service set identification (WLAN) (SSID)

Service Set Identifications (SSID) are network names of WLANs that serve to uniquely identify a wireless network and must be used by all stations connected to the WLAN. They can consist of up to 32 alphanumeric characters.

SSIDs can be assigned to WLANs with multiple segments. The identifier is identical for all stations in the network; it is defined during configuration and sent out at regular intervals from the access point to all stations in the beacon period. This allows a WLAN client to be assigned to a specific network or network segment. To enable the client to find the desired segment, the wireless access points( WAP) send out management frames with their SSID at regular intervals. On the other hand, clients can also send queries to find a specific SSID.

InWiFi Protected Architecture(WPA), the SSID is used in the Pre-Shared Key( PSK) to determine the TKIP key. The extended SSID is the Extended Service Set Identification( ESSID), which is used in infrastructure WLANs. These are WLANs that operate with one or more wireless access points (WAP). In addition, there is also the Basic Service Set Identification( BSSID) for the simple Basic Service Sets( BSS), which operate as ad hoc networks without wireless access points (WAP).