Deco XE75 unknown SSID from wifi 6E
Hi.
I have 3 XE75 setup as APs with ethernet backhaul.
2.4/5ghz ssid is setup and 6ghz ssid is setup. I see both when searching for wifi.
but I also see a different ssid with wifi 6E that has random numbers and letters as name. (zEQQ8ZV3L9N...)
so its not hidden and the mac address is the same as the 6ghz mac except for the last nr
ex: 6ghz mac= aa:aa:aa:aa:aa:a3
unknown wifi 6E ssid mac = aa:aa:aa:aa:aa:a2
it is also at the same dB as my wifi6ssid so I am convinced its the XE75 producing the ssid.
is it the wireless backhaul? shouln'd it be hidden?
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Update:
The SSID " zEQQxxx" is a hidden network by default, and it’s designed for 6 GHz backhaul used along with other bands. However, once activating the 6 Ghz primary Wi-Fi on the Deco App, this SSID will become visible. The reason for broadcasting this SSID is to ensure compatibility with certain cellphones or NICs that support the 6 GHz band, such as the Samsung S21. These devices may struggle to detect Deco's wireless signals if the zEQQ SSID remains hidden.
Rest assured, your network security is guaranteed. Even though this SSID is visible, it is encrypted by default, and client devices are prohibited from connecting to it.
Moreover, We are currently evaluating to optimize this mechanism on the 6GHz-supported Deco devices and will consider the option of hiding this zEQQ SSID in future firmware updates.
Thank you very much and best regards.
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Hi, Thank you very much for your feedback.
Did you enable the Guest network before?
Could you please help me run a simple test:
1. Please enable The Guest network temporarily. Then disable the Guest network ( make sure all 2.4+5+6GHz bands are disabled) once again.
2. After that please check again whether you are still able to detect one more 6GHz SSID.
Wait for your reply and best regards.
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Thank you for your responce David.
When enabling both 2.4/5 guest network and 6ghz guest network. The unknown ssid is gone.
When I disable either the 2.4/5 , the 6 or both guest networks again. The unknown ssid comes back.
It is also password protected. None of my known passwords work on it.
Greetings
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@Warpy Hi, Thanks for the reply.
While it is just the opposite of what I expected. Can you share some screenshots about the "unknown SSID", maybe also with the MAC address?
(You could send it to support.forum@tp-link.com as well if you prefer.)
By the way, if you temporarily turn off all Deco XE75, Will this mysterious unknown SSID disappear as well?
Thank you very much and best regards.
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Thank you for your help David!
this issue is forwarded via mail to support.forum@tp-link.com
When issue is resolved I can post the fix here for future reference to anyone who might experience the same.
Greetings
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I'm having this same issue. Have you found a solution?
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Hi Nick.
Ticket is open at TP-link support desk.
still waiting on anwsers.
its prob. been busy during the holidays. so I expect an anwser this week.
greetings
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@Warpy Just throwing my hat into the ring. Experiancing same odd SSID on 6e. Ver 1.2.7
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@Warpy yes, I have seen this unusual SSID on the XE75, it also appears on the BE85 in the same way as described here.
And the question still hasn't been answered as to what it is since it's clearly the firmware doing this deliberately.
So is it the case that engineering doesn't know what this is?
Perhaps Qualcomm can answer the question then!
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an update on the matter.
I am sorry but I chickened out.
And I will not be persuing this issue further.
I will however check if the above email is legit.
what happened:
I got in contact with the support email mentioned above.
an TP-Link engineer from china contacted me to set up a remote access appointment.
This via teamviewer (first red flag) and requesting the use of putty, which is a ssh tool (quite unsafe so second red flag)
my phishing senses were tingeling but hey I can be wrong and this forum and the e-mail seemed very legit so it must be my imagination.
I did some research and found on the TP-Link website, they dont do remote sessions and only do remote session is extreme cases. (third red flag)
when the remote session was going on he wanted to install debug firmware on my deco. (forth red flag)
I found this very odd and all of my internal phishing alarm guts were screaming. so I started to google around for any phishing/hacking around TP-Link.
found out last year a chinese hackergroup was distibuting bad firmware around the EU. (fifth red flag) so I decided to pull the plug on the remote session.
I re installed the original firmware and did a factory reset.
I am sorry to all who are waiting on a sollution and to all TP-Link personel who were helping me if this was indeed legit.
however, in today's world where phishing, social engineering and hacking are so prevelant, I felt extremely unsafe in this interaction.
I rather live with this extra ssid than having a risk of a network compromise.
I will be going trough the official TP-Link support page to verify if my interaction was legit.
greetings.
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@Warpy I have to say you are being sensible and I agree with you, there is definitely something wrong with the request made of you.
Fact is the foregoing conversation is clear evidence the problem is easy to duplicate so there is no need to intrude on customer networks.
It is possible the person is ligimitate and is simply barely competent!
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