[deanhills]

This topic has been inspired by @rudra's discussion in the Shoutbox about evil doers being able with WiFi to see "behind doors".  Here's a copy of the MIT article he posted:
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/61237...e-thought/

I'd like to know what the safest alternatives are to WiFi.  I know that routers by their design create signals so they can be used and shared within a comfortable radius any where in the house.  An alternative is a line direct to one's computer.  Are there members here who are working with WiFi alternatives, and what are they?  Are there members who are still using modems?

Last year when I moved into my present accommodation I got an ADSL line, but they set me up with a router.  I could probably have insisted I'd want a line to my computer only, but I'd battled so hard just to get Internet, I didn't want to interfere.  Just been thinking though, maybe I could bypass the router, by plugging the line to the router direct into my computer instead?  Like that would make me feel much more secure.  Or maybe not - maybe I need a modem .... ?

Another thought for consideration and advice.  All laptops networking include a list of all of the wireless systems in the area. Like they come up so one can choose among any of them. Is there a way one could mask one's WiFi connection so other laptops won't be able to see one's WiFi connection?  Can one mask the connection so only you can see it?

[Manal]

If I were you, I would've better closed up all wireless connection by disabling broad case, reducing range, and even turning off WiFi by pressing the button behind the router(I don't know if you've got that).

I also have read some forum helps in which Antennas are removed from the router.

---

You can even check https://www.handshake.com/blog/best-trad...ternatives

[Mashiro]

A direct line to your computer from ADSL? That's not as easy as you think it is.

You would need a ADSL modem card in your computer and also configure static IP addresses and static routing on the machine to use the Internet at all. And to do that all of that you need quite some information from your ISP for the DSL modem configuration that they probably won't give to you so easily. Oh, you would also need to actually configure the Windows firewall properly because there is no firewall other than that directly connected computer (when you get routers from ISPs the router is the firewall - it just uses a light Linux distribution where iptables and netfilter act as the firewall).

Would you want to provide Internet access to more devices through LAN you would need a second network card in your computer that would act as a in/out interface for a switch to connect more devices. In that case you would probably need to setup a DHCP server and create a new IP range/network (this also requires to adjust routing again to provide connectivity to clients in that DHCP IP range/network).

So all of that is absolutely nothing for any normal Internet user. It's more of a enterprise solution. We do such things at work because we need a lot more control over the connection. We have business VDSL Internet connections on various sites and use enterprise DSL modems by Draytek and Ubiquity EdgeRouter Pro/Lite routers for routing and firewalls.


The easiest thing to do in your case would be probably to simply disable WiFi on your router either via a hardware button on the router or by accessing the web panel of the router. That is of course when you're not going to use WiFi at all.

WiFi alternatives are not really existing. The only thing I can think of is actually doing Bluetooth Thethering. That however is probably even worse than using WiFi and a by a whole lot slower. Unfortunately also Bluetooth operates on the same frequencies that WiFi 2.4 GHz is using. That would mean signal distortion and performance issues.

If you need to connect clients via wireless to your Internet connection by the means of the average Internet user with a ISP router and so on... you have no real alternative than using WiFi. Lo and behold! I'm speaking of really usable alternatives. There is no really usable alternative. You can hack something together that would probably be a hell to use, slow and not stable at all. And some solutions might actually be expensive because you need additional new hardware in all devices.


The only thing I can think of that would work and that also is mentioned in @Manal linked article is to buy 4G LTE plans and get these small 4G LTE USB thumb drive modem/routers that you can plug into the computer to use the mobile Internet connection. That again is wireless though but not on the WiFi levels or standards.

[rudra]

they used 2.4 & 5 GHz signals cause that was readily available almost everywhere nowadays. the term pervasive comes to mind. but think. anyone willing to track you might just set powerful electromagnetic wave transmitters around your premises and track you. you can not even make a case to stop someone from flooding your property with WiFi signals. it's like suing your neighbours cause they fart too loudly for your comfort. 

i mean you can not even start to run and have a chance to evade a law enforcement agency or a moneyed group of thugs with the knowhow (in some cases they might be the same). it really is a grim situation. mourn the freedom of the free man., guys. be silent for a minute (for the sake of being dramatic).

being able to be a " rebel without a cause" is a requirement of a healthy democracy. we all knew that there never was a true democracy. but at least one could hope to be a political activist /dissident. now it seems soon they will have alarms even for when  you have a dream where you are one.  dang

[deanhills]

Thanks for the detailed explanation about ADSL connection @"Hidden Refuge".  Wow!  All of it makes sense as this is how I was set up in the UAE when I had a line.  An ISP technician had to come in to set my computer up special - think there was a modem involved.  And now I understand why the line that went into my computer - the ethernet cable - wouldn't work on my laptop as well.  My laptop would have had to be set up similarly first for the cable to have worked on it as well.

