[aeijdenberg]

If I recall correctly, don't some older versions of Windows broadcast (as an adhoc network) the SSID of the last hotspot they successfully connected to? [0]

If so, wouldn't it be quite plausible that an owner of a Galaxy Note 7, who had previously used tethering elsewhere (with that SSID), would then accidentally broadcast that SSID when using their Windows laptop on the flight, even though the Galaxy Note is not there?

[0] https://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20101011/031...

[jpswade]

XP did this, but it's pretty unlikely that someone was running Windows XP on a plane in 2016.

[LeifCarrotson]

I did this 3 weeks ago.

I was carrying an old Thinkpad we use for interfacing with a legacy PLC at a customer's manufacturing plant, and didn't want to bring my regular machine in addition to that behemoth. Still going strong!