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 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.