# How many wi-fi hot spots can you detect at home? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 28, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023 "2012-03-28T04:46:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/41 "2012-03-28T23:41:35Z")
I only see seven and I live in a condo townhouse development. Our next door neighbour’s is unsecured. We use it alot when we aren’t paying attention. They don’t seem to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/42 "2012-03-29T03:00:24Z")
I can see nine; two of which are in my house. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/43 "2012-03-29T05:32:24Z")
Funnily enough, I’m on wired internet now - thanks to me and my ISP provider today trying to work out the Ticketmaster problem, we managed to get our modem not talking to our Airport any longer. Waiting for the new modem/router to show up. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/44 "2012-03-29T05:34:04Z")
I see two other wi-fi’s near my home. Both are locked. I[m relieved more of my neighbors don’t have wi-fi. Channels can get crowded pretty quick. I locked mine the first day I set it up. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/45 "2012-03-29T05:40:12Z")
Between six and ten most of the time. Our next-door neighbor has had an unsecured network since before we moved in here six years ago – the previous owner of the house even told us about it at closing. “By the way, my kids say there’s Internet you can just pick up without paying for it if you want to, I don’t know how it works or whatever but they say it’s pretty good.” :smack: (Although I admit it comes in handy when our Internet connection drops temporarily for whatever reason.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/46 "2012-03-29T11:50:45Z")
If I use an ordinary wireless device (laptop, smartphone) I can usually see about four beside my own - all secured If I use my WRT54g router as a client bridge, I can sometimes see dozens of other networks - many of them quite weak in signal - and a few of the mid-strength ones unsecured. I wouldn’t consider trying to use any of them (although I connected to one of them once and discovered a printer, so I sent it a page saying “Hey! you probably ought to secure your wireless network”) ---
**Author:** ![maisoui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@maisoui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maisoui)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/47 "2012-03-29T12:07:36Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > If I use an ordinary wireless device (laptop, smartphone) I can usually see about four beside my own - all secured > > If I use my WRT54g router as a client bridge, I can sometimes see dozens of other networks - many of them quite weak in signal - and a few of the mid-strength ones unsecured. I wouldn’t consider trying to use any of them (although I connected to one of them once and discovered a printer, so I sent it a page saying “Hey! you probably ought to secure your wireless network”) Too funny! Way back at the beginning of time we could see an unprotected network (none since) but it was named our neighbours’ last name. We just went over and talked to them. :0) I can see 7 or 8 usually. Our 16-year-old-son renamed ours Pretty Fly for a Wi Fi. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/48 "2012-03-29T15:45:04Z")
1. One of them labeled: Police surveillance van. Funny. Way to be discreet guys. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/49 "2012-03-29T16:58:49Z")
They’re probably required to do that by the same law that if you ask an undercover police officer if he’s the police, he has to tell you truthfully. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/50 "2012-03-29T17:01:13Z")
Four. All secure, and unimaginatively labeled with the family’s last name. One of my kids gave me a Kindle Fire for my birthday, but I haven’t gone wireless yet. No need to before, with just the one computer. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/51 "2012-03-29T19:07:40Z")
> [@maisoui](#): > > \ > > Our 16-year-old-son renamed ours Pretty Fly for a Wi Fi. OOoh, that’s a good one! I see one network now named “banana.” That’s, uh, pretty random. ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/52 "2012-03-30T00:46:55Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Just one other, which from its name probably belongs to the neighbour across the street from us. That surprises me, because I know other neighbours who live closer and who have internet-connected computers: perhaps they use ethernet instead of wireless. I see three that are broadcasting their SSID. Don’t forget that you can turn off the SSID broadcast, which means that on a device like a smartphone you have to know the SSID to connect. You can use something like Netstumbler or InSSIDer to see those networks ([inSSIDer - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InSSIDer)) ---
**Author:** ![Landshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/77aa72/32.png) [@Landshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Landshark)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/53 "2012-03-30T01:34:24Z")
In a matter of a few minutes as I was preparing to type this up, the number went from 15 to 10. (All secured) The numbers being related to my being among many condos. Interesting names? Right now a couple that include personal names. One of the ones that dropped off was “Stairway2Google” ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/54 "2012-03-30T02:10:17Z")
8 (though if I went upstairs that would double). Mine’s the only one with a remotely clever name (Series of Tubes). ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/55 "2012-03-30T03:07:20Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > They’re probably required to do that by the same law that if you ask an undercover police officer if he’s the police, he has to tell you truthfully. I’m pretty sure that’s a myth. I’ve watched Cops (the tv show) when they do those prostitute stings. The people on there ask the cops: “You a cop?” To which they always say no and always make the bust. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/56 "2012-03-30T03:33:41Z")
Twenty-something, most of which are locked. And only 3 or 4 have interesting names (mine is one of them). ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/57 "2012-03-30T03:44:17Z")
I can see 2 others right now, there’s a 3rd I can see from my office, but those are the only ones. One of those three is unsecured, it’s called “Netgear.” Oy. With my laptop, roaming around my house, I can see about 14 different networks in my area, but only that “Netgear” one isn’t locked down. One of my neighbor’s pretentiously has “Shawna’s Network” and “Shawna’s Guest Network” like she has a ton of visitors who can’t possibly be trusted on her network. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/58 "2012-03-31T04:15:39Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > One of my neighbor’s pretentiously has “Shawna’s Network” and “Shawna’s Guest Network” like she has a ton of visitors who can’t possibly be trusted on her network. Might not be pretentious; my parents have an 802.11n router that has a guest network enabled by default, and shutting it down is more trouble than my dad wants to go to. (Not that it’s THAT hard.) ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/59 "2012-03-31T05:27:36Z")
A friend posted this list of interesting SSID names elsewhere; I laughed. 😛 [http://cdn.churchm.ag/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/WiFi1-620x383.jpg](http://cdn.churchm.ag/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/WiFi1-620x383.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023/60 "2012-03-31T13:50:26Z")
I’m currently seeing 8 of them. Bubblebutt and Home1 being the more interestingly named, other than my own of course; **Mind Control Platform MN034C**. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-wi-fi-hot-spots-can-you-detect-at-home/617023.md?page=4)