I wonder whether there is a possibility for someone to develop a device that blocks all electronic probes?  Like if one presses a button of a specific anti-device, then no signals can be received or sent on the wavelength that phones and internet operate?  I just googled this and found a portable WiFi Jammer - wonder whether this may be an answer:

This one looks very attractive (very expensive) but looks like a good idea - it's a portable device:

EO-10 High Power Military WiFi Cell Phone GPS Lojack 433/315/868MHz Jammer

As the newest military-grade product, the advantages of this jammer are obvious. It has the characteristics of large jamming range and multiple jamming frequencies bands. It can block all cell phone signal(GSM/CDMA, 3G, 4G, 4G LTE), Lojack, GPS, WiFi, Walkie-Talkie UHF/VHF and RF signals like 315 MHz, 433 MHz, 868 MHz.

Source: https://www.perfectjammer.com/wireless-w...mmers.html

This one is a little cheaper - more my size.
http://www.cellphonejammeroutlet.com/hig...-case.html

[rudra]

@deanhills

i think you have not properly thought of the theoretical sides of this method. no jammer can kill the WiFi signal transmitter. what they do is send noise on the same frequencies in such a way that even a smart device or person won't be able to extract the noise signal and remove it from the whole to find the data. it is like random (unpredictable) noise signal on the same frequencies.

every em frequency band or even electrical signal on a wired connection that is being used by systems has a data content. some kind of pattern if you like. even if we can't decode it (easily) without knowing the encoder, I'm certain that mathematical computations on the signal characteristics will show that it is not mere noise. now the jammer sends signals on the same frequencies so that they combine and form more of less irrecoverable resultant signals.

bottom line. you still have signals in your surrounding for you to disturb and reflect and all that.

now I'm totally going on speculation here. I think jammers jam the signal being imposed on the carrier wave. so the overall carrier signal retains some characteristics that can be used to track you.

now adding noise in form of power output or may be some other disturbance in a controlled manner so that the receivers know how to decode.... that might make it harder to track using that signal.

in simpler words, you will have to modify the signals in your environment in such a way that the detectors confuse distortion created by you with that generated by noise.

but then they will just use their own transmitter with another frequency band.

one can't jam the whole em spectrum that easily.. you need cosmic level energy for that... lol

[sagher]

About few months ago i hear a news that facebook and google works to launch a free wifi drone with have vast coverage of area. specially for asian countries and african countries those don't have affordable internet service providers. an article is attached for more information.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2...ht-arizona

[deanhills]

[...]

one can't jam the whole em spectrum that easily.. you need cosmic level energy for that... lol

You're so right @rudra.  Thanks for the detailed explanation about the technical workings of the jammer.  Looks as though one can end up making things worse than they are.  Like advertising one's position in reverse.  Guess the only real way in the end is to make sure one doesn't create a situation where someone is so interested in you that they want to track you.  Like try one's best not to become a target.  And as far as one can be very careful when one uses public wifi.  

I'm not an expert on the workings, but am I correct that if one is in public WiFi that an evil doer can hack into one's device if one should unwittingly use that evil doer's WiFi?  The evil doer can get one to sign up through registration by acting as though the evil doer is legitimate with very strong WiFi - and then once one has registered can get access to whatever one signs up with while using the evil doer's WiFi?

[rudra]

yes dear. really nice ideas and realistic. you gotta remove the target from your back or person. as best as you can at least.

and yes. that is a fairly popular type of attack.

as HR mentioned. it is pretty much a given that you are being tracked directly or through your use of some tech or being somewhere etc. pretty much all the time. we should be most worried about state actors. but then those people have the biggest and most powerful devices and most resources in the game. it is pretty much inevitable.

do you know that both Intel and amd computer cpus have an inbuilt hidden separate cpu with a small os on there? I'm talking about Intel management engine or ime. that is actually a microkernel based modular os with its own networking stack. it controls and have total access over your whole system and you can do nothing about it. (except crashing it early in the boot up process using some half baked cpu core code update trick. this does not work always and have a big potential to disable, read break, the whole system.) so anyone with proper instrumentation can remotely surveil you without you even knowing.

your DTH provider knows where you are. your mobile provider too.

I guess it is better to keep the target small and also tech yourself what you are losing by every tech adoption choice you are making. so you can choose otherwise if you want at any time.