quote:To me a HUGE benefit would be that outsiders wouldn't be able to pick up my network signal
They are always able to pick up your network signal unless you turn your wireless Access Point (AP) or router with built in AP off. Your AP is always broadcasting. The so called "SSID broadcasting off" setting is actually telling the AP to send an empty name when it broadcasts. The AP still broadcasts several packets each second even if there is no traffic. And if a new PC/MAC tries to join the network the SSID is broadcast while that machine is joining the network.
quote:try to hack my network.
Certainly. Anyone looking can still see your AP broadcasting and in less then a minute download the tools to start hacking if they have not so already. The only way to stop people seeing your AP is to pull the plug.
Note: Some Windows and Macintosh wireless drivers will fail to connect to an AP if they do not see its SSID broadcast even if you configure the SSID on your PC or MAC. I have a relatively large number of such machines I have to support.
