What's everyone doing now that wifi jammers are used?

[techxman]

I’ve been following this thread with great interest and share the concerns about the vulnerability of WiFi security systems to jamming. The issue of WiFi jammers disrupting our security setups is indeed alarming. Here are a few takeaways and ideas based on the discussion:

1. Enterprise-Grade WiFi Solutions: Using enterprise-grade access points, like Meraki, can provide more robust configurations and better management options. However, they can be quite expensive and may require a subscription for management features.
2. Protected Management Frames (PMF): Enabling PMF on your router can help protect against deauthentication attacks, which are a common method used in WiFi jamming. This feature is usually found in the advanced settings of modern routers.
3. Local Storage and POE Cameras: Considering solutions that don’t rely solely on WiFi, such as Power Over Ethernet (POE) cameras or cameras with local storage, can provide an additional layer of security. These alternatives ensure that recordings are saved even if the WiFi signal is jammed.
4. Monitoring Services: Services like Uptime Robot can notify you if your internet connection drops, which could indicate potential jamming. These external services can send alerts even if your home network goes down.

For those who have dealt with similar issues, what other strategies or tools have you found effective in mitigating the risks of WiFi jamming? Sharing your experiences and solutions could greatly benefit others facing these challenges.

Thanks in advance for any additional insights!

[carverofchoice]

@techxman

what other strategies or tools have you found effective in mitigating the risks of WiFi jamming?

In addition to the above…I made a post about this over here:

Waze Sense - Wi-Fi/RF Jamming

To be honest, while it is effective, I personally think WIDS is overkill (and expensive) for an average residential network. I mostly listed to help concerned people see that there are other options if it will really give them the peace of mind they need. What I would be more likely personally recommend if someone is moderately concerned but has no known immediate threat they’re aware of would be some of the following: Wi-Fi Monitoring Tools: You can use free or low-cost Wi-Fi monitoring tool…

In further addition, some things other people do:

• Network Segmentation: Dividing your network into smaller segments can limit the impact of a jamming attack. If one segment is compromised, the others can continue to operate independently.
• Frequency Hopping: Some advanced systems can automatically switch between different frequencies, making it more difficult for a jammer to disrupt the signal as it would need to jam multiple frequencies simultaneously which is a lot more difficult to do. You wouldn’t use this for your Wyze cameras, but more to make it hard to prevent outside communication, so it would be used in conjunction with some kind of IDS or WIPS.
• Make sure your equipment is in a secure location that is difficult to physically access or tamper with.
• Backup communication methods (Fiber, cellular, satellite, & even landline if super paranoid)
• Learn best practices.
• If you’re super concerned, hire a security firm with 24/7 armed guards like semi-righ people all do in developing / 3rd world countries
• To take it to the next level of paranoia if all of the above aren’t enough, I would consider getting a tin-foil hat

---

@carverofchoice

I have been considering getting a Unifi system and then using my Wyze routers in Bridge Mode…then I can have a lot more settings and control like this.

Update: since that post, I did actually get a UniFi Dream Machine Special Edition. I also got 4 UniFi U7Pro AP’s and tried both the U7s and the Wyze routers in Bridge mode. Both work great that way. I am just happy to have more settings and controls and get all my stuff into Home Assistant too.

[K6CCC]

@techxman

1. Enterprise-Grade WiFi Solutions:

Yes, Meraki WiFi has very powerful management, but you are right - they are not inexpensive. They do work very well.

@techxman

2. Protected Management Frames (PMF):

Yes, most newer WiFi systems have that capability. Unfortunately, at least so far most IoT devices (including most Wyze stuff) does not support it - at least yet.

@techxman

3. Local Storage and POE Cameras:

Yes, that is the way to go. Any serious security device is NOT dependent on WiFi.

@techxman

4. Monitoring Services:

I use a combination of external services such as UptimeRobot.com, and also local monitoring. In my case, my router can run scripts that will do things like ping tests to internal devices and then send me an E-Mail about failures.

[campososolar]

Under Carvers "best practices I would add to harden or make the internet connection to the house hard to see so that a dumb thief does not easily just cut the coax and turn off power to the house. That way only the cell modem is a risk to being alarmed, if it has battery back-up.

One can place a lock on the power panel Disco. The Utility should be able to deal with a lock easily.

[K6CCC]

@campososolar

Under Carvers "best practices I would add to harden or make the internet connection to the house hard to see so that a dumb thief does not easily just cut the coax and turn off power to the house.

Unfortunately that is usually something we as end users have little or no control over. The utilities will put it where they want and using cable types of their choosing. With overhead service (I do for power, phone, cable TV, and fiber internet), it will be seen, but hopefully high enough to at least take SOME effort to damage - although not really all that hard. With underground utilities, they can’t just throw a rope over the cable, hook it to a car and drive away - breaking the cable, but there may be access boxes that can either be damaged or accessed and your circuit killed. Obviously with a wireless internet connection, there are no cables to break, but depending on what form of wireless, it may or may not be easy to jam. Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) are generally using WiFi frequencies (at least here in the USA) so they can easily be jammed with a WiFi jammer. Cellular uses a variety of frequency bands depending on which carrier you are using, but there are cellular jammers that cover all of them. That leaves satellite based Internet. Currently (at least here) there is HughesNet and ViaSat and recently Starlink. All of those could be jammed, but likely harder to do than WiFi or cellular.
Ideally you have redundancy between two or more ISPs using different technology. To make that automatic requires a router that knows how to dynamically switch traffic between multiple ISPs (typical home routers can’t do that).

@campososolar

One can place a lock on the power panel Disco. The Utility should be able to deal with a lock easily.

