WTF Wi-Fi: Quirky Wi-Fi Names Drop Hidden Messages

Feb. 5, 2010— -- When Alexandra Janelli approaches the corner of Barclay Street and Broadway in New York, she knows she's almost home.

But it has nothing to do with the world famous Woolworth building up ahead or the rare city park across the street. It's because her iPhone suddenly picks up on the fact that she's reached the part of cyberspace where the "attorneys at war" and "divorce filers" Wi-Fi hotspots exist side by side.

Over the past five months, the Manhattan native said she's uncovered a whole new way to navigate the city, and it doesn't rely on street signs or famous places but on wireless signals and network names.

All it takes is a Wi-Fi-enabled smart phone or computer to rout out the wacky names people choose for their personal networks.

"I'm under your bed," was spotted by Janelli in midtown. "Beforethevows" came from Brooklyn. "taco breath 2" appeared on the Upper West Side.

"It's like a whole other sublayer of the city," Janelli said. "People are really hiding behind their routers."

Though many Internet users choose the simplest names for their personal hot spots (or never even swap out the default name), the 28-year-old environmental consultant said she's become a collector of the names are funny, raunchy, poignant or just plain bizarre.

"I dubbed myself a Wi-Fi detective," she said. "Once you find a really funny Wi-Fi name, it becomes almost addictive."It started at a bar in New York's East Village, Janelli said. She went to check something on her phone's Web browser, and when the list of available Wi-Fi networks popped up, the ironic option "alcoholic shut-in" appeared among them.

"[It] was so funny," she said. "I wondered if it was the bar or someone else."

Since then, she's walked along New York's streets, iPhone in hand, watching as the threatening ("Nancy don't mess with this again"), religious ("Jesus is Coming"), political ("Obama please save us") and lustful ("Boobz") messages pop up.

"When I take cabs home now, I notice landmark Wi-Fi names. I know where I am," she said.