zepto parent
Except this is a lie. It’s not being done to ‘improve device experience’.
Using devices with GPS + WiFi to identify and catalog the relative geographic location of SSIDs is beneficial to other devices with WiFi capability that can benefit from Geographic location but lack GPS. The same is true of Bluetooth beacons.
Such as? My watch, for example, uses the gps from my phone (if I would let it, that is).
And are you implying that Google is cataloging my SSID even though I have it "hidden?"
You're fixated on it being about you specifically and your devices and direct benefits. If your phone's WiFi detects an SSID at a location and 10 other devices confirm your findings, then when I come along and connect to that SSID, with my non GPS enabled Tablet,my experience can be enriched with coarse location contextualized information. The same is true of IP addresses.
> SSID even though I have it "hidden?"
A hidden SSID is only hidden when it's not being used. That is to say if you setup your AP to not broadcast it's SSID then it's only invisible so long as you have no clients connected to it. As soon as a client connects to your "hidden" AP then it's SSID is broadcast to everyone and their mother.
As soon as a client connects to your "hidden" AP then it's SSID is broadcast to everyone and their mother.
Interesting. I've never seen it show up before. EDIT: I probably just wasn't looking for it.
Hiding an SSID only removes the name from Beacon frames that are broadcast. The SSID is still broadcasting beacon frames so it is discoverable and the name is still in Probe/Response frames. So a device passively listening can catch a Hidden SSID when it talks to a client.
So basically hiding your SSID is just giving you a false sense of security because it hides it from people who don't know any better but anyone who knows anything about WiFi security can find it.