Auto-Scanning the Names People Choose For Their Wireless APs

MichaelSmith writes "I code on the tram, going to and from work, and I noticed that there are a lot of WiFi access points along the way. So one week I made it my job to write an automatic scanner which runs from a cron job every minute during commuting times. My backup script pushes the new AP names to my web server and you can read it online. It is a mixture of the straightforward, naive and funny, with a few pop culture references along the way. The first column in the file is the number of access points with that name. The second column is the AP name, in brackets to pick up white space." Why can't "Dress Me Slowly" and "Domestic Bliss" just share an AP?

Best SSID

[thewils]

The SSID I use is "Honeypot"

MY_NETWORK

[dangitman]

My backup script pushes the new AP names to my web server and you can read it on line.

You're not hosting your page via one of those access points, are you? I think it just melted.

On a lazy Saturday evening

[Anonymous Coward]

MichaelSmith /.s his own server.

Having RTFA for once...

[AccUser]

My favourite is the tie fighter: ]-o-[

hi neighbor!

[Anonymous Coward]

I live in a pretty nice little suburb. Full of old people, business owners, and people who generally don't know how shit works., So, all the APs are default except for two. One is "grandma's house", and the other is "midget sex".

I really want to find out who named theirs midget sex.

Didn't see mine...

[RayMarron]

Sa-Matra

Re:hi neighbor!

[adolf]

I ran across one recently that called itself "BURN. FACIAL. SUCK IT."

I've been thinking about putting together a cron job on a spare WRT router that periodically switches between various funny or disparaging SSIDs, myself. I might even leave it unencrypted, with DHCP on, with a random goatse appearing instead of net access.

Neighbors can be pains!

[Anonymous Coward]

I made my neighbors mad when I started naming my SSIDs with things like STFU, ByteMe and the ever popular F*Off. Somehow they always knew it was me though.

For a long time I then stopped broadcasting my SSIDs but now I have them broadcasting but changing every few months.

Re:Best SSID

[Again]

I use CIASecretSatellite.

Re:Best SSID

[Anonymous Coward]

I named mine "GOATSE", no password, no encryption, but unauthorized connections get redirected automatically... They can't say they weren't warned.

Re:Our formar SSID:

[Anonymous Coward]

How do you spell that "ch-ch-ch-ch" sound that he makes when he jumps?

Re:hi neighbor!

[OverlordQ]

Upside-Down-Ternet [ex-parrot.com].

Re:hi neighbor!

[Rorschach1]

I came across one in Hong Kong called "DON'T STEAL MY FUCKING WIFI". And of course, it was unsecured.

Re:Best SSID

[bertoelcon]

I use "GetOffMyLawn". It is very fitting for having a large enough yard that you can't see it without being on the lawn or in the house.

Re:What you are doing is ILLEGAL, IMMORAL, and IIM

[Xarun]

Why would slashdotting your own website be illegal?

Re:Only 29 Named 'Linksys'?

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

They are the nation's largest provider of free wifi, with their fierce competitor "dlink" close behind...

Re:hi neighbor!

[$RANDOMLUSER]

I wish I had some mod points left. Unfortunately, there's no +1 PureGenius, and the scores only go up to five, while you clearly deserve an eleven.

Re:answer.

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like you commented using your phone with the T9 input method! How can I tell? You wrote "me" instead of "of".

Re:Once in Washington DC...

[Gangis]

I saw one near a Subway restaurant that said "Jared Is Still Fat"

Also died laughing.

Link is not working

[anthonyq234]

Hello, I hate to tell you this but the link is not working.

Best Secure SSID

[AmigaHeretic]

I got rid of of passwords, WPA,WPA2,WEP or whatever crap and just changed my SSID to "$5.99 per minute".

I check the logs and have never seen a single person connect to my router.

Re:Best SSID

[cpt kangarooski]

Don't you mean Get off my LAN?

Re:Didn't see mine...

[geminidomino]

Password: Kohr-Ah

Re:Tram? Get real...

[Cimexus]

Yeah because as everyone knows, Australia is in Europe...

Re:If you know enough to change the name...

[GigaplexNZ]

AC should have said "your're" instead of "your"

Your're wrong.

Re:hi neighbor!

[Jello B.]

Yeah, it sure takes a lot of genius to hear about something and post it to Slashdot in a relevant discussion. Somebody get this guy a fucking Nobel Prize in physics.

Re:hi neighbor!

[bigstrat2003]

Perhaps the owner had a mental slip while trying to warn the world not to steal his wife?

Re:What you are doing is ILLEGAL, IMMORAL, and IIM

[Anonymous Coward]

I've patented the copyrighting of names.

Re:Best SSID

[Dun Malg]

Mine is called "NotForYou!".... and then is unsecured. I like to be generous to those who don't do as they're told

Re:If you know enough to change the name...

[JustOK]

Their both right.

Re:What you are doing is ILLEGAL, IMMORAL, and IIM

[AlamedaStone]

It's certainly not illegal anyplace that I've ever heard of.

What about Soviet Russia?

... points access you?

Australia?

[RevWaldo]

I'm surprised all the SSIDs aren't "Bruce".

Re:Best SSID

[cdrudge]

The w in lawn is silent.

Re:Best SSID

[fatbuttlarry]

Mine's called "Linksys" and the password is "1234", but there must be a problem because it always lists two of them and some times I make changes and it doesn't save.

Re:answer.

[GigaplexNZ]

Opening line:

I code on the tram, going to and from work and I noticed that there are a lot of wifi access points along the way.

I thought about it.

Sincerely,
Derp

Re:If you know enough to change the name...

[Concerned Onlooker]

Hilarious. But I just ran out of mod points...

Quiet Street

[Jeffrey_Walsh VA]

I leave an AP open using my street number as SSID. Its outside my firewall and bandwidth is throttled to 15% of my 15/25 Fios. I check the logs sometimes. Its usually someone who came out on a service call, probably logging the job and gettting directions to the next gig. I saw repeated connections once so I blocked the mac address. Shortly after, my close freinds next door noted to me that thier wireless stopped working. I went over and set up their Fios router for wireless.

Re:Best Secure SSID

[Bob9113]

HAHAHA -- awesome. Best social hack I've heard in quite a while. Well played, and thanks for the giggle. :)

Re:Having RTFA for once...

[Anonymous Coward]

It looks like two penises each trying for the same hole.

Re:On a lazy Saturday evening

[MichaelSmith]

erm... "coral cache" rings any bell?

It does now.

Re:Best Secure SSID

[Inda]

Mine says "£0.99 an hour! First hour free! Unlimited downloads!"

People are happy giving up their credit card numbers, but probably not happy with the zero service.

Don't connect to wireless networks you don't own.

Re:hi neighbor!

[audunr]

Speaking of fucking, there's one here that's called "I can hear you having sex".

Re:Best SSID

[ivoras]

That's a wrong way to do this conversation - you really need to pull something like: "I'm concerned the radiation levels of your wireless router are causing you all to have brain cancer" followed by "innocent" inquiries into if anyone on the office has headaches or problems sleeping, suggesting the AP might be the cause. It's bullshit of course but the only way to get people interested is to make it about *their* asses. If you're good enough (i.e. go through it in a really circumspect way) you may even get them to pay you to investigate and reconfigure the said AP :)