this post was submitted on 24 May 2026
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The reason the FCC is only allowing the sale of state approved routers in the US?

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[–] lemmie689@lemmy.sdf.org 21 points 1 day ago (2 children)
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[–] Corvidae@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Building codes should probably include Faraday-cage type shielding.

[–] skibidi@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago (2 children)

That would prevent cell signals from inside, making it harder to (e.g.) call the fire department, or an ambulance.

[–] Capable_Coping@piefed.social 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

the return of landlines is nigh

[–] AstralPath@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 day ago

Honestly, we'd be better off at this point.

[–] cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 day ago (3 children)

That could be fixed by using WiFI calling, getting a VoIP line or installing a cell booster.

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[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm wondering if some types of crystal can absorb or distort the signals enough to make you harder to identify. I mean I guess you'd be "that guy with the crystals in his pocket" and would be easy to correlate to ~~CCTV~~ flock, but if everyone does it it could create a layer of obscuration.

Especially things with piezoelectric and/or electromagnetic effects. I'm thinking mainly along the lines of quartz, tourmaline, pyrite, tiger's eye (hematite/jasper), shungite, etc.

It would be worth experimenting with if anyone tries that open source software another commenter linked...

[–] deranger@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You’d just need metal for this.

[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 day ago

I guess lining hats with tinfoil is no longer solely for the paranoid...

[–] candyman337@piefed.ca 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Kinda defeats the purpose of wifi

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[–] CosmoNova@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago

It‘s like the phone sonar tech from the Dark Knight everyone said was total BS but totally real…

[–] einlander@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago

Comcast routers already have a feature to detect people's presence.

[–] RoidingOldMan@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago

The Dark Knight tech was a lot closer than we realized in 2008.

[–] desmosthenes@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago

back to ethernet where possible

[–] sepi@piefed.social 9 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Router and WiFi Access Point are different things. There are tons of routers that do not have WiFi.

[–] anon_8675309@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Most people in a “technology” forum completely understand this and yet are also still capable of reading and understanding TFA.

[–] sepi@piefed.social 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

No. People here are conflating all routers (what our dumb dumb government forbade) with wifi access points, alleging that the wifi surveillance capability is the reason for the probibition.

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[–] adespoton@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Hmm. The article appears to conflate multiple things?

One of them is “viewing” the RF spectrum to build up an image. The other is reading the unencrypted beamforming data from a router. That second one depends on people carrying a WiFi-capable piece of electronics with them doesn’t it? There has to be something for the beam to focus on, some sort of beacon signal.

Although I guess all it really needs is for the person to step between the router and a device connected to the router; that should enable analysis of the disruption patterns.

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

I don't think a person has to carry anything. The tracking is based on measuring the interference a moving person (or a dog) creates between the router and a connected device like a range extender or a networked printer.

[–] packingtown@lemmy.ml 0 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

Ill just start wearing a mask full time when this happens. Fuck this.

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[–] BeefHouse@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago
[–] MantisToboggon@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Can it tell if I'm jerking my gerkin?

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[–] mas@feddit.fr 5 points 1 day ago

This information is several years old...

[–] veniasilente@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Would carrying around some sort of Wifi disruptor help against this? It would likely have to be a passive persistent effect, not something like an EMP (but those we can reserve for particularly annoying snoopers).

[–] femtek@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I'm not sure about wifi but cell jamming has been heavily criminalized and tracked

We are already being so criminalized for existing, so what?

wifi jamming would be much more localized and would affect far fewer people than a cell jammer

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[–] daggermoon@piefed.world 4 points 1 day ago (3 children)

What's stopping me from building my own router?

[–] Grass@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Nothing. Get a mini pc with 2 or more ethernet ports and install openwrt or opnsense or maybe others I haven't tried, get a standalone wifi AP so if you ever want to upgrade anything you can do it separately, get a network switch to connect additional wired computers or wifi APs.

Then get in all the homelab groups and find the coolest stuff you also want and start making the home network made by you and for you.

If you already have a wifi router that can be flashed with custom firmware you can also use that to start out and use it as a wifi access point for a more powerful pc router later

[–] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago

Knowing how.

All routers are just Linux computers managing slightly better than average network cards. (Home routers, obviously. Beefy carrier hardware is different).

A basic setup is essentially installing Linux and then running a handful of commands for packet forwarding. The figuring out how to do it without wifi crashing will take longer because that software is wonky.

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[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I mean, I obsessively hardwire all my devices, only my phone uses WiFi.

This just gives me a reason to skip using a WiFi Access Point entirely and just routing my phone through my home network via my Wireguard VPN which I already do for adblocking.

Doesn't help as much if you live in a bunch of cramped apartments and there's a lot of WiFi around you though.

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