HOWTO: Make a Doctor Who "Bells of St John" Style WiFi Name

Doctor Who DrWho unicode · 81 comments · 250 words · Viewed ~164,294 times.

No spoilers, sweetie :-)

This evening's Doctor Who - The Bells of St John - revolves around mysterious WiFi signals.

Alien SSIDs which, if you connect to them.... well, watch the episode to find out!

In the show, they look like these: So, can we do the same thing for our home WiFi network? Yup!

There are some limitations though. SSIDs can only have a maximum length of 32 byte. Those are usually interpreted as 8-bit characters, so if you're using multibyte Unicode characters, you're reliant on the device doing the scanning interpreting the SSID correctly. You also rely on the device you're trying to connect being able to display the characters.

In this example, the Android device isn't able to render one of the glyphs correctly.

Depending on your WiFi router, it may simply not accept characters outside the "normal" ASCII range.

I picked a Unicode string of "╦┐◤︻㍕┻═▄" but you, of course, can choose one which matches the TV show a little more closely - assuming you can find the right characters in the ever expanding Unicode set.

If you want something approaching the WiFi name from the start of the episode:

You can use "┓┏ 凵 =╱⊿┌┬┐" Thanks to Nsurgnie on Reddit for figuring it out.

BONUS!

Update 2013-04-03. Want to scare people outside of your house? You can use Android's WiFi hotspot to broadcast the SSID wherever you go!

81 thoughts on “HOWTO: Make a Doctor Who "Bells of St John" Style WiFi Name”

2013-03-31 09:21

tcheu says:

It doesn't work for me, it says it is not a valid SSID :/

Reply
1. 2013-03-31 09:23
  
  Terence Eden says:
  
  It will depend on your router. Check and see if there is a software update for it, or email the manufacturer.
  
  Reply
  1. 2013-03-31 15:17
    
    kevin says:
    
    Do you know how to get a pc to recognise this text? also what font type is this called?
    
    Reply
    1. 2013-03-31 15:22
      
      Terence Eden says:
      
      Hi Kevin,
      
      This isn't a font - it's unicode. Take a look at the symbols on this page - if you can't see them, try upgrading your operating system, or switch to a modern Web Browser.
      
      Terence
      
      Reply
      1. 2013-03-31 15:48
        
        kevin says:
        
        I'm on windows 8 and have chrome updated to the latest version. I can see all the symbols on the link you posted but for some reason my pc doesnt read it when its being broadcast by my android phone
        
        Reply
        
        2013-04-16 16:43
        
        codelion says:
        
        It's because for the most part computer's aren't designed to handle unicode in the SSID. A ways back there was a "prank" where you would do the same thing and it would crash mac's like crazy because they would try to display the unprotected network's SSID then crash because they couldn't.
        Ubuntu, on the other hand, shows it just fine. Linux FTW
        
        Reply
2013-03-31 10:52

Great Intelligence says:

┓┏ 凵 =╱⊿┌┬┐

Reply
1. 2013-04-08 02:35
  
  TheNobody says:
  
  For those restricted by keyboard characters, this could work:
  ][ [_] =/ /| [']
  
  Reply
2013-03-31 14:31

kevin says:

My pc doesnt recognize it but it appears on my android phone =] So I'm guessing it only shows up on mac?

Reply
2013-03-31 15:31

foxsan48will says:

Android and Ubuntu. nice

Reply
1. 2013-03-31 15:33
  
  Terence Eden says:
  
  Only the finest quality open source allowed in my TARDIS 🙂
  
  Reply
  1. 2013-04-01 07:03
    
    Kevin says:
    
    +1
    
    Reply
  2. 2013-04-01 18:15
    
    Tyler Childers says:
    
    At first, I was thinking there was something wrong with my Ubuntu laptop. Unity, on a webpage not devoted to content about Linux and Ubuntu? But yes, there it is. Good Work, sir.
    
