Hello fellow GOGers. A few weeks ago I bought an ASUS wireless router because the household now has so many computers, phones and pads running and my poor PC can not act as a wired access-point to so many devices at the same time. The router is working real well, I'm very happy with it, but less so with my PC.

For some reason, every time I boot up windows (Vista 64bit), a network called "ANY" is added to the list under "Manage Wireless Networks" with no security options and "Connect automatically when this network is in range" and "Connect even if the network is not broadcasting" checked. Except for this option, my own wireless network is the only preferred network for which I've only set "Connect automatically when this network is in range". There is no actual network in range in this apartment complex with the name "ANY" so I assume this is actually a term rather than a network name. I wouldn't have reacted to this happening at all if it weren't for that windows does not automatically connect me to my own wireless network on startup. To me it appears that my computer may be trying to connect to "ANY" even though there is no such network in range and then just decides not to connect to any network.

Am I right to think that "ANY" is a default setting that makes the computer connect to "ANY" open unsecured network in range? I'm concerned because that seems incredibly stupid and dangerous, even for Microsoft, and I can not completely get rid of the feature since it comes back on reboot with very forceful settings. What I'm getting at is I'm not even sure it is a windows feature but perhaps malware or worse. Why else would my windows set up create a risky network preference (at all costs, as it forces the computer to try and connect even if the network seems to be out of range)? The only other theory I have is that there is some other setting somewhere else that is causing windows to set up this network preference every time I reboot the computer, which is less concering but equally frustrating.

I want my PC to connect to the wireless network hosted by my wireless router and absolutely nothing else. It is a hightower so it is pretty stationary, I don't need it to "roam" or look for alternatives (especially not unsecured ones!). So what is going on? Is Vista really this bad and unworkable?

there is also a chance your router is broadcasting an open network as part of your ISP's BB Contract, does it go away if you turn off your own router (via the mains)?

you have moved your own network above the others in order of priority of connection?

e: now its been rattling around my head its ringing a vague bell when i got a call years ago (just when vista launched) for some one with a new pc and new router hmm....im convinced its coincidence, ill sleep on it and get back to you.

You might try a wifi sniffer, like xirrus wifi inspector. Then you might get a little more information where that any might be coming from, like vendor and if it will be asus.

It's definitely some hardware, and nothing to do with Vista.

Thanks for your replies. I think Arkose might be on to something (and possibly some rep for it soon!), I'm almost certain the mystery network with the clumsy overriding preferences is created by a program called 'Asus Wifi-AP Solo' which I was previously using to make my PC act as an Access Point for our other wireless devices (Really did not want to spend money on a wireless router for the longest time). For now the program is set to "station mode" rather than AP mode which is fine and all, except for that it is also forcefully creating a network preference that overrides my own settings so that the PC does not automatically connect to the router WAN on startup.

Now I only need to figure out how to uninstall the damn thing. I made the terrible mistake of installing the program to "Program files (x86)" and the uninstaller ended up in "/InstallShield Installation Information/", only the start menu shortcut is pointing to a directory that does no longer exist. None of the other setup.exes' here is the correct one so perhaps I need to reinstall the program to get a new uninstall option...

No, I'm not going to spend all night going through the registry to kill this damn thing.

EDIT: That did it! I reinstalled the program in order to get the uninstaller back. Seems the program had nestled itself in deep with the drivers for my wireless adapter (a built in realtek chip) because those drivers disappeared with the uninstall as well (and in fact, closing the program executable would disable the driver as well). One reboot later and windows had reinstalled the driver and I could set my own network preferences. Turns out I never had a choice where and how to install the program anyways, it defaults to Program Files the moment you open the install program. Again, thanks for the replies. Arkose was the one who mentioned the magic term "virtual connection" which reminded me of how Asus Wifi-AP works. By the way, never use Asus Wifi-AP Solo, just buy a router instead.