5 ms·

The Story Behind "Free Public WiFi" - It's Not

111 points by rafaelc 16y ago

rwwmike 16y ago
I still want to believe that, somewhere out there, there actually is Free Public WiFi...
- pavel_lishin 16y ago
  Addison, TX provided city-wide WiFi for residents for awhile, but I think they're phasing it out this month. Their reasoning was that 3G was ubiquitous, so there was really no reason to provide WiFi any longer.
- tzs 16y ago
  Well, there must have been one somewhere, somewhen, to allow that initial connection whose name is now being passed around via buggy old XP systems.
- thewordpainter 16y ago
  i couldn't believe how long it took starbuck's to reevaluate their stance on wifi considering they've become the library of the 21st century. as for other locations, get ready for the subway system if you didn't catch it before... http://mashable.com/2010/07/30/nyc-wireless-subway/ http://mashable.com/2010/07/30/nyc-wireless-subway/
- bobds 16y ago
  There are a lot of community wireless networks, all around the world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wireless_community_networks_by_region http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wireless_community_netw...
- code_duck 16y ago
  There is in some areas, of course. A tourist district in a town near me, for instance, provides free public wifi.
LordLandon 16y ago
So who started the first one?
timcederman 16y ago
Around for "about 4 years now"? I remember seeing it at a conference 7 years ago.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
Cushman 16y ago
So this is basically a self-propagating virus started by someone indeed offering Free Public WiFi, now kept alive by hopeful XP users clicking on the network? That is so wild. It's like the ad-hoc wifi equivalent of a chain letter. Edit: Thinking about it, it's even crazier... Because the bug only happens when there aren't any available networks, it springs up in situations when there are a lot of people looking for wireless, but there isn't any— on buses, conferences, etc. The exact sort of situations where people are most likely to try out "Free Public WiFi", so the virus is more likely to propagate. Furthermore, the name is important. In order for it to become a widespread phenomenon, it has to be a name a lot of people will click on. But we can imagine that a lot of people have set up ad-hoc networks with different names that wound up being temporarily duplicated by the bug. Some of those with attractive names may have caused further duplication before finally disappearing. The more attractive the name, the more likely it is to be duplicated before being overwritten. In effect, the name "Free Public WiFi" has been selected for. I'm calling it: This is the first (global?) distributed wireless network that evolved on its own. Unfortunately, evolution doesn't require that it actually be useful to people :P
- mayank 16y ago
  > This is the first (global?) distributed wireless network that evolved on its own. Not really. It's emergent behavior in a complex system. You have a lot of entities (in this case, unpatched Windows XP SP2 and below systems), and a set of very simple local rules (if (winxp and no wifi) then create last adhoc network, if (human and see "free public wifi") then click link). The fascinating behavior that emerges from the interplay of these local rules is the global "virus" if you will. It's a fascinating area of research, and even aside from the inflated egos of some physicists in the area, I'm glad I'm studying the field. Read Duncan Watts' book "Six degrees" for a decent popsci introduction to the field (you might have to skip some self-aggrandizing of physics as the Savior of Intellectual Thought though). Edit: cellular automata are a more recognizable CS example of this.
  - Cushman 16y ago
    That's not contradicting me? Evolution is a special case of emergent behavior in a complex system. The rules of the buggy system mean that any ad-hoc network can be replicated if a user connects to it. That creates selective pressure on the name of ad-hoc networks in that convincing more users to click on them causes further replication. So we have a (somewhat) self-replicating entity, with variation, and a selective process applied to that variation. Sounds like evolution to me. (Of course the names are originally made by people; but if we assume that ad-hoc networks aren't named with the intention of creating a self-replicating pattern, they're effectively random from the perspective of the ecosystem. The success of "Free Public WiFi" is a product of selection, not human design.)
anon-e-moose 16y ago
This is not a "bug" or a virus. XP simply remembers the last ad-hoc network you connected to, to be used when there are no actual APs around. As a blindingly obvious differentiation, ad-hoc networks have a different icon and say "computer-to-computer network". Back when Windows XP was introduced, ad-hoc was extremely useful as lots of places didn't have wireless internet access. My friends and I often used it to swap files or play network games. If anything I would call this an unintended phenomenon of people just clicking something and hoping it worked. The network does not spread because of Windows, it spreads because people select an ad-hoc network without knowing what is. Why we as a society think its totally great to be completely ignorant and reckless with our computers, I'll never understand.
- dedward 16y ago
  It's an emergent behaviour of a complex system involving people and machines. What's fascinating is how this non-functional string/ad-hoc netowork beacon, whatever oyu want ot call it, with this specific name, has spread globally to every corner of the world as far as we can tell. Hit any airport or hotel lobby in the world where there are laptops around, and odds are you won't have to wait long before you see "Free Public WiFi" pop up. That, in and of itself, is fascinating. It's been going on for a decade.
nutjob123 16y ago
I always used to see this when I walked around the city with my iPod touch. I thought it was just people trying to be nice. Guess I'm naive.
- dmoney 16y ago
  I thought it was just people trying to be nice. Maybe some of them were.
ajg1977 16y ago
When a computer running an older version of XP can't find any of its "favorite" wireless networks, it will automatically create an ad hoc network with the same name as the last one it connected to -- in this case, "Free Public WiFi." Other computers within range of that new ad hoc network can see it, luring other users to connect. [...] Computers with the XP bug that try to connect to the Internet will remember the name, create their own ad hoc networks and entice other users wherever they go. If this was the case, wouldn't we see all manner of oddly named hotspots at airport locations, and wouldn't they also propagate as people try to connect to them? I suspect this story may have been "simplified" to the point where the interesting details have been lost.
- dedward 16y ago
  Nope - because people very rarely create ad-hoc networks these days - full infrastrucure-mode APs are everywhere - the only time people tend to select ad-hoc without realizing it tends to be he one called "Free Public Wifi" - it just happens to show up in airports and hotels and is passed around from machine to machine because of the name. Lots of people try it out (it never actually works) - but it's enough for the netowork name to keep propagating.
rev_null 16y ago
I say we call it the world's first "computer prion".
jasonkester 16y ago
Strange that they say it's only been around for 4 years. I seem to remember the first time this story came through Reddit was about 4 years ago, and the phenomenon it described had been going for several years at that point. It's actually surprising to see it here now. I was expecting to see a [2007] tacked on to it.
Tichy 16y ago
Another HN evergreen. Project idea: automatically extract HN evergreens :-)
maguay 16y ago
This was mentioned on Paul Thurrott's site in March: http://www.winsupersite.com/paul/mailbag/100321.asp#1 http://www.winsupersite.com/paul/mailbag/100321.asp#1, and that linked to an explanation from 2007: http://www.wlanbook.com/free-public-wifi-ssid/ http://www.wlanbook.com/free-public-wifi-ssid/. Definitely not a new phenomena or explanation.

