Appending network names to distinguish service provider networks

1 . A network system comprising:

a set of network devices including a first network device and a second network device;

a memory; and

processing circuitry in communication with the memory, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

identify, for each service provider network of a set of service provider networks, a network name associated with the service provider network, wherein two or more service provider networks of the set of service provider networks are associated with the same network name;

append the network name corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks with a respective network identifier to generate a set of appended network names, wherein each appended network name of the set of appended network names is different than each other appended network name of the set of appended network names; and

output, to respective network devices of the set of network device corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks, a respective appended network name of the set of appended network names corresponding to the service provider network, wherein the first network device is configured to:

receive, from a client device, a first network connection query; and

output, to the client device based on receiving the first network connection query, information indicating a first appended network name corresponding to the first network device, and

wherein the second network device is configured to:

receive, from the client device, a second network connection query;

output, to the client device based on receiving the second network connection query, information indicating a second appended network name corresponding to the second network device; and

receive, based on the first network device outputting the first appended network name and the second network device outputting the second appended network name, a request from the client device to connect to the second network device.

2 . The network system of claim 1 , wherein the network name corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks comprises a service set identifier.

3 . The network system of claim 1 ,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to identify a set of network identifiers, each network identifier of the set of network identifiers corresponding to a service provider network of the set of service provider networks, and

wherein to append the network name corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks with the network identifier to generate the set of appended network names, the processing circuitry is configured to append, for each service provider network of the set of service provider networks, the network name corresponding to the service provider network with the network identifier corresponding to the service provider network.

4 . The network system of claim 3 , wherein to identify the set of network identifiers, the processing circuitry is further configured to:

receive a set of service provider information elements corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks; and

apply, to the set of service provider information elements corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider information networks, a hash function to generate a hash value representing the network identifier for the service provider network corresponding to the set of service provider information elements.

5 . The network system of claim 4 , wherein the set of service provider information elements corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks comprises a domain name list, an organization identifier (OI), and a network access identifier (NAI) realm.

6 . The network system of claim 4 ,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to, for each service provider network of the set of service provider networks, combine the set of service provider information elements into a hash input string, and

wherein to apply the hash function to the set of service provider information elements corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider information networks, the processing circuitry is configured to:

apply the hash function to the hash input string to generate a hash output string; and

apply a shortening function to the hash output string to generate the hash value.

7 . The network system of claim 3 , wherein the respective network device corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks is associated with a network device address that distinguishes the respective network device from other network devices corresponding to the set of service provider networks, and

wherein to identify the set of network identifiers, the processing circuitry is configured to identify the network device address associated with the respective network device corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks.

8 . The network system of claim 7 , wherein the network device address associated with the respective network device corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks comprises a basic service set identifier (BSSID).

9 . The network system of claim 7 , wherein the network device address associated with the respective network device corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks comprises a media access control (MAC) address.

10 . The network system of claim 1 ,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to generate, for each service provider network of the set of service provider networks, a random character string, and

wherein to append the network name corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks with the network identifier, the processing circuitry is configured to append the network name with the random character string corresponding to the service provider network.

11 . The network system of claim 1 , wherein the first network connection query or the second network connection query comprises an access network query protocol (ANQP) query.

12 . The network system of claim 1 , wherein each network device of the set of network devices comprises an access point (AP).

13 . A method comprising:

identifying, by processing circuitry in communication with a memory for each service provider network of a set of service provider networks, a network name associated with the service provider network, wherein two or more service provider networks of the set of service provider networks are associated with the same network name;

appending, by the processing circuitry, the network name corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks with a respective network identifier to generate a set of appended network names, wherein each appended network name of the set of appended network names is different than each other appended network name of the set of appended network names;

outputting, by the processing circuitry, to respective network devices of a set of network devices corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks, a respective appended network name of the set of appended network names corresponding to the service provider network,

receiving, with a first network device of the set of network devices and from a client device, a first network connection query;

outputting, with the first network device and to the client device based on receiving the first network connection query, information indicating a first appended network name corresponding to the first network device;

receiving, with a second network device of the set of network devices and from the client device, a second network connection query;

outputting, with the second network device and to the client device based on receiving the second network connection query, information indicating a second appended network name corresponding to the second network device; and

receiving, based on the first network device outputting the first appended network name and the second network device outputting the second appended network name, a request from the client device to connect to the second network device.

14 . The method of claim 13 ,

wherein the method further comprises identifying a set of network identifiers, each network identifier of the set of network identifiers corresponding to a service provider network of the set of service provider networks, and

wherein appending the network name corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks with the network identifier to generate the set of appended network names comprises appending, for each service provider network of the set of service provider networks, the network name corresponding to the service provider network with the network identifier corresponding to the service provider network.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein identifying the set of network identifiers comprises:

receiving, by the processing circuitry, a set of service provider information elements corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks; and

applying, by the processing circuitry to the set of service provider information elements corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider information networks, a hash function to generate a hash value representing the network identifier for the service provider network corresponding to the set of service provider information elements.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the respective network device corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks is associated with a network device address that distinguishes the respective network device from other network devices corresponding to the set of service provider networks, and

wherein identifying the set of network identifiers comprises identifying, by the processing circuitry, the network device address associated with the respective network device corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks.

17 . The method of claim 13 ,

wherein the method further comprises generating, by the processing circuitry for each service provider network of the set of service provider networks, a random character string, and

wherein appending the network name corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks with the network identifier comprises appending the network name with the random character string corresponding to the service provider network.

18 . A network system comprising:

a memory; and

processing circuitry in communication with the memory, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

identify, for each service provider network of a set of service provider networks, a network name associated with the service provider network, wherein two or more service provider networks of the set of service provider networks are associated with the same network name;

identify a set of network identifiers, each network identifier of the set of network identifiers corresponding to a service provider network of the set of service provider networks, wherein to identify the set of network identifiers, the processing circuitry is further configured to:

receive a set of service provider information elements corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks; and

apply, to the set of service provider information elements corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider information networks, a hash function to generate a hash value representing the network identifier for the service provider network corresponding to the set of service provider information elements; and

append, for each service provider network of the set of service provider networks, the network name corresponding to the service provider network with the network identifier corresponding to the service provider network to generate a set of appended network names, wherein each appended network name of the set of appended network names is different than each other appended network name of the set of appended network names; and

output, to respective network devices corresponding to each service provider network of the set of service provider networks, the appended network name corresponding to the service provider network.