If your laptop is used to connecting to "home01284", it will send out a probe "hey home01284, are you out there?". Anyone nearby who gets this packet can respon

If your laptop is used to connecting to "home01284", it will send out a probe "hey home01284, are you out there?". Anyone nearby who gets this packet can respond, "yes, I'm home01284, connect to me!" They don't have to know a priori what SSID you were looking for, because your machine specifically advertises it.