5 ms·

Huawei AX3 does something similar. As does any Xfinity router (but I think you can turn that off) but the Xfinity mesh is actually pretty decent if you have a s

Huawei AX3 does something similar. As does any Xfinity router (but I think you can turn that off) but the Xfinity mesh is actually pretty decent if you have a subscription. Similarly, in Vietnam HCMC you can connect to wifi anywhere in the city because every telco/isp router creates a mesh like Xfinity. It's not a bad idea: having wifi network everywhere, but I suspect 5G will obviate this need. Wouldn't surprise me if home routers became a thing of the past in some areas if 5G delivers. FYI: `airodump-ng` is a great way to see whats going on with any new router since it hops channels.

treesknees 5y ago
The public hotspot systems are actually much "worse" in terms of the overheads the author wrote about. With a couple of unused SSIDs, they're just sending out a simple 802.11 beacon frame every so often and that's it. The energy cost and disruption to surrounding networks/channels must be minimal. With a hotspot, not only do you have regular network traffic flowing and causing more potential interference, your router/modem is also using more power to process the traffic and modulate that signal into the wireline side. At least one estimate I found would be around $23/year of 24/7 use of the hotspot network (it may be less with newer hardware, article is from 2014) https://www.extremetech.com/computing/185560-new-report-illustrates-how-comcasts-public-xfinity-wifi-program-actually-costs-you-money https://www.extremetech.com/computing/185560-new-report-illu...
- amenghra 5y ago
  Too bad fon/fonera didn’t span out. The idea was to share your access point (in a secure way) and earn credits for doing so.
  - dariosalvi78 5y ago
    I still own a couple of foneras, I liked the model..
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- SavantIdiot 5y ago
  I don't follow your reasoning at all. It sounds like you are claiming public 802.11 hotspots are more noisy that everyone running their own routers. You do realize it is the same spectrum, right? It is literally the same impact, except with a larger BSSID you can route traffic more effectively. Sharing more stations across phy APS in the same BSSID would be less overall traffic because it can be evenly distributed. Maybe I missed your point: please explain how personal router vs public hotspot over rented router is different w.r.t. 802.11 interference. EDIT: Deleted the part where I computed power cost incorrectly, because I'm an eeeediot.
  - treesknees 5y ago
    No, that is not what I am claiming. If you read the article, the author claims that the 2 unused networks are a source of interference. I'm simply claiming that a busy or utilized hotspot will be a much larger source of potential interference than an unused network doing nothing but broadcasting a few beacon frames every few ms. Your power calculation is only based on the power of the broadcasting signal, not evaluating the electrical load on the router to do so or to process received signals and process traffic (performing NAT, encapsulation, etc.) The article I linked you to clearly states this >According to Speedify’s testing, the router draws 0.14 amps when idle and 0.22 amps when loaded. By the company’s calculations, this comes out to roughly $23 per year at mid-Atlantic power rates
    - SavantIdiot 5y ago
      Gotcha. Makes way more sense now. Thanks!
notfed 5y ago
Coincidentally I just discovered today that my Xfinity modem was broadcasting a public "xfinitywifi" by default. I only became an Xfinity customer a few weeks ago and had no idea. I even read all the terms of agreement and never saw this mentioned. I shuddered upon discovering this, just considering the security implications, and immediately disabled it. (I only gave in to using their modem due to a fairly large monthly discount. Starting to regret it.)

treesknees 5y ago

The public hotspot systems are actually much "worse" in terms of the overheads the author wrote about. With a couple of unused SSIDs, they're just sending out a simple 802.11 beacon frame every so often and that's it. The energy cost and disruption to surrounding networks/channels must be minimal. With a hotspot, not only do you have regular network traffic flowing and causing more potential interference, your router/modem is also using more power to process the traffic and modulate that signal into the wireline side. At least one estimate I found would be around $23/year of 24/7 use of the hotspot network (it may be less with newer hardware, article is from 2014) https://www.extremetech.com/computing/185560-new-report-illustrates-how-comcasts-public-xfinity-wifi-program-actually-costs-you-money https://www.extremetech.com/computing/185560-new-report-illu...

amenghra 5y ago
Too bad fon/fonera didn’t span out. The idea was to share your access point (in a secure way) and earn credits for doing so.
- dariosalvi78 5y ago
  I still own a couple of foneras, I liked the model..
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
SavantIdiot 5y ago
I don't follow your reasoning at all. It sounds like you are claiming public 802.11 hotspots are more noisy that everyone running their own routers. You do realize it is the same spectrum, right? It is literally the same impact, except with a larger BSSID you can route traffic more effectively. Sharing more stations across phy APS in the same BSSID would be less overall traffic because it can be evenly distributed. Maybe I missed your point: please explain how personal router vs public hotspot over rented router is different w.r.t. 802.11 interference. EDIT: Deleted the part where I computed power cost incorrectly, because I'm an eeeediot.
- treesknees 5y ago
  No, that is not what I am claiming. If you read the article, the author claims that the 2 unused networks are a source of interference. I'm simply claiming that a busy or utilized hotspot will be a much larger source of potential interference than an unused network doing nothing but broadcasting a few beacon frames every few ms. Your power calculation is only based on the power of the broadcasting signal, not evaluating the electrical load on the router to do so or to process received signals and process traffic (performing NAT, encapsulation, etc.) The article I linked you to clearly states this >According to Speedify’s testing, the router draws 0.14 amps when idle and 0.22 amps when loaded. By the company’s calculations, this comes out to roughly $23 per year at mid-Atlantic power rates
  - SavantIdiot 5y ago
    Gotcha. Makes way more sense now. Thanks!

notfed 5y ago

Coincidentally I just discovered today that my Xfinity modem was broadcasting a public "xfinitywifi" by default. I only became an Xfinity customer a few weeks ago and had no idea. I even read all the terms of agreement and never saw this mentioned. I shuddered upon discovering this, just considering the security implications, and immediately disabled it. (I only gave in to using their modem due to a fairly large monthly discount. Starting to regret it.)