    Reply
2013-03-31 16:59

exogenetic says:

This is a great idea - especially good as April Fools' is just around the corner. The only problem I have is that my router translates the symbols into things like "┓", and won't allow other devices to see it while scanning for Wi-Fi networks, unless they're using a wired connection. any ideas on why this happens?
Thanks!

Reply
1. 2013-03-31 17:14
  
  Terence Eden says:
  It really depends on which router you have. There's really no way we can help you unless you tell us
  - Router Make and Model
  - Software Version
  - If it's the latest version
  Reply
  1. 2013-03-31 19:39
    
    exogenetic says:
    
    I have a Belkin 54g router, with firmware (my router admin page only links to firmware?) version 7.00.23, which is the not the latest version - when I try to upgrade to 7.00.24, it doesn't do anything and stays at '.23.
    The only thing I'm particularly wondering about is why it won't let devices connect when you change the SSID, but if you could help with both that and changing the SSID to symbols then you'd be a great help. Thank you!
    
    Reply
2013-03-31 18:47

vashta nerada says:

I use a virgin media superhub, anyone know how to make it accept this as an ssid

Reply
2013-03-31 18:49

septamus says:

I have a Netgear WNAP320 with firmware version 2.1.1
When I try to enter the Unicode SSID it translates it into @ symbols and other characters. Is there any way of helping this?
Thanks!

Reply
2013-03-31 19:24

winston smith says:

looks like routers running ddwrt will be unable to do this. oh well...

Reply
1. 2013-03-31 19:45
  
  Terence Eden says:
  
  DD-WRT should be able to.
  
  In the web interface, make a new virtual interface called "ath0.1".
  
  Then SSH in and issue this command
  root@DD-WRT:~# nvram set ath0.1_ssid="┓┏ 凵 =╱⊿┌┬┐"
  
  Go back to the web interface and hit "apply"
  
  It may give you an error, but it should start working.
  
  Reply
  1. 2013-03-31 21:39
    
    Jasper Capel says:
    
    I had to feed it the hex codes as the shell didn't like those characters. I also had to replace the space with the invisible character:
    
    # nvram set wl_ssid=$(echo -e 'xe2x94x93xe2x94x8fxe2x81xa3xe5x87xb5xe2x95xb1xe2x8axbfxe2x94x8cxe2x94xacxe2x94x90x0a')
    # nvram get wl_ssid
    ┓┏⁣凵╱⊿┌┬┐
    
    Reply
    1. 2013-12-31 05:43
      
      Anavel Gato (@BL4CKSH7T) says:
      
      thank you jasper, this worked for me on tomatousb but how do you generates echo? i liked to try other codes but don't know your technique
      
      Reply
  2. 2013-04-01 05:32
    
    Joseph Wilson says:
    
    SSH in? I'm not sure what that means..
    Is there any way I could just enter a command into the command box while logged into the router?
    
    Reply
  3. 2023-12-22 09:16
    
    Bill Ciphorce says:
    
    And for those of us who don't speak nerd, what did you just say? I don't know what ssh in or whatever even means. I know that http://192.168.1.1 allows me to enter a web based interface with my firefox, but I don't know anything of what you just said. How to do it in detail that normal people can understand plz.
    
    Reply
    1. 2023-12-22 09:36
      
      @edent says:
      
      Well Bill, it will depend on your router. Perhaps if you say what the make and model is, someone might be kind enough to help you.
      
      Reply
2013-03-31 20:04

Henry says:

Works for me

Reply
2013-03-31 23:35

ThatGuyOnTheStreet says:

it wont work for me. it says "illegal ascii code, i have a linksys e1000 so im not sure what to do.

Reply
1. 2013-04-01 10:10
  
  Terence Eden says:
  
  Try updating to the latest firmware version - http://support.linksys.com/en-eu/support/routers/E1000
  If that doesn't work, check with Linksys directly.
  
