How to create a very OBSCURE wireless access point.

[tremor77]

I am looking to create a wireless access point with the intention of making it extremely obscure.. not necessarily obscure. I have a few ideas of what I would like to do.. obviously not broadcasting SSID and not publishing it's presence is one. I'm also looking at the use of limited range.. basically I want no more than a radius of lets say, 5-10 feet. I know we can achieve a lower range by reducing the antennae size but i was also wondering if there is a specific hardware, maybe a firmware flash or complete oervhaul, which will allow for some truly whacked and diminished settings... basically, I want a WAP that wont be seen, even IF you are looking very very hard for it.

Suggestions?

[limdis]

Hmm. I don't think this can be done like how you are describing. I'm about to do some research on this because if possible I'd like to know. I have two large concerns:
- The most obscure wireless settings I have seen can still be picked up via airodump.
- Even with custom firmware settings to cut the broadcast power that low to reduce to that range, it might be too weak to maintain communication.

With some hardware adjustments you might be able to force directional broadcast however. This way you can broadcast from say the floor by the door through the room and up and out a window.

[LoGiCaL__]

Depending or location and surroundings you may be able to reduce range. For instance if you have a wireless router and you live within close proximity of others you can have it located more within the center of your home than against a wall which then can cause a security concern if you live in apartments or condos. If your have a basement that would be ideal because it's underground which will cut down on range and you don't have to worry about proximity as much.

This coupled together with previously mentioned ideas should filter out most people. You could have a decoy network set up and open so if the person had to choose they would go for the easiest one, but that may be taking it to far and cost extra money. Plus when you get bored you could always do some monitoring of your own.

[FunctionCreep]

Hello this sounds like a nice project. Here's my 0.02 cents on the matter.

As others stated hiding your SSID doesn't really help that much from someone actually scanning for that sort of thing.

Smaller antennae will help as well as using the 5Ghz frequency rather than the common 2.4. The waves at that frequency don't actually have the same penetration, plus you getter better speeds plus older wifi receivers don't work with them.

You could also try to create a tinfoil cone (don't laugh) to actually guide the waves towards a particular direction.

You will be then going paranoid and need to actually shield the space you want the waves to be contained in (and also keep other waves from coming in).

[qkken]

If you use this cone in the above post, you can then redirect it using double slits(young's experiment). The slits being half the wavelength(3 cm in the case of 5GHz). You will then get 3 or more "beams" in 3 or more directions(see young's experiment) at the cost of signal strength. You can then block the beams you do not want "go on" with and continue directing the waves is this way to your desired location. it would be kind of like using a cable(a bad cable at that) though, but still, it would be kinda cool. You could allso use reflectors for the same purpose, but then you would get a wider "beam". It would be kinda like a laser beam with mirrors, but in this case where you have a cone to direct the beam, it would be more like a flashlight with mirrors. Don't know if this can have any practical application, but its a fun thought experiment

btw, you can reduce the signal strength with various materials, like solid plastic. Depending on the material and how you place it you can also cut off the signal in some directions(EM-waves travel faster in air than in most materials, so if you cover half the "beam" you have, with the right material and right thickness, you will get destructive interference at the receiver). Might be too far in to the realm of physics, but it should work