What is the name of your WiFi Network (SSID)?


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Well what I meant with my "privacy is overrated" is that it's not hard to find things if you want to find them. I'm sure that if you really wanted to find my home address and you'd spend five minutes properly Googling around it won't be hard to find.

And something as trivial as a WiFi network name (that might change over time, I change mine all the time) that might lead you to one of possible semi-accurate locations of where you or someone else with that network name might live is hardly giving up privacy.

Of course I'm not going to post my address on this forum just because, but I don't really mind people knowing my email address, the city where I live, my WiFi network name, my full name, ...

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Well then why don't you list yours?

How about someone does not like what you post, and pays you a visit? What if you mention your going on holiday and someone stops by and grabs your computer

etc. etc.

This is a public forum not your work, not your family, not your school, its not the phone book where its just a bunch of random names. Do you hand out your personal info to everyone you meet? Well in "theory" if you post your ssid, and its in the database I linked too - someone could google you, find this post, look up your location.

Mind you this is tin foil hat stuff, don't get me wrong. My point is not the likely hood of someone finding you, or that you must keep all your personal info private.

My point is that people hide their machines private IP address 192.168.1.100 -- which is prob the default address for like 100 million computers on the planet since many routers default to starting their dhcp scope at .100, etc. And is not routeable address on the public net. It is arbitrary info with no way to tie it back to me, its like if I tell you there are 14 windows in my house or I like brand X of beer and wearing a blue shirt today.

Now again it seems like many people here are just making **** up to be funny. But I just don't get the thought process, is the point of my post, lets hide 192.168.1.100 -- but hey you want something that in "theory" could give you my exact address. Sure here you go! Just confusing is all.

btw -- the person "hiding your ssid" or not broadcasting.. Clearly you don't understand that its hiding it from grandma across the street sure.. But every single box that connects to it is broadcasting it!! Anyone doing any war driving is going to see it more than likely. Not broadcasting your ssid is is most likely the dumbest possible thing you could do. It does not hide it, it makes harder for you to join your own network. It can and does cause issues, and can lower the performance of your wireless network. A client looking to roam is going to send out probes, lots of them!! Clients will look to roam depending on the signal strength, the interference, etc. So unless you have told your client NOT to roam, and have a really great super perfect signal.. Your client is scanning (probes) looking for better AP to connect to, which have the SSID in them. But hey sure -- lets not broadcast it :rolleyes:

I agree with this 100%. :D

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Mine is: N

I'm thinking of changing it and use some funny name. I'm installing my routers (changing to a new house). I use 2 wireless networks. Will think of a funny pair or words for them. This thread just made my night lol :D

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Yeah I add which band to each one.

Lurch (the butler from the Addams Family) and the machines all have other characters names. Pugsley, Morticia, Thing and Uncle Fester.

Stuxnet.

And hey ****er this is me,...Bob from arkansas

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Home AP: Aircrackme

Guest AP: Winteriscoming

Now I am sure quite a few of these are just made up. But I find it funny how quite a few of you are prob afraid to post your MAC address of your wired interface or your Private IP address. But posting unique SSID thats fine?

An SSID doesn't have to be unique, and is easy to change. You can't do anything harmful with the knowledge of someone's SSID that you couldn't already do.

Knowing someone's MAC address can be used to bypass potential MAC filtering. And I don't think anyone's afraid to post their private IP address. Perhaps you meant public IP address, in which case there's good reason to be afraid.

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"SSID doesn't have to be unique"

:blink: Yeah because it makes sense to have 37 "linksys" SSIDs in the same area.. WTF do you think I mean't as far as unique? Which one do you think you client is going to try and connect too?

"Knowing someone's MAC address can be used to bypass potential MAC filtering"

How is that?? So you think your gateway router blocks access via MAC? So you think I am going to be able to access your wireless network if I know your MAC? I have to kind of know where your wireless network is, and kind of have to be there ;) And then btw every box on your wireless network is broadcasting its MAC in the clear -- so I could just listen for a mac to use to bypass mac filtering.. So again :blink: And again I was talking about blocking of wireless mac addresses, not your wired interfaces.. Seeing your wired mac gives I can get exactly 1 bit of information -- who made your nic.. WTF am I going to do with that? ;)

"And I don't think anyone's afraid to post their private IP address"

You would think that yes, but I can tell you I see it all the time - which is the point of my question.

http://www.neowin.ne...t__p__594895427

post-14624-0-92345000-1345728213.png

"You can't do anything harmful with the knowledge of someone's SSID"

No nothing harmful other then looking up their ADDRESS of where this network is.. You clearly are not paying attention to a thing I have been saying. I for sure can NOT DO ANYTHING with your 192.168.x.x address, but in "theory" I could look up your house, or your place of business.. Depending on how unique your ssid is, or how many duplicates are in the database here https://wigle.net/ and if you put your general location on your profile so I could narrow it down if there are a few of them. Again I stated in "theory"

so here is example of your guest network winteriscoming. Not saying this is YOU, not saying your even on this database - what I am saying is in "THEORY" this sort of information could be use to pinpoint your house.. But there is NOTHING I could ever do with a 192.168.x.x address, but as example see the thread above its was hidden! While people are willy nilly posting their SSID

post-14624-0-41415500-1345729030_thumb.p

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Yup mine is right on the button, corner of intersection where my house is - at best its 1 house off.

