[oulipo]

BTW always wondered... often docs show that a wifi with a password uses encryption, and wifi without password are not encrypted, I'm wondering why that is?

Is it for backward compatibility with old devices?

Why isn't the standard that when connecting to a wifi without password, everything would be just like if there was a (fake) "public password" like the string "password", so that traffic is still encrypted?

[palata]

When you connect to a WiFi network, the goal is to be part of the network. Which means that all the devices on the network can reach each other.

If you have a password, it means that you select who can be part of that network (and hence who can reach your computer). If you don't have a password (e.g. a guest network somewhere), then there is no selection at all.

Now, if you let anyone connect and have a "fake" password, you still don't have any filter and should know that you are on a "public" network (i.e. you should not blindly trust other devices). So it's actually better to be able to see that you are on a "public" network (versus a "trusted" network like your home LAN).

Or did I misunderstand your question?

[HeatrayEnjoyer]

WPA3 offers secure-open and unique+forward key secrecy. WPA2 is twenty years old.

[oulipo]

Not sure how this addresses my question? Or is the issue with "not encrypted when there is no password" only a WPA2 issue?