Ad-Hoc Security Issue

Ok I hope you can help me out here. I'm convinced this is a security issue. From time to time my laptop drops wireless signal & when I try to re-connect to my router, I notice there's this available ad-hoc network to connect to called hp.nomodel etc... I of course have never connected to this network but, every time I have to reconnect to my router I notice this network. I am now inclined to believe the existence of this network is the cause of my signal drop. Any suggestions on how to exclude this network altogether will be greatly appreciated.

Not sure why you're getting dropped, but you could try adding the offending network to your Manage Wireless Networks list and set it to never connect.

When you are safely connected to your router and doing your stuff, try occasionally pulling up the available networks and see if that one has always been around.

I would try that but, I don't want the the person who's broadcasting the ad-hoc network to be able to record my IP which is exactly what they'd be able to do..

Uhh....the IP they record is meaningless. You would acquire a private IP address for that network which is really not unique to begin with. (192.168.1.xxx) is a common IP most home networks use.

I'll try that next time. Thanks for the general knowledge.