Digital Inspiration Technology Blog: Let Others Contact You Through Your Own Wi-Fi Network

Digital Inspiration Technology Blog Digital Inspiration is an award-winning how-to tech blog around all things related to computer software, web applications, mobile and personal productivity.

Let Others Contact You Through Your Own Wi-Fi Network Mar 19th 2012, 14:04 The Wi-Fi network at your home has a public name, also known as SSID, that will often show up on your neighbor's computer or any other mobile device that is within the range of your wireless network. The name of a wireless network (or SSID) rarely says anything about the owner of that network and that's good because most people won't like the idea of sharing their Wi-Fi network with others. Some have even suggested using scary and unusual names for SSIDs (like "Police Van") to discourage Wi-Fi theft. Change SSID to Advertise your Wi-Fi Network However, if you are on the other side and want people to actually use your Wireless connection – maybe for a monthly fee – a free service like Wifis.org can be of some help. WiFis.org provides you a unique URL like www.wifis.org/labnol. You need to change your network's name (SSID) to that URL and it will then show up under "Available Wireless Networks" on other computers that are within your wireless range. If your neighbors happen to type that URL in the browser, they'll see a contact form which they can use ("Hi, Can I borrow your Wi-Fi for an hour?") to directly get in touch with you but without knowing your real email address. You can also write your WiFis.org SSIDs as wif.is/<username> or <username>.wifis.org. This is definitely a neat idea though there's an alternative as well. You can create a special email address to advertise your Wi-Fi network in the neighborhood and then set it as your SSID – something like BorrowMyWifiATgmailDOTcom. In either case, do make sure that your Wi-Fi is secured with WPA2. This story, Let Others Contact You Through Your Own Wi-Fi Network, was originally published at Digital Inspiration on 19/03/2012 under Wifi, Internet. Related posts: Build a Wireless Home Network without a Router How to Secure Your Wireless (Wi-Fi) Home Network Use Scary Wireless Names to Discourage Wi-Fi Theft Expand the Range of your Wireless Network with any Old Router Set Up Ad-Hoc Wireless Network in Windows XP Media files: borrow_wifi1-50x50.png (image/png)

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