I keep seeing an SSID called "Hidden network" everywhere, why is this?

I've just noticed something very, very, strange this evening. I see a network with the name/SSID "Hidden network" virtually everywhere that I go. I want to know why I'm seeing this! Its a visible network, with a perfect signal strength, and is actually secured. Its not actually "hidden", because my machine shows its there.

When I say I've seen this network everywhere, I do mean everywhere! I see it at school, and now at home! I'm feeling quite creeped out right now

All this means is that your computer sees a wireless broadcast that is not presenting a SSID. If you were to attempt to use it the first thing your connection wizard will ask for is the SSID which you would input. Then it would ask your for the security information like typical wireless connections. You will see these in many different places. Nothing to be bothered by.

Some use it as they think it makes them more secure when in reality it is security through obscurity. I have one connection like that in my house for some of my inferior devices that cant support higher levels of encryption.

New routers from Verizon and Xfinity have a "Hidden Network" as part of a new initiative to boost speeds without installing actual infrastructure. It's a new way to extend signal to hard to reach places like the rural midwest where 1 tower is enough to supply a whole zip code by bouncing signal off routers in the neighborhood. To get rid of this "HIdden Network" you have to log into your Verizon, or Comcast account and Opt Out. You can do so in your account or call customer service. Someone from technical support will access your router, stop the Hidden Network, and you should see a small boost of 30mb in performance from your router.

Here are some additional information about what's happening.

http://uproxx.com/technology/comcast-makes-customer-routers-public-wifi-points/

http://www.cnet.com/news/comcast-expands-wi-fi-network-with-new-neighborhood-initiative/

Just for the record, this "Hidden Network" appears in my case in a remote location, where no other neighbor or broadcasting device exist. It also appears to have full strength while walking around the house, whereas the WiFi's strength obviously varies. This probably shows that the "Hidden Network" originates from the laptop itself. Also as stated by others this "Hidden Network" does not appear in the list of any other WiFi capable devices, including an iPAD, an Android phone and a Windows 10 Mobile phone which I used to scan for available WiFi networks. So I have concluded this is not a real network, just a wizard that walks you through the process to enter SSID etc and join any hidden network, IF it actually exists.