Forcing Networking to only look for one, single WiFi source

H

Hippo Man

Hippo Man
I'd like to set up networking under Leopard so that it looks for one and only one WiFi source, namely my own WiFi router.

I keep seeing other WiFi sources coming on line and off line, and I do not want these other sources to be noticed at all. I know that it is often desirable to see all the available WiFi sources, but I want to be the one who decides whether my system will see all of them, or whether networking will only notice my router and nothing else.

I know that this is at least theoretically possible, because I can configure my Blackberry to only respond to a single, specified WiFi source and to not even show me the others that might be broadcasting in my vicinity. I'm hoping that I can do the same under Leopard. Is this possible?

Thanks in advance.
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If you have a typical OS X account you can open System Preferences->Network. In the Network pane select the "Advanced" button and there set to change the wireless one needs the Admin password. Is that good enough?
 
Satcomer said:
If you have a typical OS X account you can open System Preferences->Network. In the Network pane select the "Advanced" button and there set to change the wireless one needs the Admin password. Is that good enough?
Click to expand...
I have done that long ago. Only one entry appears in this panel: my wireless router.

However, if I look at the AirPort menu in the menu bar, I always see an entry for each of the WiFi networks that are broadcasting in my vicinity. I don't want to see these at all ... only my own wireless router and nothing else.

Is it unrealistic and excessively idiosyncratic of me to want to keep these other networks from showing up in that menu?
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Why would you want to prevent other networks from appearing in your network list?
Is your Airport connecting to one of those other networks without your choosing?

You can change the Airport network settings so your network is the preferred network.

There's no way to prevent your Airport from seeing other networks. That's similar to listening to an FM radio, and preventing other stations, except just one, from appearing on your radio. You can pick up whatever is out there...
If they are open (no password) then you can use them, the owner is allowing you to do that. If a normal wireless network is more than 100 or so feet away, then your connection, even if possible, will not be very reliable.
If they are protected, and ask for a password, then you can't connect to those networks without knowing that password.
 
Thanks.

Yes, I know how WiFi works and how it is (somewhat) analogous to an FM radio. I know how to use WiFi to connect to any network that is in range if it's open or if I know the authentication tokens. None of this is new or surprising to me.

What I want to do is to not see those other networks in the AirPort menu at all. Like I said above, this might be idiosyncratic of me, and it apparently is impossible, given the current software. Nonetheless, it is a desire of mine.

The reason I want this is because I am not the only person who uses my Mac, and I want to prevent everyone who uses it from connecting to any other network but our home network, irrespective of whether the other networks are open or have known passwords.

To continue with your FM radio analogy: for all the nearby WiFi networks to appear in the AirPort menu, that would correspond to my FM radio dial showing me a list of all the FM stations that happen to be in range. Traditional FM radios don't do this. I have to turn the dial to find the station I want to listen to.

If I am traveling with my Mac, I am perfectly willing to go into Preferences and change some sort of hypothetical setting (which I now know doesn't exist in the current software) which will turn on the display of all nearby WiFi networks in the AirPort menu. When I am at home, I would like to go to Preferences and turn off this hypothetical setting so that I only see my wireless router.

I am the only person who knows my Mac's admin password. Therefore, if I could control this behavior via Preferences, no one could override it but me.

I can do exactly this on my Blackberry. I can set it up so that it never even shows me any other WiFi networks, and so that it only shows me my current WiFi when it makes a UMA connection. I can also change the settings on my Blackberry so that I can see all nearby networks if I want. I can either see or not see the other WiFi networks, even when the Blackberry is set up to connect by default to my own wireless router.

I now realize this is just a pipe dream of mine to be able to do this under the latest release of Leopard
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The quick'n easy fix is to remove the airport icon from your menu bar. Command-click on the icon, and drag it off. Or turn off the icon in your network pref pane.

... I want to prevent everyone who uses it from connecting to any other network but our home network, irrespective of whether the other networks are open or have known passwords.
Click to expand...

I have 6 to 8 different wireless networks viewable from my Airport icon.
My Mac connects automatically to my network, because it's set to do that.
Are you saying that you have to manually select your network each time?

How about telling your 'other users' that they get the best performance while connected to your network. Tell them the other networks are too slow for good use. Train them to use the correct network, etc, etc. Is this really a problem for you?
 
I'm trying to keep the children who live here from connecting to any wireless networks except our own. I have configured our router to send all http(s) requests through a special proxy that does massive filtering of web sites.

If the kids can see the other networks in the AirPort menu, they can connect to them if these networks are open or if the authentication credentials are known. This is what I'm trying to prevent, or to at least make much more difficult.

However, it seems like it's a lost cause. I was just hoping ...
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I forgot to ask the question -
If you test a connection to any of those other networks, can you connect?
If those are protected, or simply too weak (too far away), then seeing other networks doesn't mean that your whole parenting plan is for naught!
Even if you could turn off display of other networks - a knowledgeable teen could easily download something like MacStumbler, or other app designed to hunt out other wireless connections, showing even hidden networks. The question still exists - if this is not a laptop, then any other networks will be limited by your relative distance from those other networks.
I hear, and applaud your concern - but is your worry justified?

As far as a lost cause - not really! Here's a suggestion:
If you only have one Mac, then connect through a wired connection, and leave the wireless turned off
 
In response to your question: there are open networks in the vicinity of my home, and they at least sometimes appear. Also, some of the kids' friends, or at least classmates, share their families' network passwords with each other, and some of these kids live in our building (a large apt. building in NYC) within wireless range.

Anyway, yes, I'm strongly considering giving up the convenience of our wireless network.

Even though this is probably a losing battle in the long run, I want to at least make it difficult for the kids to connect to someone else's wireless network, and (theoretically) to make it easy for me to find out if they have managed to do so.

Thanks again.
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Mayba consider the following option:

Allow yourself to use the wireless connection, but block the wireless connection for others and force them to use the cable. You can do this by blocking access to the network pane (i hope).


Good luck, Kees
 
Thanks. Yes, I'll do something like that. It means that I'll be the only person who can use the machine with the wireless connection, and everyone else will have to take it into the office where we have the ethernet connection. Well, that's the price I have to pay, I guess.
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