Wilderspace

Movement between Long Distance Links is almost always done via up/downlinks. Most of the physical space is "jumped" over, and is pretty much unknown territory. Yet, the activation of individual computers can create independent areas not directly linked to the Net. The intervening distances between physical points of the Net (such as San Francisco and Night City) are called Wilderspace. Wilderspace was originally theorized in 2004 by J.A. Grubb, a computer game designer and occasional hacker who conceived of it as a vast area of dormant, potential reality, which could come into existence when a computer was linked to the Net Without up/downlinks, this region would be isolated from the main traffic of the Net, and accessible only by those who were willing to "walk" there the hard way.

Netrunner legend is that "something" probably lives in Wilderspace: rogue Als, alien intellects, things which have their own separate "citygrids" that only appear occasionally when these forces open an up/downlink to the main Net. The equivalent would be a remote South Seas island which is unknown and unreachable, until a canoe is sent to the nearest civilization. If the natives were skilled at entering civilization and disguising their true nature, they could probably remain undiscovered for centuries.