High Res Wifi Signal Mapping
Why Hacker News recommends it
Cited as a cool, concrete visualization of Wi-Fi interference patterns.
What it is
CNLohr maps Wi-Fi signal strength at high resolution by moving an ESP8266 on a CNC mill, then visualizes the 3D data in WebGL. The result shows interference patterns in space.
Recommended by 1 HN commenters across 1 different months, 2017 to 2024.
What Hacker News said
Recommends TechBro8615 · 2023-09 · on “Your WiFi Can See You”
CNLohr made a similar project three years before that: [this video] I know this stuff is dystopic, but I personally find it really cool. That said, I also disable WiFi and prefer ethernet wherever possible...
Cites tqdm · 2017-12 · on “I amplified my home's Wi-Fi with aluminum foil”
I've also achieved substantial improvement with simple parabolic shaped, ~40 cm wide aluminum foil constructions, but there always seemed a bit luck involved and it needed some tweaking. Not sure whether the foil mainly acted as shielding that reduces the noise floor from other directions. I've read in other forums that fiddling with aluminum foil is mostly luck because additional reflective surfaces also introduce interferrence patterns unless they are precisely aligned. Even without aluminum foil it often helps to move either receiver or sender by fractions of 12.5 cm (the wavelength of 2.4 Ghz radiation) or of 6.0 cm (in case of 5 Ghz) because the space is basically riddled with interfere
Cites andai · 2024-06 · on “CHART: The Hackable Amateur Radio Telescope”
I saw a post a while ago where someone made a map of their room by moving some sensor (measured either noise level or wifi signal) around with stepper motors. Edit: [this video]