Connecting a J100 phone to hidden Wi-Fi SSID 1

[BerettaGuy]

I know this is a new feature in the 4.1.0 and up firmware for the J100 series phones, but I seriously can't be the only one who wants to do this. WTF am I missing here? I'm updated to the 4.1.1 firmware and the fields are not editable... There is nothing on the phone UI that allows you to enter in a hidden SSID and then select security settings, so I enabled the Web Server and figured I could edit those here... boy was I wrong.

If I fill out the SSID field the phone just reboots with that SSID as the default, it wont connect to it because it won't allow you to edit the Wi-Fi security settings and setup a password or anything like that.

Do I need to set this stuff up in a 46xxspecials.txt file? If so this is just ridiculous and NOT user friendly.

 

[gwebster]

Find the ReadMe file associated with firmware release where this functionality was added. It will show if a new 46xxsettings.txt parameter was added.

 

[BerettaGuy]

Find the ReadMe file associated with firmware release where this functionality was added. It will show if a new 46xxsettings.txt parameter was added.

Yes there are new parameters in the 46xxsettings.txt template file that came with the firmware, but nothing states that you NEED to configure those settings via that file, in addition to that I've been told by countless people to not create my own 46xxsettings.txt file and continue to let the system autogenerate that to avoid configuration/troubleshooting issues in the future.

There are many parameters that you can set in the 46xxsettings file, but can be enabled/configured in the IP Office system so it's auto deployed.

I'm testing enabling just the hidden Wi-Fi setting via a 46xxspecials.txt file to see if that allows me to setup a custom SSID through the phone UI.

 

[sizbut]

They're are detailed in the 46xxsettings.txt file description,. That doesn't mean you can't put them in the 46xxspecial.txt file instead.

Stuck in a never ending cycle of file copying.

 

[IPOTS]

Plug the phone into a wired connection first. Let the phone come up, pull its updates etc....
Go into the phone admin and manually enter the SSID and Password, turn on WiFI.
Unplug the wired connection and let the phone come up on the wireless network.

 

[BerettaGuy]

Plug the phone into a wired connection first. Let the phone come up, pull its updates etc....
Go into the phone admin and manually enter the SSID and Password, turn on WiFI.
Unplug the wired connection and let the phone come up on the wireless network.

Have you personally done this exact process without having a 46xxspecials.txt enabling the "SET ENABLE_HIDDEN_WIFI 1" feature?

Because I can tell you that this does not work this way. I've plugged it in via wired, gone into the admin menu and all you can do is search for broadcast Wi-Fi networks.

After creating a specials file with the above switch enabled I am now able to manually add a Wi-Fi SSID to the list on the Phone UI, however I'm still having issues with it not connecting, but I'm testing out some other switches that may also need to be enabled such as "SET WLAN_HIDDEN 1"

They're are detailed in the 46xxsettings.txt file description,. That doesn't mean you can't put them in the 46xxspecial.txt file instead.

That's what I assumed and that's what I decided to do to keep these values out of the 46xxsettings file, so far it's working as expected and applying the switches I enabled in the specials file. Just trying to figure out which ones I need in there to make this work.

 

[BerettaGuy]

Confirmed... I needed to enable these two switches in the 46xxspecials.txt file to be able to add and join a hidden SSID Wi-Fi network through the Phone UI. These settings are NOT maintainable via the Web Server, or anywhere in the phone UI.

SET ENABLE_HIDDEN_WIFI 1
SET WLAN_HIDDEN 1

 

[IPOTS]

I have set this up a dozen times. Never had to enable hidden wifi.
Installed the J100 Wifi card and that was it.

 

[BerettaGuy]

I have set this up a dozen times. Never had to enable hidden wifi.
Installed the J100 Wifi card and that was it.

Well that's amazing then because both Avaya support and NTS Direct told me that I had to enable those two switches in order to connect to a non broadcast network, and well that proved true since without them enabled all I saw is the networks that are broadcast and no "add network" button.

 

[IPOTS]

When I scan the SSID or WiFi networks if discovers the Wifi and I choose the connection, enter the password and thats it.
If the SSID is not broadcasted then this fix explains it. Mine are all broadcasted networks.

 

[BerettaGuy]

When I scan the SSID or WiFi networks if discovers the Wifi and I choose the connection, enter the password and thats it.
If the SSID is not broadcasted then this fix explains it. Mine are all broadcasted networks.

That's why the topic of this thread is "Connecting a J100 phone to hidden Wi-Fi SSID" Yes I agree if my SSID wasn't hidden and broadcast then it works as you described, but that is not what I was asking about, or my scenario.

 

[IPOTS]

That would explain it. Glad you got it working. Also good to know you have to go enable a security feature that you shouldn't have too.
Allowing us to manually enter an SSID without jumping through hoops would be great.

 

[BerettaGuy]

Yes, that's what blew my mind since 4.1 firmware was the introduction of being able to join a hidden Wi-Fi, however as you noted, and what I found is there is no way to turn that feature on without creating a 46xxspecials file with those switches. The only thing that I could think would be possible is to connect to a broadcast Wi-Fi first which enables the Wi-Fi settings, then make those changes in the web GUI since they are lit up when connected to a Wi-Fi network. The only problem that presents itself there is once you join a network through the phone UI there's the message stating that settings are configured through the UI so no changes made here will take effect. It's pretty stupid and those two switches should come enabled out of the box so you can just add an SSID and identify the security and join it.

 

[gwebster]

Not everyone wants people to be able to access hidden networks so that is why it is not enabled by default and needs to be turned on.

 

[BerettaGuy]

Not everyone wants people to be able to access hidden networks so that is why it is not enabled by default and needs to be turned on.

I guess that's a possible reason, but why make that feature so hard to turn on? I mean put it in the Admin menu, or make it something you can enable via the web GUI. There is no reason to make it only editable by using the 46xxspecials file.

 

[IPOTS]

If a network is hidden, how would they know to connect to it? Not like it appears in an SSID search.
Not necessary to have to create a specials file to address it. If I ever run into this in the future (1.5 years from now I will have to dig this up)
If I can find it again.

 

[gwebster]

You should find that using just the “SET ENABLE_HIDDEN_WIFI 1” will make the ability to turn it on/off appear in the menu. The second parameter is the one which actually turns it on or off.

This split is fairly common where an ENABLE_ parameter controls whether or not a feature is available and a separate parameter can be used to actually turn it on or off.

 

[BerettaGuy]

You should find that using just the “SET ENABLE_HIDDEN_WIFI 1” will make the ability to turn it on/off appear in the menu. The second parameter is the one which actually turns it on or off.

This split is fairly common where an ENABLE_ parameter controls whether or not a feature is available and a separate parameter can be used to actually turn it on or off.

Yes the “SET ENABLE_HIDDEN_WIFI 1” switch enables the feature to "add a network" to the network list on the phone UI... however it will still not connect with just that switch enabled, you also have to include "SET WLAN_HIDDEN 1" to basically enable the switch on the Wi-Fi network that you're adding that it's a hidden network.

On a cell phone you can add a network to your list and there is an option under advanced that says "Hidden Network" very easy to enable and connect to a hidden Wi-Fi when you know the SSID.

To think that they locked this out to the extent that they did just to prevent people from joining a hidden Wi-Fi is a bit of a stretch since the network listing is below the admin menu, which most end users will not have access to, or even venture into if they even know the PW.

If you had a different experience than I did and found that “SET ENABLE_HIDDEN_WIFI 1” adds another menu item that you can modify, please show me this, because I have both Avaya and NTS Direct telling me that both of those switches need to be enabled for it to work and then you just "add" the network from the list since there will be the add option.