Difference Between SSID, BSSID, and ESSID

An SSID uniquely identifies a WLAN.

BSSID and ESSID SSID is classified into BSSID and ESSID, which identify the basic service set (BSS) and extended service set (ESS), respectively.

Generally, the so-called SSID refers to an ESSID, which is a wireless network name in the SSID list.

BSSID is not perceived by users, and is used for managing and maintaining wireless networks, and locating problems.

Each BSS has a BSSID.

A BSSID is actually the MAC address (48 bits) of an AP's radio.

In a multi-SSID scenario, multiple VAPs can be created on an AP to provide access services of wireless networks with different SSIDs. At this time, a BSSID is actually the MAC address of each VAP on the AP.

Each BSSID has a one-to-one mapping with a VAP, and you can quickly locate a VAP based on a BSSID.

An ESSID identifies a single wireless network or a group of wireless networks.

ESSIDs are SSIDs displayed in the SSID list after network scanning.

If multiple BSSs use the same ESSID, they form an ESS.

Generally, an ESS is a collection of several APs and related STAs, with these APs being connected through a distributed system.

The ESSID is employee, and the BSSID is the MAC address of the VAP on the AP in the lobby.

When the employee moves towards the office, the mobile phone enters the coverage of the office AP. When the signal strength meets the requirement, the mobile phone automatically roams to the network employee of the office AP based on the SSID, implementing smooth service switchover.

The ESSID is still employee, but the BSSID changes to the MAC address of the VAP on the AP in the office.

SSID Short for Service Set Identifier, a 32-character unique identifier attached tothe header of packets sent over a WLAN that acts as a password when a mobiledevice tries to connect to the BSS. The SSID differentiates one WLAN fromanother, so all access points and all devices attempting to connect to aspecific WLAN must use the same SSID. A device will not be permitted to jointhe BSS unless it can provide the unique SSID. Because an SSID can be sniffedin plain text from a packet it does not supply any security to the network.

ESSID The Extended Service Set ID (ESSID) is the name of the network you want toaccess. It is used to identify different wireless networks.

BSSID The BSSID is a 48bit identity used to identify a particular BSS (Basic Service Set) within an area. In Infrastructure BSS networks, the BSSID is the MAC (Medium Access Control) address of the AP (Access Point) and in Independent BSS or ad hoc networks, the BSSID is generated randomly.

As a wireless user, you are only interested in broadcast SSIDs that allow you to connect to a wireless network. And as an administrator, you must also keep track of the BSSID and, to a lesser extent, the ESSID. Basic Service Set Identifier or BSSID in short is the AP’s physical or MAC address, which is 48-bit long hexadecimal numbers. Just like your computer’s MAC address. As a wireless user, you don’t see BSSID but it’s included in wireless packages/frames. Most of the time, there are different BSSIDs on an access point for each WLAN configured on a radio. By convention, an access point’s Mac address is used as a BSS identifier (BSSID). Since multiple WLANs can coexist in single airspace, each WLAN needs a unique name. This is the so-called Service Set Identifier (SSID) of your network, which is also referred to as “Network Name.” As a user, you only care about the SSID. APs broadcast their SSID by default in their service area. They use a unique character string used to identify an AP. The SSID keeps packets within the correct WLAN, even when overlapping WLANs are present. Last but not least, is the ESSID or Extended Service Set Identifier. There’s formally no such thing as an “ESSID” in 802.11 standards. Thus, you can just use the same SSID for ESSID-shared networks.

ESS is the union of a set of BSS's. ESSID and BSSID are just their IDs respectively.

ESSID is the name of the access point, which can be changed. BSSID is a numeric ID of the access point (something like the MAC address of the router). For instance, on my college campus we have many different access points with the same name, but BSSIDs are different for each router.

Types of Service Sets: BSS (Basic Service Set) ESS (Extended Service Set). ESSs consist of one or more infrastructure-BBSs (the usual mode). They are associated with multiple access points. All the APs' beacons will broadcast the same SSID but different BSSIDs. It involves roaming. The user gets connected to the AP that has maximum strength. Usually, nearby BSSs broadcast on different channels/frequencies.

SSID: Network name (friendly, text, even with non-ISO basic Latin characters, up to 64 characters). Could be hidden (no broadcast). Sometimes "wrongly" called ESSID since it might group a set of APs under one name, but there is formally no such thing as an ESSID in the 802.11 standards. BSSID: MAC address of the access point, it uniquely identifies each one.