Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Can I give my wifi a really obscene name?

S

ss957916

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 17, 2009
861
0
I get a list of about fifteen different wifis which means that about fifteen other people can also see my wifi.

Now I've realised that, I have this sudden urge to change my network name to something really descriptive and disgusting. Or even something like "The guy at no 30 is clearly a drug dealer" or "The guy at 28 needs to STOP EATING".

Could I get into trouble??
 
The police? Would I not be somehow broadcasting things that are unfit for children? Or would personal things like the drug dealer be libelous (even though I really think he is).
 
ss957916 said:
Or even something like "The guy at no 30 is clearly a drug dealer" or "The guy at 28 needs to STOP EATING".

Could I get into trouble??
Click to expand...

Well you really shouldn't get personal and insult your neighbours. They may just take umbrage at it and come round with a baseball bat. Especially if they really are drug dealers.

But if you just want to be obscene in a childish way… go right ahead.
:rolleyes:
 
There's someone near me that calls their network "free wifi". It's locked of course! It's fantastic and probably gets heaps of people trying to connect excitedly only to have their hopes dashed :D!
 
.Andy said:
There's someone near me that calls their network "free wifi". It's locked of course! It's fantastic and probably gets heaps of people trying to connect excitedly only to have their hopes dashed :D!
Click to expand...

That's what mine's called now!! Well "Free Wireless Internet" actually.
 
No idea.

Although if your network has a funny name the chance of it being hacked into by a bunch of script kiddies increases 10 fold.
 
I'm in SW London - although I'm sure there's loads of people who have done that.
 
There is no way you could get into trouble but frankly you reap what you sow when you decide to personally insult your neighbors or tattle on them. In that respect I say grow up. I'm sure the guy in 28 who needs to stop eating and the purported drug dealers in 30 would be more than happy to show you what passive aggressive behavior such as yours gets in return. If I were you I'd choose something funny because having the cops come get you would be the least of your worries.
 
ss957916 said:
Now I've realised that, I have this sudden urge to change my network name to something really descriptive and disgusting. Or even something like "The guy at no 30 is clearly a drug dealer" or "The guy at 28 needs to STOP EATING".
Click to expand...

Have you thought about the consequences of insulting your drug dealing neighbor? Typically these folks are not the most upstanding citizens and they have issues with you, that they'll resolve - physically.

Personally, I'd not use a wifi name to call out your neighbor's problems or failings.
 
There's one near me called "Get off our network f**k face!" but without the asterixes of course. Not that obscene but still pretty funny.
 
We called ours The Twunt Network (or something like that) for a while but decided to be a little less conspicuous.

Call it what you want but I wouldn't taunt your neighbours, no matter how tempting.
 
ss957916 said:
Could I get into trouble??
Click to expand...

It's seriously unlikely that you would get into trouble, but I wouldn't rule it out completely. Think of it this way: would you get in trouble for having the c-word printed on a poster taped to your window for passers-by to see? This issue here is intent to offend. You can walk down the street effing your head off, and you're covered under free speech, but if you tell someone to eff-off, it's technically a form of assault. If you've gone to the trouble of logging into the admin page, changing the SSID and reconnecting all of your devices to the network, you could argue intent. Do your neighbours strike you as the type to start a Daily Mail-esque campaign against you? Would you be bothered to have the police knocking on your door telling you to change it or else?

In summary: will you get in trouble? No. Could you get in trouble? Yes.
 
Ever since I experienced some random slow-downs, I have had my network's SSID changed to "Get your own WiFi"

Within minutes of changing the name, I saw a rather husky individual hanging out of his window wrestling with some sort of make-shift antenna device over at a house across the street. I had a pretty good laugh.
 
Generally speak, I don't broadcast my SSID so its not really an issue what I call it. I also make sure I have the security enabled so you'll need to know the password as well.

Its nothing really imaginative - macnet ;)
 
ss957916 said:
I get a list of about fifteen different wifis which means that about fifteen other people can also see my wifi.

Now I've realised that, I have this sudden urge to change my network name to something really descriptive and disgusting. Or even something like "The guy at no 30 is clearly a drug dealer" or "The guy at 28 needs to STOP EATING".

Could I get into trouble??
Click to expand...

Well if you put things like the "no 30 is clearly a drug dealer" could get you in a world of legal trouble due to slander laws. Also personal insults could also open the door to legal trouble.

Now something I learned to do when I was around of lot of networks was i would set mine up not to broad case the SSID. This means you had to know my networks name to access it.
For example I had one call "Deep Space 9" and to access it you would have to go set on your computer and tell it that the network name was "Deep Space 9" along with the WEP key. The computer would have no trouble find it but passer bys who would scan for a network it would not pick it up.

It is not a huge increase in security over not broadcasting the SSID. The only difference is that it will not be picked up as easily by some one just setting there computer to scan for a wireless network.
 
SuperCompu2 said:
Ever since I experienced some random slow-downs, I have had my network's SSID changed to "Get your own WiFi"

Within minutes of changing the name, I saw a rather husky individual hanging out of his window wrestling with some sort of make-shift antenna device over at a house across the street. I had a pretty good laugh.
Click to expand...

Why not just put a WPA2 password on your network?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back