111 points by rafaelc 16y ago

rwwmike 16y ago

I still want to believe that, somewhere out there, there actually is Free Public WiFi...

pavel_lishin 16y ago
Addison, TX provided city-wide WiFi for residents for awhile, but I think they're phasing it out this month. Their reasoning was that 3G was ubiquitous, so there was really no reason to provide WiFi any longer.
tzs 16y ago
Well, there must have been one somewhere, somewhen, to allow that initial connection whose name is now being passed around via buggy old XP systems.
thewordpainter 16y ago
i couldn't believe how long it took starbuck's to reevaluate their stance on wifi considering they've become the library of the 21st century. as for other locations, get ready for the subway system if you didn't catch it before... http://mashable.com/2010/07/30/nyc-wireless-subway/ http://mashable.com/2010/07/30/nyc-wireless-subway/
bobds 16y ago
There are a lot of community wireless networks, all around the world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wireless_community_networks_by_region http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wireless_community_netw...
code_duck 16y ago
There is in some areas, of course. A tourist district in a town near me, for instance, provides free public wifi.

LordLandon 16y ago

So who started the first one?

timcederman 16y ago

Around for "about 4 years now"? I remember seeing it at a conference 7 years ago.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

Cushman 16y ago

So this is basically a self-propagating virus started by someone indeed offering Free Public WiFi, now kept alive by hopeful XP users clicking on the network? That is so wild. It's like the ad-hoc wifi equivalent of a chain letter. Edit: Thinking about it, it's even crazier... Because the bug only happens when there aren't any available networks, it springs up in situations when there are a lot of people looking for wireless, but there isn't any— on buses, conferences, etc. The exact sort of situations where people are most likely to try out "Free Public WiFi", so the virus is more likely to propagate. Furthermore, the name is important. In order for it to become a widespread phenomenon, it has to be a name a lot of people will click on. But we can imagine that a lot of people have set up ad-hoc networks with different names that wound up being temporarily duplicated by the bug. Some of those with attractive names may have caused further duplication before finally disappearing. The more attractive the name, the more likely it is to be duplicated before being overwritten. In effect, the name "Free Public WiFi" has been selected for. I'm calling it: This is the first (global?) distributed wireless network that evolved on its own. Unfortunately, evolution doesn't require that it actually be useful to people :P

