

Signal-blocking wallpaper stops Wi-Fi stealing - xpressyoo
http://whatsnext.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/18/signal-blocking-wallpaper-stops-wi-fi-stealing-and-comes-in-a-snowflake-pattern/

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nemesisj
Everyone is missing the point of this product. It's not to stop wifi stealing
- that's the marketing department badly trying to make the product easier to
sell and the blog being lazy.

The reason you'd buy this is to keep the radio spectrum within your room
yours. Like someone else said - this would open up more channels to you and
prevent the guy downstairs running a microwave or buying a cordless phone from
screwing with your signal.

~~~
rdl
No, the reason for this is security -- keeping your radio networks internal.
Even with crypto on your main links, you never know when someone will set up
an ad-hoc wireless, hotspot, etc., potentially bridging a secure network to
the world.

Obviously you'd want to know dB shielding figures at various freqs, which
you're unlikely to get from a crappy mass market article.

This kind of wallpaper is already commonly available. Also door seals, window
treatments, etc.

It would be kind of worthless for normal, residential use (or even a regular
office) since it would likely kill cellular bands (any badly installed
wallpaper to screen 2.4GHz will hit 1.9GHz I'm sure). Plus, expensive.

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mherdeg
CNN's blog editors should be ashamed at having allowed this paragraph: "The
metapaper also advertises itself as a healthy alternative, since it claims to
reduce a person's exposure to electromagnetic waves. Scientists behind the
product point to studies that say the overuse of wireless technology could
cause harmful heath effects."

~~~
jgrahamc
That's pretty typical CNN. Here are Anderson Cooper and Dr Sanjay Gupta
explaining that their thin plastic suits are going to stop gamma radiation and
even masks that 'filter out' gamma rays 'circulating in the air':
[http://blog.jgc.org/2011/03/cnn-sounding-authorative-
while-t...](http://blog.jgc.org/2011/03/cnn-sounding-authorative-while-
talking.html)

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EiZei
"The metapaper also advertises itself as a healthy alternative, since it
claims to reduce a person's exposure to electromagnetic waves. Scientists
behind the product point to studies that say the overuse of wireless
technology could cause harmful heath effects."

Umm..

~~~
ovi256
I'm ready to bet dollars to pennies that in a few years, this will be their
primary market.

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hayksaakian
If someone is causing substantial harm to you by stealing your WiFi then sue
them.

If its just some dumb kid guessed your 'password' or aircracked it, the
upgrade to a better WPA.

If you're being trolled by a leet hacker, then you've got bigger problems.

But please don't buy into that BS.

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beedogs
How much less does this cost, in terms of both time and money, compared to
_setting a password_ on your access point?

Oh, it costs _more_.

Brilliant!

~~~
bradleyland
Your conclusion is a result of a very poorly written title and lede. The
greatest value of this product for your average consumer is not that it keeps
your signal inside your home, but that it keeps other signals out.

Anyone living in areas of high population density can tell you how difficult
it is to find an uncluttered slice of 2.4 GHz spectrum. It's next to
impossible in places like Manhattan. I don't know just how effective this
wallpaper is, but if it attenuates outside signals by even 50%, it would be a
huge benefit.

EDIT: Another side benefit for businesses (even small ones) is control over
what networks are available inside your office. Many businesses are in office
complexes where WiFi signals overlap in to adjacent suites. I can't tell you
how many times I've been to offices where users are connected to a neighbor's
wide-open Wi-Fi network because they were ignorant of what network they should
connect to.

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dexter313
Does it block cell phones?

3G and 4G have similar frequencies to wi-fi.

~~~
rbf
It's hard to imagine that it doesn't block cell phones. To get cell coverage
you would need a micro-cell inside the apartment. Enabling encryption on the
WiFi seems easier to me :-)

~~~
stephengillie
Retail stores will use this to prevent "showrooming" - where a person goes to
a store and looks at something, then buys it from Amazon with their phone.

Ok, so people will still buy from Amazon, but they'll have to leave Best Buy
first.

~~~
eshvk
Isn't it illegal to jam cell phone reception deliberately ?

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greenyoda
It's illegal to jam cell phone reception by transmitting on frequencies that
are allocated to the cell carrier. I doubt it's illegal to passively prevent
radio waves from entering your own property.

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sageikosa
Finally, a chic replacement for tinfoil hats!

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icegreentea
Probably more useful in the role of attenuating other people's wifi APs and
upping your own's s/n ratio, or even opening up entire channels for you.

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ozh
Given the frequencies, I think it would make a nice security layer around
microwave ovens, too :)

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unemployed
Does this also mean that your wifi is bouncing around in your house / Is that
even safe?

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stephengillie
It does anyway / yes it is

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inetsee
What I want to know is, will it protect my computer from an EMP?;)

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nodata
If this blocks ordinary voice telephone calls as well, what legal issues will
it have with regard to emergency calls?

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patrickk
Don't most modems have a setting where you can turn off broadcasting the WiFi
network name? That would stop people stealing it, as they can't even see that
it's there in the list of available networks.

~~~
techsupporter
This myth needs to die. The moment any client associates with an access point
that is not broadcasting its SSID, that SSID becomes visible to anyone nearby
with access point monitoring software. By definition, a client must broadcast
probe requests in order to continue the association with the AP and those
broadcasts are easily received.

