Hi Kevin,

 

here's the output from Acylic Wi-Fi

'MtVentoux' is the Archer C7 and as you can see shows two networks corresponding to the 2.4GHz and 5GHz band. In addition, you see the '[Hidden]' network with the same MAC address as 'MtVentoux' except for the first two characters. I know that the network comes from the router, since it's not there when I turn it off.

 

Any suggestions?

If you power off your router does the extra SSID go away also? Also do you have any extenders, repeaters, or such in your network?

@ArcherC8 

 

No extenders, no repeaters, and yes, the wifi goes away when the router is turned off.

Strange...

Could someone else have added an extender or repeater to your WIFI signal? Or one of your WIFI devices causing it.

Things I would try...

1. Turning on the guest networks and see what changes. (both hidden and not) I do not know if the guest networks uses the same MAC.

2. Change both of your SSIDs and/or passwords, restart the router and connect your PC to the new SSID and see if the hidden SSID is still there. If not, add your other devices one at a time and check to see if the hidden SSID returns.

3. Re-set to factory and reenter your specs.  

 

Let us know what you find.

@Aquafox 

 

Hardware version: Archer C7 v5.0

Firmware version: 1.0.11 Build 20190726 rel.57101(5553)

 

I'm also having the same problem on the same router. This hidden SSID shows up on both 2.4 and 5 GHz, mirroring the SSID that I configure on both channel.

The hidden SSID are intermitent, they will appear for 10-15 seconds, disappear for a few seconds and reappear again.

 

And as Aquafox said, the first 6 entries are AA:DA:C4 instead of the TP-link associated 98:DA:C4.

While Aquafox doesn't use any extender or repeater, I actually have two extenders on my network, one RE200 and another WA850RE.

 

I think this confirms that the problem is caused by the router itself, not external devices or anything.

 

This is a newly bought router, I just purchased it today and finished configuring it just now. I upgraded the firmware to the latest before configuring.

 

Btw @Aquafox , how long have you used the router? Did you notice the hidden SSID just today? 

 

Found a related issue from someone using TPLink TL-ER604W. Looks like this is a known behaviour on TP-Link routers.

 

https://superuser.com/questions/977137/my-router-seems-to-be-emitting-a-hidden-network

@lemon Interesting that you see the same Mac-Address behaviour. I have the router for about a week but noticed it immediately.

 

I'm not an expert in Mac addresses. Can one physical wifi-card (of the router) have multiple Mac addresses simultaneously or does this point to a second WiFi card?

@Aquafox I have no idea 

 

I worry whether this will have effect on network performance (or maybe hardware life) or not, especially because it's intermittent.

 

If the Hidden SSID just stays there without disappearing every few seconds, I would have less doubt.