  Reply
2013-04-01 00:33

Lemur says:

asus rt-n12 any firmware. how do this?:(

Reply
1. 2013-04-01 10:13
  
  Terence Eden says:
  
  Update to the latest version - http://www.asus.com/Networking/RTN12/#support_Download
  
  Reply
  1. 2013-04-01 15:21
    
    Lemur says:
    
    dont work (
    
    Reply
2013-04-01 01:29

Sienna says:

I wanna do it but my daddy won't let me~~ T ^T;;;;

Reply
2013-04-01 03:40

Ashley Renee says:

I use a modem/router from Clear. The error message I'm getting is: "Some punctuations are not supported for Network Name (SSID). Please use characters or numbers." It doesn't look promising, but is there any way around it?

Reply
2013-04-01 06:54

jtdhs2011 says:

Error: The Network Name must be a unique 1 to 32 character ASCII string
and must NOT match any other SSID on this AP.

Reply
2013-04-01 07:05

Ben says:

My router doesn't seem able to support it either
http://www.tenda.cn/tendacn/product/show.aspx?productid=381

I would really appreciate some help.
Thanks 🙂

Reply
1. 2013-04-01 10:06
  
  Terence Eden says:
  
  You may need to upgrade to the latest firmware version. If that doesn't work, you could try the Chinese version of the software - that should support Unicode. http://www.tenda.cn/tendacn/DownLoads/show.aspx?productid=381
  
  Reply
2013-04-01 09:45

Greg Dean says:

I.... I don't know where I am!

Reply
2013-04-01 10:12

anon2193 says:

nice. I have a crappy belkin and had to edit the web interface javascript to disable unicode checks using chrome. The validator function is "evaltF", in wireless_id.html which calls some stuff in "routine_data.js". I replaced their custom "encodeURL" with javascript's encodeURI. No probs on the router end and devices that can read unicode see the proper result.

Reply
2013-04-01 16:21

Discodoris says:

It wasn't actually figured out by nsurgnie, but by my partner - nsurgnie is a friend of both of us (we don't have reddit accounts) He goes by the nickname of Poki and I by Discodoris (hence the protected wifi account that is actually connected).

Reply
2013-04-01 20:20

I CLAVDIVS says:

I have a tplink wr741nd, but when I try this it says "illegal ssid"
please help

Reply
1. 2013-04-01 20:50
  
  Terence Eden says:
  
  It looks like your router doesn't support this. I suggest trying to upgrade it, or talking to the manufacturer.
  
  Reply
2013-04-01 21:11

Synnth says:

Any suggestions on how to do this for a actiontec m1424 wr router? It just keeps telling me that "Service Set Identifier must consist of 1 to 32 characters and must not contain any special character."

Reply
1. 2013-04-01 21:17
  
  Terence Eden says:
  
  Speak to your ISP about getting the firmware upgraded. Or buy a router which supports Unicode SSIDs.
  
  Reply
2013-04-01 21:19

Synnth says:

Ah. The firmware seems to be the newest version, so it looks like i'm out of luck. Oh well, thanks 🙂

Reply
2013-04-01 21:50

Jasiu says:

Worked on a TRENDnet access point (TEW-637AP). Thanks!

Reply
2013-04-01 22:10

pjottrr says:

in dd-wrt it's working fine, just use the wl ssid "......." command to set the wify name, don't touch the webinterface
btw it doesn't seem putty understands the 256 bit ascii character set. ( if you paste it, you only get dots and spaces. You need to do this from a Linux or ssh native box

Reply
2013-04-02 02:09

ViRuS says:

I could not get mine to work so I just called it "ViRuS" That should keep people from getting interested in it...

Reply
2013-04-02 03:58

Leis says:

Hate to be another person asking for help doing this, but I have a Netgear WGT624v2 running the latest firmware. Is there any workaround, or is that it?

