What you refer to "former", completely bypasses the OS, by having direct access to the ethernet controller. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Management_Engi

What you refer to "former", completely bypasses the OS, by having direct access to the ethernet controller. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Management_Engine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Management_Engine The WiFi could connect to a neighboring device supporting this function. Amazon developed Sidewalk[0] for example. Or my country has an ISP that lets you connect from any of the subscriber's wifi, as long as you pass your credentials. The subscribers can turn this off, but it's opt-out. So this is two, actual, already deployed mechanism that solves the "how it's sending to the mothership" problem. And I expect more to come - looking at 5G for example. [0] https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/24/amazon_sidewalk_opt_out/ https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/24/amazon_sidewalk_opt_o...