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diff --git a/static/src/_posts/2022-05-03-why-do-we-have-wifi-passwords.md b/static/src/_posts/2022-05-03-why-do-we-have-wifi-passwords.md deleted file mode 100644 index 62c16af..0000000 --- a/static/src/_posts/2022-05-03-why-do-we-have-wifi-passwords.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,89 +0,0 @@ ---- -title: >- - Why Do We Have WiFi Passwords? -description: >- - A possible UX improvement. -tags: tech ---- - -It's been longer than I'd like since the last post, and unfortunately I don't -have a ton that I can actually show for it. A lot of time has been spent on -cryptic-net, which is coming along great and even has a proper storage mechanism -now! But it also still has some data specific to our own network baked into the -code, so it can't be shown publicly yet. - ------ - -Since I don't have much I _can_ show, I thought I'd spend a post diving into a -thought I had the other day: **why do we have wifi passwords?** - -The question is a bit facetious. Really what I want to ask is the adjacent -question: why do we use usernames _and_ passwords for wifi networks? The -question doesn't make much sense standing alone though, so it wouldn't do as a -title. - -In any case, what I'm proposing is that the vast majority of people don't need a -username/password authentication mechanism to secure their wifi network in a -practical way. Rather, most people could get along just fine with a secret token -mechanism. - -In the case of wifi networks, a secret token system might be better named a -secret _name_ mechanism. Using this mechanism a router would not broadcast its -own name to be discovered by the user's device, but rather the user inputs the -name into their device themselves. Existing hidden wifi networks work in this -way already, except they also require a password. - -I'm not going to look at this from a technical or cryptographical perspective. -Hidden wifi networks work already, I assume that under the hood this wouldn't be -appreciably different. Instead I'd like to highlight how this change affects the -user experience of joining a wifi network. - -The current experience is as follows: - -* USER discovers the network name and password through external means. -* USER opens "add new wifi network" page on their device. -* USER finds network name in network list, possibly waiting or scrolling if - there are many networks. -* USER selects the network name. -* USER inputs password into text box. -* USER is connected to the wifi. - -What could this look like if the network name was secret and there was no -password? There'd be no network list, so the whole process is much slimmer: - -* USER discovers the secret network name through external means. -* USER opens "add new wifi network" page on their device. -* USER inputs secret name into text box. -* USER is connected to the wifi. - -The result is a 33% reduction in number of steps, and a 50% reduction in number -of things the user has to know. The experience is virtually the same across all -other axis. - -So the upside of this proposal is clear, a far better UX, but what are the -downsides? Losing a fun avenue of self-expression in the form of wifi names is -probably the most compelling one I've thought of. There's also corporate -environments to consider (as one always must), where it's more practical to -remove users from the network in a targeted way, by revoking accounts, vs -changing the password for everyone anytime a user needs to be excluded. - -Corporate offices can keep their usernames and passwords, I guess, and we -should come up with some other radio-based graffiti mechanism in any case. Let's -just get rid of these pointless extra steps! - ------ - -That's the post. Making this proposal into reality would require a movement far -larger than I care to organize, so we're just going to put this whole thing in -the "fun, pointless yak-shave" bucket and move along. If you happen to know the -architect of the next wifi protocol maybe slip this their way? Or just copy it -and take the credit yourself, that's fine by me. - -What's coming next? I'm taking a break from cryptic to catch up on some house -keeping in the self-hosted arena. I've got a brand new password manager I'd like -to try, as well as some motivation to finish getting my own email server -properly set up (it can currently only send mail). At some point I'd like to get -this blog gemini-ified too. Plus there's some services running in their -vestigial docker containers on my server still, that needs to be remedied. - -And somewhere in there I have to move too. |