I can somewhat understand not posting mac, it is unique - and sure in a tinfoil hat sort of way.. Someone maybe has access to specific databases like dell or hp, and if the computer was registered maybe you could look up the mac and see who it is registered too.

As to wireless mac, or mac of router - quite often the macs on a router are in sequential order, so if you had 1 of the macs on a router be it lan, wan or wireless it would again in theory to be able to find that router in the database I linked too.

Also - another reason you would want unique SSID vs common, is the rainbow tables used to break wpa/wpa2 psk use like the top 1000 SSIDs. Your wireless network ssid is used as the salt for your encryption. So this is another reason you wouldn't want to use something common like linksys or netgear, or virus, etc. You would want unique to be able to identify your network vs all the other networks in the area. And you don't want to be so common that yours could be in a rainbow table, etc.

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ha ha thier database is so outdated though.

yeah clearly its not updated at all :rolleyes:

post-14624-0-89680500-1345739035_thumb.j

27K networks added today seems like its no longer being used :rolleyes: 103K yesterday - clearly nobody has done anything with this database in years ;)

And your missing the point completely. Maybe your area does not list your ssid today, what about tomorrow?

This is ONE example of such a database - for all I know there are hundreds of such databases. Maybe there is a different one that has you in it?

Its clear from your posts your just not getting the point I am trying to make. Lets do it one more time then.

My question is why do people block or worry about posting information that is completely and utterly useless in knowing anything personal about the poster, example private IP address 192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x, 172.16-31.x.x, the Mac address of their wired interface on their PC. While at the same time not caring about posting info, that again in "theory" could be use to locate your house. This is my question.

Does not matter if your not in the database I linked to, does not matter if you feel the data is out of date. My question is there are such databases out there. So in "theory" You posting your ssid of "BlowMeNow123" could be used to locate your house - but seems no one has any concerns with this? This is the thought process I am trying to understand.

I am not saying you shouldn't post it - go right ahead its not any skin off my nose. My question is why the lack of concern in posting it? Is it just complete and utter lack of understanding what a private IP address.

Is it that nobody ever thought that there is such a database logging SSIDs? Did you not hear the news of google streetview vehicles sniffing and logging and posting wireless info and the huge stink about that? How do you think your cell phones use wifi to give you your location? Another database that I am aware of is http://www.skyhookwireless.com/howitworks/ -- not sure if you can freely search these, etc. But the point is your SSID is clear and in the air, no you can not hide it by not broadcasting it either. So these are being logged, be it war drivers for fun, be it google, be it your cell phones with wifi and gps sending the info up to some company like skyhook so the information can be used to locate users that don't have gps. My point posting such info could be used to locate you - while posting that your machines IP is 192.168.2.14 can not.

I would like to hear from people posting theirs -- do you not care if "possible" someone looks you up? Did you not know such methods of looking it up existed? Are you posting just made up **** that sounds funny? Like my BlowME123 example?

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"SSID doesn't have to be unique"

:blink: Yeah because it makes sense to have 37 "linksys" SSIDs in the same area.. WTF do you think I mean't as far as unique? Which one do you think you client is going to try and connect too?

I thought you assumed an SSID is "unique" the way a public IP address is unique, but now I realize you're just misusing the word. The fact that choosing to name your SSID the same as another one in the same area doesn't make sense, doesn't mean it's unique.

"Knowing someone's MAC address can be used to bypass potential MAC filtering"

How is that?? So you think your gateway router blocks access via MAC?

I used the word "potential" for a reason. My router can be configured to block MAC addresses?I never said all routers are configured that way by default. Some people think they're safe with MAC filtering as their only precaution. I've seen people hosting web servers with that kind of "security."

So you think I am going to be able to access your wireless network if I know your MAC? I have to kind of know where your wireless network is, and kind of have to be there wink.png And then btw every box on your wireless network is broadcasting its MAC in the clear -- so I could just listen for a mac to use to bypass mac filtering.. So again blink.png And again I was talking about blocking of wireless mac addresses, not your wired interfaces.. Seeing your wired mac gives I can get exactly 1 bit of information -- who made your nic.. WTF am I going to do with that? wink.png

"I find it funny how quite a few of you are prob afraid to post your MAC address of your wired interface or your Private IP address."