Reply
1. 2013-04-02 09:16
  
  Terence Eden says:
  
  That's a really old router, and it doesn't look like there is any DD-WRT support for it. It might be worth installing the Japanese firmware, as that may allow you to input non-ASCII characters in the SSID.
  
  Reply
2013-04-02 11:31

blha303 says:

My router doesn't support unicode characters in SSIDs, so I tried with ISO 8859-1 symbols.

Reply
2013-04-02 16:19

alex says:

ok I downloaded PUTTY, now how do I ssh into my router (tp link wr741nd). I have ddwrt firmware

Reply
2013-04-02 23:51

Jinn Ko says:

Got it working on my MikroTik with RouterOS 5.24 with the following:

/interface wireless set 1 ssid="E29493E2948FE281A3E587B5E295B1E28ABFE2948CE294ACE29490A"

Reply
2013-04-03 15:35

Batgrl2u says:

I was able to change it in my router (Belkin F5D8236-4 v-2), and it shows up correctly. But, on all my wireless devices, the name shows up as "RT2860AP". Why is this?

Reply
2013-04-03 15:58

John Aisdias says:

Windows 7 adhoc network (so I can take it around the city randomly) fails, I get a bunch of question marks and some +s and -s:

Reply
2013-04-04 03:37

Thanatos says:

Working well on the mobile hotspot on my Galaxy S3. Haven't had a chance to try it on my Linksys router yet, since it's at the new house waiting for cable to be hooked up tomorrow 🙁

Reply
2013-04-04 09:37

Daniel says:

I am using a FreedomPop sleeve (iPod 4th gen). The error I am getting is "The network name (ssid) contains 1 or more characters that are not valid." Any help would be appreciated.

Reply
1. 2013-04-04 09:40
  
  Terence Eden says:
  
  I suggest talking to the manufacturer and see if they can help you.
  
  Reply
2013-04-04 13:01

Peter Edwards says:

I tried it using the hotspot on a Samsung Galaxy Nexus to link to my laptop. It shows a bunch of a's with triangles, upside down triangles and accent marks... How would I go about making it work?

I've got a Toshiba laptop running Windows 7 by the way, if that helps...

Reply
1. 2013-04-04 13:06
  
  Terence Eden says:
  
  Your version of Windows may not be suitable. It certainly works on Mac and Linux. I suggest contacting Toshiba to see if there's a driver update for your WiFi.
  
  Reply
2013-04-04 19:36

jenshu7 says:

I'm on a Samsung R480 laptop with Windows 7 completely updated firefox and google chrome. I have a netgear wireless g-router WGR614v10 and it says that the characters are not allowed. I tried different languages installed on my language bar as well and those were also not allowed

Reply
2013-04-04 21:57

Roraigh Price says:

my virgin super hub doesn't like this as a ssid -'┓┏ 凵 =╱⊿┌┬┐' what do i do i tried setting it up as a guest ssid. i cant find an update router in the control panel

Reply
1. 2013-04-04 22:15
  
  Terence Eden says:
  
  Sadly, Virgin's SuperHub is a notoriously poor piece of kit. I suggest you contact Virgin & complain.
  
  Reply
2013-04-06 15:51

Bjarne Jensen says:

D-Link 635, works 🙂
Windows 7 - Internet access : No go, show something wired.
Android Phones works.

Reply
2013-04-10 06:58

C. Blue says:

Non-techie here . . . I can't help but notice that the article never actually tells readers *how* to do it; it just confirms that it can be done. I thought from the title there would be step by step instructions on HOW to change the name of the router to the special characters. Apparently, everyone commenting in already knows.

Reply
1. 2013-04-10 07:25
  
  Terence Eden says:
  
  Hi,
  As you can appreciate, there are hundreds of thousands of different routers - each with their own unique way of setting the name.
  
  I do presuppose a certain amount of technical knowledge, or prior experience of setting up your router. If all else fails, reading the manual usually works.
  
