I posted this idea a while ago, but can't find the thread/post.
I agree that warp networks should be hidden, but would rather they be discoverable than just on/off.
Image that the ship has a Navigation Module. Like a faction block it is limited to only one per ship. It stores the waypoints you save, the stations you've discovered, the parts of the galaxy you have visited, and the warp-gate connections you have used.
Why a module? Because if your ship is destroyed you loose the information (aside from what you can have saved to a different module). If you change ships, you access a new nav computer with different information. The beauty of this approach is that it makes it so that galaxy maps and information is a tradable commodity. Go to a shop and buy a map of the system. Go to a faction shop and buy the nav data for their warp gate network. Infiltrate an enemy ship and steal the warp-gate information from their nav-computer. Protect your ship because if it goes you have to go buy all that nav data again, or else re-discover what you lost.
This could also be used to make a pay-to-use system for using other players warp-gates, and this would also help incorporate those players who just like to fly around and explore.