"And again I was talking about blocking of wireless mac addresses, not your wired interfaces.."

"your MAC address of your wired interface"

"wireless mac addresses, not your wired interfaces.."

"of your wired interface"

"not your wired interfaces.."

Be consistent! And even if you only meant wireless MAC addresses, it's still more sensitive information than an SSID.

"And I don't think anyone's afraid to post their private IP address"

You would think that yes, but I can tell you I see it all the time - which is the point of my question.

Fair enough. But then, your question assumes the same kind of people who are that clueless about networking are the ones posting in this thread.

"You can't do anything harmful with the knowledge of someone's SSID"

No nothing harmful other then looking up their ADDRESS of where this network is.. You clearly are not paying attention to a thing I have been saying. I for sure can NOT DO ANYTHING with your 192.168.x.x address, but in "theory" I could look up your house, or your place of business.. Depending on how unique your ssid is, or how many duplicates are in the database here https://wigle.net/ and if you put your general location on your profile so I could narrow it down if there are a few of them. Again I stated in "theory"

so here is example of your guest network winteriscoming. Not saying this is YOU, not saying your even on this database - what I am saying is in "THEORY" this sort of information could be use to pinpoint your house.. But there is NOTHING I could ever do with a 192.168.x.x address, but as example see the thread above its was hidden! While people are willy nilly posting their SSID

Right, someone knowing your postal address is harmful. I think you don't know what "harmful" means.

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budman it's not been updated recently in my neck of the woods.... mabye in chicagoland but not here. says there are tons of blekin ssids and there are NONE. farproc wifi on mah droid detects none. Xirrus picks up none as well.

also still listed an ap for a bob evans that's not been here for a while. same with another place that's not around.

and as "Around the globe" by Rocco starts to play....

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"but now I realize you're just misusing the word."

Misusing the word? So what word would you use, maybe my vocabulary is just not as well rounded as yours? I was not aware that the term unique meant "globally" in all of the known universe no others like it. How would you describe something that is not like all the others in a group or set of something. For example billy and kim are wearing red shirts while kevin is wearing blue. Is kevin's shirt not unique in the group? What about a purple house in a neighborhood overflowing with yellow and white ones? Would that purple house not be unique? :rolleyes:

What you mean you weren't talking globally about every single firewall and router on the planet? Oh my bad I guess, mac filtering is not very common at all - and in terms of wireless meaningless. And from a firewall on a wired network - pointless as well since you don't see mac address of anything other than what is directly connected to you. I have no idea where you saw anyone attempting to block access via mac - but unless these users were all on the same network segment mac address would be useless.

"Right, someone knowing your postal address is harmful. I think you don't know what "harmful" means."

I think maybe you don't understand what it could mean is the problem here. Maybe you live in lollypop and cotton candy land. But here in the real world, you never know what crazy is lurking about. Maybe someone does not like the tone of your post, maybe from your nic they think you kill kittens for fun? Maybe someone really really likes your profile pic and wants to show you a good time.

I am flabbergasted to think I have to explain to someone the "possible" danger in posting your address on public forum.. Are you really that dense? If there is no issues with it, why do you not have your address posted in your profile? Why don't you list even your birthday?

As to wired vs wireless, yeah my bad - sorry if I transposed the term once in talking about your nonsense about mac filtering.

"it's still more sensitive information than an SSID."

Sorry its NOT.. Unless your talking about the wireless AP wireless radio MAC -- which can be searched for. And I already address that any mac on your router might be possible to derive your BSSID. I can understand hiding a wireless mac be it your client or AP, client not as much as a stationary wireless router that might be listed in a database.. But your harping on stuff that has nothing to do with my question to be honest.

.. Good thing you don't know my address ;) Maybe your one of those crazies that might stop by my house and paint it with goats blood because I reversed a term ;)

edit:

@remixedcat -- your still just not getting it.. Does everyone on neowin live in such a wifi desert? Again I just don't get why these basic concepts are being questioned?

So seems people don't understand why it could be bad that someone on a public forum might be able to find your address. Or that just because an example of a database doesn't have "your" info in it - doesn't mean that it won't contain it tomorrow, or that if one there are others, etc.

And I forgot this

"your question assumes the same kind of people who are that clueless about networking are the ones posting in this thread."

My question does not assume anything - which is the reason for the question. I went over this already why I am asking the question, and would really like to hear some responses to people that have posted theirs. Do they really not care if people might be able to look up their address? Do they not understand that someone might be able to do that? Did they not even think about the consequences of posting such info? etc...

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