{"id":8823,"date":"2025-04-30T07:05:34","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T07:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pariswells.com\/blog\/?p=8823"},"modified":"2025-04-30T07:05:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T07:05:36","slug":"how-to-connect-to-a-specific-access-point-when-all-have-the-same-name-ssid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pariswells.com\/blog\/research\/how-to-connect-to-a-specific-access-point-when-all-have-the-same-name-ssid","title":{"rendered":"How to connect to a specific access point when all have the same name\/ssid?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When multiple access points (APs) share the same SSID, your device may struggle to connect to the desired one. Here\u2019s how to connect to a specific AP:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Identify the AP by BSSID<\/strong>: Each AP has a unique BSSID (MAC address). <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Manually Select the AP<\/strong>:\n
      \n
    • Windows<\/strong>:\n
        \n
      • Open Command Prompt and use netsh wlan show networks mode=bssid to view available networks and their BSSIDs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • netsh wlan export profile name=\"SSID_NAME\" folder=\"C:\\Path\\To\\Folder\" key=clear<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Connect to a specific AP by creating a Wi-Fi profile with the BSSID. Create an XML file (e.g., wifi-profile.xml) with: xmlCopy<?xml version=\"1.0\"?> <WLANProfile xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/networking\/WLAN\/profile\/v1\"> <name>SSID_NAME<\/name> <SSIDConfig> <SSID> <name>SSID_NAME<\/name> <\/SSID> <\/SSIDConfig> <connectionType>ESS<\/connectionType> <connectionMode>auto<\/connectionMode> <MSM> <security> <authEncryption> <authentication>WPA2PSK<\/authentication> <encryption>AES<\/encryption> <useOneX>false<\/useOneX> <\/authEncryption> <sharedKey> <keyType>passPhrase<\/keyType> <protected>false<\/protected> <keyMaterial>YOUR_PASSWORD<\/keyMaterial> <\/sharedKey> <\/security> <\/MSM> <MacFilter> <BSSIDList> <BSSID>XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX<\/BSSID> <\/BSSIDList> <\/MacFilter> <\/WLANProfile><\/code> Replace SSID_NAME with the SSID, YOUR_PASSWORD with the Wi-Fi password, and XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX with the desired AP\u2019s BSSID. Then, apply it using: cmdCopynetsh wlan add profile filename=\"wifi-profile.xml\" netsh wlan connect name=\"SSID_NAME\"<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • macOS<\/strong>:\n
          \n
        • Use the airport command-line tool. First, access it via: bashCopysudo \/System\/Library\/PrivateFrameworks\/Apple80211.framework\/Versions\/Current\/Resources\/airport -s<\/code> This lists APs with BSSIDs. To connect to a specific BSSID: bashCopysudo \/System\/Library\/PrivateFrameworks\/Apple80211.framework\/Versions\/Current\/Resources\/airport en0 associate --ssid=SSID_NAME --password=YOUR_PASSWORD --bssid=XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX<\/code> Replace en0 with your Wi-Fi interface (check with networksetup -listallhardwareports).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Linux<\/strong>:\n
            \n
          • Use nmcli or iwconfig. Scan for networks: bashCopynmcli dev wifi list<\/code> Connect to a specific BSSID: bashCopynmcli con up id SSID_NAME --ap XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX<\/code> If not already added, add the connection: bashCopynmcli con add type wifi con-name SSID_NAME ssid SSID_NAME wifi.bssid XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX wifi-sec.key-mgmt wpa-psk wifi-sec.psk YOUR_PASSWORD<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            When multiple access points (APs) share the same SSID, your device may struggle to connect to the desired one. Here\u2019s how to connect to a specific AP:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pariswells.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pariswells.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pariswells.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pariswells.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pariswells.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8823"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pariswells.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8824,"href":"https:\/\/pariswells.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8823\/revisions\/8824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pariswells.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pariswells.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pariswells.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}