This paper presents the design and prototype development of a compact frequency‐selective surface (FSS) for shielding WLAN signals. The FSS unit‐cell geometry is evolved by modifying the arms of the conventional crossed dipole element. The footprint of the unit cell is only 6 mm × 6 mm × 1.6 mm. The proposed FSS offers stop band characteristics at 5 GHz for both transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes. In addition, the FSS offers angular stability up to 60°. A prototype of the proposed FSS is fabricated and measured to validate its simulations. Measured bandwidth of the stop band is 410 MHz, referenced at −20 dB for both TE and TM modes. Equivalent circuit model of the FSS is derived and the results are compared with the simulations.