When you get a new router, it comes with a boring predetermined SSID or signal name. Often something associated with the manufacturer. But, what should you change it to?
It’s important to change your SSID or signal name to something that isn’t personally identifiable, but that’s memorable enough to pick it out from a list of signals. Avoid using passwords, user names, or any personal information, as your router will broadcast the signal to anyone within range.
Now, that doesn’t mean it needs to be boring! There are many examples of funny plays on words that you can use to spice up your WIFI name.
What is a WIFI signal name and some naming considerations?
A WIFI signal name is known as an SSID or Service Set Identifier. It’s the ID that is unique to a WIFI signal that you can find in the list of signals a WIFI-capable device can connect to. It’s presented to the device user in their WIFI configuration tool.
Suppose you’re in an area with a large number of WIFI signals you want to be able to scroll through the different signals and easily pick the one you want to connect to. Having a unique signal name is essential so that it’s easy to find yours in the list.
Having a unique SSID can also make it more difficult for someone trying to crack your WIFI. Most manufacturers put their name in the signal name or use a familiar pattern that’s easy to identify. By picking something unique, it’s less obvious who the maker is. So, avoid manufacturer names.
You can choose a name that has any combination of letters or numbers up to a length of 32 characters. Capital letters and symbol characters like punctuation are also available, so you have a lot to work with when picking a name.
While it’s a free country, and you can pick a name of your choosing, please keep in mind that children may see your WIFI signal name. Be a good neighbor and pick something family-friendly rather than vulgar. Of course, if you’re WIFI is in a location with a slim-to-none chance of being seen by children, then choosing an offensive name is likely of no consequence.
What SSID names should I avoid to protect my privacy?
The risk of having a WIFI connection is someone with ill will and the knowledge to inflict damage or steal information using it to connect to your network. Plain and simple. If you live in a rural area, the chances of that happening are very low. However, if you live in a more urban area or an apartment building, the chances of this increase quite a bit.
The other issue you’re trying to avoid is someone hijacking your connection for their use. Hackers could be using it as a launching point for criminal activity or to steal your bandwidth. Even local kids could break into your network so they can use up your bandwidth for games, streaming, or downloading files.
If you can help it, you don’t want criminal investigations leading back to you in any way. Additionally, you pay for your bandwidth, so you want it available when you want to use it.
One of the worst things you can do is make your SSID and password the same, even in part. Unfortunately, people trying to connect to WIFI signals owned by others know this trick, so it’s one of the first things they will try. It may seem like a clever way to never forget your password, but it’s not much better than leaving your WIFI unlocked.
I already mentioned not to use manufacturers’ names in the section above. The reasoning behind that is routers, like any electronic device, can be hacked. In addition, certain manufacturers have vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit to get onto your network.
If they’re determined to get into your WIFI for some reason, they may try all of them. But you don’t want to broadcast opportunities for hackers to use their tools.
And finally, personal information is also to be avoided. Because it gets broadcasted publicly, if you wouldn’t put it on a sign in front of your home, don’t use it as your SSID. Things like names, birthdays, and so on. Anything that would be used as an answer for password recovery questions is also a big no-no.
How do I pick a WIFI password?
We’re talking about SSID’s right now, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention passwords here. In the case of WIFI, if you use the sophisticated encryption options offered, the only option a hacker has to get into your WIFI is to guess it.
If you make it too easy, they can guess it with minimal knowledge about you. For example, easy passwords include the most commonly used passwords or trivial facts about you or your family. However, unless you choose something difficult, they could still guess it using a brute-force password cracking tool.
These tools capture a snippet of your WIFI traffic and try every combination of characters possible to decode it. For a short number of characters, this is easy for computers to achieve in a short period.
If your password is long, the number of possible combinations rises such that the hacker might even be dead long before the computer finished guessing them all. So the message here is not so much that your password has to be complicated, but it needs to have enough length.
A great way to deal with this is to use a passphrase instead of a password. A passphrase is a phrase or sentence with complete punctuation and capitalization that you use for your password instead of a single word. It has the advantage of being super strong while being easy to remember.
Where can I get some WIFI name inspiration?
Several sites with extensive lists of funny WIFI SSID’s that other people have used can offer great inspiration. Many of them reference well-known cultural references with a play on words or a play on words with networking terms. If you want to get started with some ideas for your SSID, you can find some examples using the following link.
https://parade.com/1119734/marynliles/funny-wifi-names/
Good luck!