An apparatus for connecting to a wireless communication system is provided. The apparatus includes a controller configured to, when it is determined to restrict a connection to a base station, set base stations which are detected during a first reference time as connection candidate base stations, set any base station which fails to be detected during a second reference time as one or more base stations to be excluded from connection, and select at least one base station except for the one or more base stations to be excluded from connection from among the connection candidate base stations, and a transmitter configured to transmit a connection request signal to the selected base station.