Why do I keep seeing ‘Free Public Wifi’ in my list of available networks?

Complainer

Registered User
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It seems that everywhere I take my laptop, I can see a network named ‘Free Public Wifi’ as an unsecured network. I first noticed this in the UK last week, but now I’ve seen it in a couple of places around Dublin. If I check the network properties, it shows as network type ‘adhoc network’. If I connect to it, I don’t get any network connectivity, and it shows in my network list with status ‘waiting for other users to connect’. This worried me, as it seemed as if other users could connect to my PC.

Assuming that the CIA/MI5 aren’t following me around tempting me with a free network, what the hell is this network?
 
Does your phone/ipod/GPS/other gadget support 802.11 networking ? It could be a gadget you carry with you. Alternatively, it could be a network configured on your PC, but I don't think Windows would offer your own network up as one that you could join. Or . . . you could have been infiltrated by project Blackbriar.

z
 
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