Are you inquisitive about specific networking phrases? but don’t know who to ask. We’ll concentrate on one of the most used acronyms in networking—BSSID—in this post. The acronym BSSID stands for Basic Service Set Identifier, and in this post, we’ll define it, go over some associated abbreviations you should be familiar with, and explain when you would need to locate and use your BSSID in an IT company.
What exactly is BSSID?
The MAC address of the wireless router or access point used for WiFi connections is what BSSID is, to put it simply. This abbreviation is frequently used in wireless networking to designate different portions of a wireless local area network. The BSSIDs in their network environment are critical for IT administrators to monitor, although end users are typically just concerned with the SSID.
When a user moves across a building, their BSSID may vary, but this won’t affect their connectivity. Users usually aren’t aware of these changes. Understanding SSID, or Service Set Identifier, is important to comprehend BSSID in its entirety.
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Ok so What is SSID?
Most users of wireless networking are only interested in the service set identifier, or SSID, which is used to connect to a network. Each WLAN has its own distinct name, and thus, its own SSID, in order to ensure that numerous WLANs can coexist on the same host. When connecting wirelessly, the service profile being used is identified by the SSID. For instance, in hospitals, multiple authentication and authorization rules and permissions can be made available to employees, patients, visitors, and administrators via usernames and passwords.
BSSID and SSID are both important factors to consider as an IT network administrator. This is because each WLAN often contains many access points. BSSIDs are typically used to distinguish between access points and identify them. Although switching from one BSS to another is automatic and has no effect on the user’s connectivity or availability, the IT administrator will still need to be aware of this information. This can be required, for example, if there is too much traffic in one area of the network or if you need to locate a particular customer. The SSID is the name of the network, whereas the BSSID is the MAC address of the access point.
How do I find a BSSID?
The MAC address of the access point, which is used to generate the BSSID, can be used as a starting point to find the BSSID of a particular access point. In situations where a Basic Service Set (BSS) has a single Wireless Access Point (WAP) alongside wireless nodes, finding the MAC address is sufficient to identify the BSSID. IT managers might come across ad-hoc networks without a WAP, in which case locating the BSSID will be more challenging because every packet uses a randomly generated 48-bit string of integers that resembles a MAC address.
On various operating systems, there are a few different ways to locate the BSSID. The command netsh wlan show interfaces | find “BSSID” can be used with Windows OS. The BSSID may be found on macOS by entering the drop-down menu while clicking on the WiFi icon in the top right corner and holding down the Option key. Numerous apps to find the BSSID are available on the Play Store and the App Store.
Are there any other terms I need to know?
You can run into a few regularly used acronyms in the wireless networking world. The meaning of two of the most popular acronyms and their significance in an IT environment are described below.
ESSID
In the context of wireless networking, the terms “Extended Service Set Identifier” (ESSID) and “Service Set Identifier” (SSID) are frequently used interchangeably. For many access points connected to the same Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), ESSID is used.
IBSS
The networking method known as “IBSS” stands for Independent Basic Service Set, which eliminates the need for a network infrastructure. It makes it possible for two or more stations to communicate with one another with agreement. In this mode, there are no accessible access points to connect to any other Basic Service Set.
At a Single Glance Now-The Basics of BSSID
In conclusion, the network’s default name is the SSID. It can be altered, nevertheless, to meet certain company needs. On the other hand, in an ad-hoc network, the BSSID of the access points is often generated at random or derived from the default MAC address. Neither the administrator nor the user can change the BSSID. We have also spoken about several ways to locate the BSSID for monitoring or maintenance. To familiarize you with the fundamentals of networking, we have also presented a few networking acronyms. In conclusion, having this knowledge can help you become an authority on BSSID.
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