mayank 16y ago
> This is the first (global?) distributed wireless network that evolved on its own. Not really. It's emergent behavior in a complex system. You have a lot of entities (in this case, unpatched Windows XP SP2 and below systems), and a set of very simple local rules (if (winxp and no wifi) then create last adhoc network, if (human and see "free public wifi") then click link). The fascinating behavior that emerges from the interplay of these local rules is the global "virus" if you will. It's a fascinating area of research, and even aside from the inflated egos of some physicists in the area, I'm glad I'm studying the field. Read Duncan Watts' book "Six degrees" for a decent popsci introduction to the field (you might have to skip some self-aggrandizing of physics as the Savior of Intellectual Thought though). Edit: cellular automata are a more recognizable CS example of this.
- Cushman 16y ago
  That's not contradicting me? Evolution is a special case of emergent behavior in a complex system. The rules of the buggy system mean that any ad-hoc network can be replicated if a user connects to it. That creates selective pressure on the name of ad-hoc networks in that convincing more users to click on them causes further replication. So we have a (somewhat) self-replicating entity, with variation, and a selective process applied to that variation. Sounds like evolution to me. (Of course the names are originally made by people; but if we assume that ad-hoc networks aren't named with the intention of creating a self-replicating pattern, they're effectively random from the perspective of the ecosystem. The success of "Free Public WiFi" is a product of selection, not human design.)

anon-e-moose 16y ago

This is not a "bug" or a virus. XP simply remembers the last ad-hoc network you connected to, to be used when there are no actual APs around. As a blindingly obvious differentiation, ad-hoc networks have a different icon and say "computer-to-computer network". Back when Windows XP was introduced, ad-hoc was extremely useful as lots of places didn't have wireless internet access. My friends and I often used it to swap files or play network games. If anything I would call this an unintended phenomenon of people just clicking something and hoping it worked. The network does not spread because of Windows, it spreads because people select an ad-hoc network without knowing what is. Why we as a society think its totally great to be completely ignorant and reckless with our computers, I'll never understand.

dedward 16y ago
It's an emergent behaviour of a complex system involving people and machines. What's fascinating is how this non-functional string/ad-hoc netowork beacon, whatever oyu want ot call it, with this specific name, has spread globally to every corner of the world as far as we can tell. Hit any airport or hotel lobby in the world where there are laptops around, and odds are you won't have to wait long before you see "Free Public WiFi" pop up. That, in and of itself, is fascinating. It's been going on for a decade.

nutjob123 16y ago

I always used to see this when I walked around the city with my iPod touch. I thought it was just people trying to be nice. Guess I'm naive.

dmoney 16y ago
I thought it was just people trying to be nice. Maybe some of them were.

ajg1977 16y ago

When a computer running an older version of XP can't find any of its "favorite" wireless networks, it will automatically create an ad hoc network with the same name as the last one it connected to -- in this case, "Free Public WiFi." Other computers within range of that new ad hoc network can see it, luring other users to connect. [...] Computers with the XP bug that try to connect to the Internet will remember the name, create their own ad hoc networks and entice other users wherever they go. If this was the case, wouldn't we see all manner of oddly named hotspots at airport locations, and wouldn't they also propagate as people try to connect to them? I suspect this story may have been "simplified" to the point where the interesting details have been lost.

dedward 16y ago
Nope - because people very rarely create ad-hoc networks these days - full infrastrucure-mode APs are everywhere - the only time people tend to select ad-hoc without realizing it tends to be he one called "Free Public Wifi" - it just happens to show up in airports and hotels and is passed around from machine to machine because of the name. Lots of people try it out (it never actually works) - but it's enough for the netowork name to keep propagating.

rev_null 16y ago

I say we call it the world's first "computer prion".

jasonkester 16y ago

Strange that they say it's only been around for 4 years. I seem to remember the first time this story came through Reddit was about 4 years ago, and the phenomenon it described had been going for several years at that point. It's actually surprising to see it here now. I was expecting to see a [2007] tacked on to it.

Tichy 16y ago

Another HN evergreen. Project idea: automatically extract HN evergreens :-)

maguay 16y ago

This was mentioned on Paul Thurrott's site in March: http://www.winsupersite.com/paul/mailbag/100321.asp#1 http://www.winsupersite.com/paul/mailbag/100321.asp#1, and that linked to an explanation from 2007: http://www.wlanbook.com/free-public-wifi-ssid/ http://www.wlanbook.com/free-public-wifi-ssid/. Definitely not a new phenomena or explanation.