Windows 8.1 Connecting to Another Network with Same SSID

[r0306]

I've been using a public xfinitywifi signal from my house to access the internet. Yesterday, another xfinitywifi signal appeared and being closer, Windows disconnected me from the further one and connected me to this network. However, the new signal is much slower and has more connection drops than the old signal. Because the network only shows the closest signal with the same name, I can't connect to the one I was using previously. I should mention that I know they are different networks because it currently shows up as "xfinitywifi 2". When I do a scan with a network scanner program, I see both xfinitywifi networks shown but have no way to connect to the further one. Is there any way I can do this? Please help!

 

[Symbolik]

Windows 8.1 allows you to forget a network and elect not to automatically connect to it, try eliminating that which you do not want connected. You can find it in PC Settings > Network > Connections > Manage Known Networks - you'll be presented with a network to "forget" select those you want to remove. You might want to clear out both only reconnecting to the one you want as your primary.

 

[r0306]

Windows 8.1 allows you to forget a network and elect not to automatically connect to it, try eliminating that which you do not want connected. You can find it in PC Settings > Network > Connections > Manage Known Networks - you'll be presented with a network to "forget" select those you want to remove. You might want to clear out both only reconnecting to the one you want as your primary.

I tried that but it doesn't automatically connect to the other network, iit only shows the closest network which isn't the one I want to connect to. Is there any way for Windows to show duplicate networks and let me pick which one to connect to instead of deciding for me? This is very frustrating.

 

[Symbolik]

If it's not in range, your Wi-Fi card isn't likely to show it. I don't think that your system is the culprit, I think your distance from your preferred network is. How do things like cellphones/tablets react to the distance? Do they show the network on their SSID list? Also, does your computer sporadically show that network available?

 

[r0306]

If it's not in range, your Wi-Fi card isn't likely to show it. I don't think that your system is the culprit, I think your distance from your preferred network is. How do things like cellphones/tablets react to the distance? Do they show the network on their SSID list? Also, does your computer sporadically show that network available?

Both of the signals are no doubt within range from me, as shown by inSSIDer. The issue, like I said, is windows detecting the duplicate SSIDs being broadcasted and automatically ignoring one of them to favor the closer one.

Also, before this new network appeared, I was using the old one just fine without any disconnections so range shouldn't be the issue here.

 

[Symbolik]

Are you familiar with the command prompt?

 

[r0306]

Are you familiar with the command prompt?

Yes, I know its basic functions.

 

[Symbolik]

If so, open a command prompt as administrator and do the following.

1). Type netsh wlan show profiles. This will give you a list of the Wi-Fi profiles aka. Wireless networks and their associated connection rulesets...

2). To delete the profile/SSID you do not want, type netsh wlan delete profile name="thewifinameyouwanttodelete" (use quotations for that). This not only gets rid of the SSID but it's behavior.

 

[r0306]

If so, open a command prompt as administrator and do the following.

1). Type netsh wlan show profiles. This will give you a list of the Wi-Fi profiles aka. Wireless networks and their associated connection rulesets...

2). To delete the profile/SSID you do not want, type netsh wlan delete profile name="thewifinameyouwanttodelete" (use quotations for that). This not only gets rid of the SSID but it's behavior.

That's strange, doing so doesn't display any duplicate SSIDs but when I look at the network profiles inside of regedit, I can see that I have profiles for both xfinitywifi and xfinitywifi 2 saved. Sure enough the creation date for xfinitywifi 2 was the day when the connection issues started. I'm hesitant to delete them though because doing so will remove any way to distinguish between the two networks.

 

[r0306]

If so, open a command prompt as administrator and do the following.

1). Type netsh wlan show profiles. This will give you a list of the Wi-Fi profiles aka. Wireless networks and their associated connection rulesets...

2). To delete the profile/SSID you do not want, type netsh wlan delete profile name="thewifinameyouwanttodelete" (use quotations for that). This not only gets rid of the SSID but it's behavior.

Is there any way to connect to networks by specifying its MAC address?

 

[Symbolik]

Very strange, two different MAC addresses as well. Not uncommon for xfinity modem/routers they use a Guest SSID and a Primary. You could try going into Network and Sharing Center > Set up a new connection or network > Set up a new network > and see if it lists both. This is the manual way.

 

[Symbolik]

And no, you cannot just connect directly via MAC, unless you had access to the modem/router's settings in which case you'd be better served changing the SSIDs.

 

[Symbolik]

Also, it's not a duplication of SSIDs, it's the modem/router changing channels due to surrounding congestion.... there's nothing you can do about that unless you have access to the router's settings.

So, the question remains is this your wifi? Can you go in there and specify a channel? Otherwise it's going to autosense and switch between channels/antennas/MACs.

 

[r0306]

Also, it's not a duplication of SSIDs, it's the modem/router changing channels due to surrounding congestion.... there's nothing you can do about that unless you have access to the router's settings.

So, the question remains is this your wifi? Can you go in there and specify a channel? Otherwise it's going to autosense and switch between channels/antennas/MACs.

Unfortunately, I do not own the router from which it's being broadcasted. Also, I tried manual set-up but it only shows one of the networks.