4 ms·

I'm not entirely certain of this device. If you have to have a 'base station', it kind of defeats the purpose, wouldn't it? Especially because this re-broadcas

I'm not entirely certain of this device. If you have to have a 'base station', it kind of defeats the purpose, wouldn't it? Especially because this re-broadcasts the link on another wireless band. It's trivial to look for a Point-to-Point link with an $8 Software Defined Radio and/or follow the direction that the antennas were aimed once you find the base station. Why isn't the idea 'flipped' the other way: get a ultra-high gain 2.4GHz or 5GHz antenna on a Wifi card and point it at the Starbucks from a mile away. Then you're 'connected' to the Starbucks while physically being located outside of the area. You're not broadcasting anything, so it's much harder to triangulate.

pavel_lishin 11y ago
Why can't you use the same technique to find a person connecting directly to wifi, vs. connecting to a ProxyHam?
- tomswartz07 11y ago
  You can't detect (or, at least, it's exponentially harder to detect) someone simply listening. If they're broadcasting, then there's a source that you could look for and triangulate. On the flip side, however, it's nary impossible to search for someone listening in, as there's no 'signature' other than a big goofy looking antenna. ProxyHam is actively re-broadcasting a signal, so there's a source and a direction vector that anyone could see.
  - pavel_lishin 11y ago
    But if you're just connecting over wifi - albeit at a greater range - you must be broadcasting as well, right?
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- anigbrowl 11y ago
  Of course you can, but it will be quite a while before they get the imagination to look for you at a far distance instead of within a short range like a city block.
mirimir 11y ago
> You're not broadcasting anything, so it's much harder to triangulate. There's no interaction without transmitting.
fineman 11y ago
The communication is two-way. You need to broadcast if you want to make a request, ACK packets, etc. Your "totally silent" idea would only work if you were just trying to listen to unencrypted communications of the Starbucks WiFi.
- tomswartz07 11y ago
  Yeah, you're right. I was thinking more in the frame of mind of the 'listening to the network' than the 'use Starbucks wifi as a wireless AP'. If you're doing more than listening, then yes- you'll need to broadcast and, with that, you'll open yourself up to being easily tracked down.

pavel_lishin 11y ago

Why can't you use the same technique to find a person connecting directly to wifi, vs. connecting to a ProxyHam?

tomswartz07 11y ago
You can't detect (or, at least, it's exponentially harder to detect) someone simply listening. If they're broadcasting, then there's a source that you could look for and triangulate. On the flip side, however, it's nary impossible to search for someone listening in, as there's no 'signature' other than a big goofy looking antenna. ProxyHam is actively re-broadcasting a signal, so there's a source and a direction vector that anyone could see.
- pavel_lishin 11y ago
  But if you're just connecting over wifi - albeit at a greater range - you must be broadcasting as well, right?
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
anigbrowl 11y ago
Of course you can, but it will be quite a while before they get the imagination to look for you at a far distance instead of within a short range like a city block.

mirimir 11y ago

> You're not broadcasting anything, so it's much harder to triangulate. There's no interaction without transmitting.

fineman 11y ago

The communication is two-way. You need to broadcast if you want to make a request, ACK packets, etc. Your "totally silent" idea would only work if you were just trying to listen to unencrypted communications of the Starbucks WiFi.

tomswartz07 11y ago
Yeah, you're right. I was thinking more in the frame of mind of the 'listening to the network' than the 'use Starbucks wifi as a wireless AP'. If you're doing more than listening, then yes- you'll need to broadcast and, with that, you'll open yourself up to being easily tracked down.