  T
  
  Reply
2013-04-19 08:09

heneray says:

I own a BT Home Hub 3, The Unicode characters are not working >_<

Reply
1. 2013-04-19 08:22
  
  Terence Eden says:
  
  You can try inputting them as escaped characters.
  
  For example:
  %E2%94%93%E2%94%8F+%E5%87%B5+%3D%E2%95%B1%E2%8A%BF%E2%94%8C%E2%94%AC%E2%94%90
  
  Reply
  1. 2013-04-19 16:21
    
    heneray says:
    
    It did not seem to work! Here's an image of what I did, and one of the corresponding error! http://tinypic.com/r/1zere9/6 - What I Entered
    http://tinypic.com/r/27yr2as/6 - The Error! DUN DUN DAAAA!
    
    Reply
    1. 2013-04-19 16:23
      
      Terence Eden says:
      
      Looks like you need to get a new router - sorry!
      
      Reply
      1. 2013-04-19 16:54
        
        heneray says:
        
        Ok! Thx for the quick responses though!
        
        Reply
2013-04-30 02:10

2BlondieGirl says:

even if i hadn't seen the episode i wouldn't want to click a link let alone a wifi thats like ┓┏ 凵 =╱⊿┌┬┐ is, i'd think it was full of viruses because it just seems weird, but because of doctor who i now have to fear something even worse than viruses

Reply
2013-07-12 20:56

Isaac Morillo says:

Everything went great... Untill I tried to add the network to my PS3... Said invalid ASCII code :'(

Reply
2013-08-07 16:45

Cloudane says:

Doesn't show up right in the wifi menu on Windows 7 (just comes up as accented characters) but the one that TheNobody posted is more compatible. Depends I guess whether your target audience is likely to be Windows, Mac or Android users..

What I'd like to do next, is make it open and set up one of those sign-in pages, you know like when you join "free" wifi in various places? But instead of a login box, have it display a weeping angel. Preferably a slow 2-frame gif... 🙂

Reply
2014-05-19 23:37

Robert says:

Works on cisco 1142n AP's managed by 2504 controller running 7.6.100.0

Reply
2014-08-07 17:53

Jennifer Neon Munkyfunk says:

Actiontec centurylink model c1000a
"The SSID must contain letters and/or numbers only with no spaces."

┓┏凵=╱⊿┌┬┐
i want this. don't know how with those lmittaions.

Reply
2015-01-22 06:53

Skye says:

Did it with my Asus RT-AC87R using zoc6 mac app.. due to the fact built in telnet on the mac do not like the ┓┏ 凵 =╱⊿┌┬┐ and then using the following
Telnet.. if you need help knowing how to turn on it..
Enable Telnet by going to Advanced Settings > Administration > System > Enable Telnet and click on “Apply“

Then in telnet once you connect to the router and login.. use the following.

# nvram set wl1_ssid="┓┏ 凵 =╱⊿┌┬┐”
# nvram commit
# reboot

For who do not know commands remove the # its just there so people know its a command.

Thank you all above for the help that helped me get this whovain a happy wifi name.

Reply
2015-04-03 15:12

Zsomi8 says:

Thank you, works perfectly fine. I share wifi with my phone, useing: ┓┏ 凵 =╱⊿┌┬┐ as SSID, 2 of my friends watch Doctor Who, I made them laugh with this 🙂

Reply
2015-10-24 02:12

Devin says:

Amazing, +1. Did this for my phone, and its hilarious. Sometimes people see this and they look around, and then they uncomfortably look at their computer.

Reply
2016-12-09 21:00

Nate says:

Am I wasting my time trying to do this for my phones hotspot or is there a way? I have an HTC Desire 510

Reply
1. 2016-12-10 21:24
  
  Terence Eden says:
  
  It *might* work. I'd suggest upgrading your phone if it doesn't.
  
  Reply
2019-03-26 17:01

acrylic says:

it actually works better with
┑◺√ㄈ⇌

Reply