non-unique identifier of the network to which an access point is attached.
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SSID and BSSID: what is the difference?
| Term | What it identifies |
|---|---|
| SSID | The wireless network name shown to users. It can be shared by multiple access points. |
| BSSID | A particular access-point basic service set or interface, rather than the network name. |
The IETF treats the SSID and access-point identifiers such as the BSSID as separate concepts in RFC 7839. An SSID alone does not tell you which physical access point a device is connected to.
What an SSID does not tell you
- It is not a password. The network name and the credentials used to join a secured network are different things.
- It does not prove a network is trustworthy. A familiar or official-looking name is not, by itself, evidence of who operates the network.
- It is not the access point’s model name. The SSID is a network label, not a product identifier.
NIST’s CSRC glossary defines an SSID as “a name assigned to a wireless access point that allows stations to distinguish one wireless access point from another.” Its entry identifies NISTIR 7621 Rev. 1 as the source: NIST CSRC glossary: Service Set Identifier (SSID).
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