What is the primary purpose of an SSID?

The SSID (Service Set Identifier) is the name of a wireless local area network (WLAN). Its primary purpose is to allow users to identify and connect to a specific wireless network. When you search for available Wi-Fi networks, the names you see are SSIDs. While an SSID is associated with an access point (AP), it doesn't identify an individual AP. Multiple APs can broadcast the same SSID to create a larger, seamless WLAN. SSIDs do not differentiate traffic; that's handled by other mechanisms like VLANs or QoS. Although security features are often configured on a WLAN, the SSID itself does not provide network security; it's merely the network's name.