Don't Fake The Funk

Wirelessness

I was riding a downtown bus last night scanning for wireless networks with my laptop. You would not believe how many wireless networks are out there with no encryption, no security whatsoever.

1. The most common SSID is "linksys."
2. The second-most common SSID is "default."
3. The most common WEP key is whatever the SSID is.
4. The second-most common WEP key is whatever the SSID is with 123 added to the end of it.

Some wireless networks I found obviously belong to companies, and even those don't have security. And when they do, see #4 on that list above. It's crazy. The personal networks I found had some interesting names through which I can glean the personality of the people that set them up.

• linksys - Best Buy employee that stole a wireless router from the stock room.
• default - ditto, but Circuit City.
• homeydog - white dude from the midwest "getting down" with city life.
• ayconjo - a yuppy from the Dominican Republic.
• FBINET33147 - dude that watches 24 way too much and/or a wannabe secret agent.*
• slicknickunit - young stockbroker from Bensonhurst that wants to be able to watch porn on the balcony.
• allisonmccraw - Allison McCraw, who connected her DSL hard drive to the modemthingy all by herself because she's an independent and strong woman and she doesn't need men to help her with house repairs or techmology!
• pythagorea - high school math teacher
• dragonroar - fat dude with questionable personal hygiene habits who set up the wireless network for his new Alienware laptop because he resents being interrupted while playing his MMORPG when he feels like "dropping the kids off at the pool."
• arwenthefair - ditto, but female.
• eyegotbeatz - this kid hasn't bought a music CD since 1996.

There's free wireless internet all over NYC, folks! Now if only the damn bus wouldn't keep moving so fast so I could take advantage of it. I think tomorrow I'll drive around Staten Island just to see what funny network names I can find.

* This could quite possibly be me or my brother.

-- edit

My brother commented that these SSID's are just like AIM or Yahoo screen names. He's right, but they're worse. People create screen names to symbolize what they want to convey to other people about their personality on the internet. Network SSID's symbolize what they think of themselves. Or in this case, what I think of them. Heh.

Posted by glenn at February 3, 2006 12:25 PM