This part depends a lot on the design of your main breaker panel. Usually there is a portion that is controlled by the utility and a portion that is controlled by the customer. The utility side either has a seal or a lock. Using my meter panel, there is a lockring around the base of the meter that besides locking the meter in place, also prevents access to the utility side of my main breaker panel. The customer side can normally have a lock added to prevent access. Again, in my case, there is provision for a padlock, and I have one. All residents of the house have a key for that lock. Backup power is generally not that hard for homeowners to accomplish, but can be harder for apartment dwellers. I have many hours of battery, solar, and a gasoline generator - the latter two may not be available to apartment dwellers.

[ssummerlin]

@K6CCC

Unfortunately that is usually something we as end users have little or no control over.

Agreed. Defend the best you can. If someone wants to get in bad enough, they can. Delay is best option till police arrive or guns are loaded.

[campososolar]

Locked and loaded, always!

I use to think that the police/sheriff would be here pretty fast. Can’t depend on that anymore in these times. Big fan of law enforcement, just have to be ready in case.

[marksavides]

I was reading that most of these wifi jammers are low power and do not cover the entire area. They will only cover about 30 feet around the person carrying it. I imagine that there are more powerful units available but those are not the ones the thieves are using. They don’t want to carry around a 3-4 lb battery.

That being said if there are multiple thieves and multiple jammers then they may be able to eliminate any footage of themselves on camera. However unless they have outfitted their vehicles with jammers as well they would have them on camera.
I have set my network up with multiple access points and Point to point bridges. all of them have wired uplinks direct to the router. If this were to happen at my house it is possible I may have some usable footage as I have about 20 cameras around the area. I plan to add a few wired ones though or perhaps a few using powerline adapters.
I also have SDcards in all of my cameras, But they could just take all my cameras and then I will have no footage.
Interested to see what others have done or plan to do to protect against this.

[StevenA]

Here is a timely story on this topic.

Burglars and the Threat of Wi-Fi Security Jammers: We've Got the Details

[carverofchoice]

Nice Article.

This clause reinforces my long encouragement to NEVER post a security sign announcing what company/companies you use for security:

Wi-Fi-jammers are out there, but they are unlikely to pose a threat to your home or any of your devices. Jamming signals need to be very close, have the model of your exact system system and don’t work on many home security devices.

That’s not ENTIRELY accurate though. There are plenty of jammers out there that simply jam almost every signal in a wide spectrum. In addition, many of them will analyze the spectrum first, see what is being used in the near vicinity and then target everything in that small range which is more efficient. As for distance, it depends on the jammer and how many they have and the particular strategy. Even with portable jammers, they can easily cover 98ft each. Higher end portable ones can do 164ft. Not to mention combine that with Deauth tools. But they could also use a more stationary jammer in their car or something to cover several hundred meters or more.

Still, it’s best to avoid advertising what company you have stuff with. Use generic ones or other companies’ signs. Signs DO act as a level 1 deterrent from the less likely instance of a crime of opportunity (not so much from family/friends/neighbors though). Advertising who you use to opportunists makes it WAY too easy to find and exploit the weaknesses if they are determined. I won’t give examples in here though. Suffice it to say that I have known and also helped catch and put away some burglars. One of the first times I helped catch a ring of burglars in the early 2000’s, earned me a life-long extremely loyal friend. When I dropped all the evidence to law enforcement to tell them how I tracked the burglars and where they could find them, they were completely dumbfounded and impressed…though to be fair, I had some good connections at Microsoft that were able to collect IP addresses on some of the devices/computers the idiots were dumb enough to connect to the internet when they turned it on shortly after stealing it (ie: bypassing warrants/subpoenas, etc to coerce the information) based on other information I had sleuthed up. After that, the rest was simple. But I have to admit that it feels good to get your friends’ stuff back to them and find out you uncovered a major burglary ring with hundreds of thousands of other people’s stuff that could now be returned to them. That started me into studying some research on burglary and even casually interviewing some former burglary convicts, even befriending a couple of reformed ones who had overcome their addiction issues. It is interesting to hear what real ones have had to say.

burglars likely don’t have the time or resources to buy and learn new tech.

This is more true than most people realize. The majority of people committing low level residential burglary/robbery like this are high on drugs and desperate to get enough to get a new fix, often a crime of opportunity or targeting someone they know (majority of burglaries are actually family/friends/neighbors or a passer-by). Few are very organized. If they are sober enough and intelligent and educated enough to use more complex technology, they are much more likely to be pushing other more lucrative, anonymous, and less risky scams such as Crypto scams, malware and phishing attacks, or more lucrative smash and grabs at a small business.

The following only partially true:

ZigBee is an alternative smart home protocol on a different frequency than Wi-Fi, so it’s much less likely to be the target of jamming efforts

Zigbee, WiFi, and Bluetooth all use the 2.4GHz band. Though they often use different channels in that spectrum, Jammers can just blast the whole 2.4GHz spectrum. One benefit of Zigbee though, is that some Zigbee devices can do what is called Channel Hopping, and use MIMO, etc. That will only help for targetted jamming though, rather than a full blast of the entire 2.4GHz range.

Anyway, they do have some interesting points in there. It is pretty hard to prevent a targetted attack from a very determined professional though.

[ssummerlin]

You should write a book, in addition to your long posts.

[carverofchoice]

Wait, I was told all my long posts WERE already books all by themselves…now I have to re-evaluate my whole life!

You’re by no means the first person to suggest I actually write a book. My attorney father has actually long been pushing me to write a book about some of my life experiences and offered to help me edit it, and I get such requests fairly regularly.

I am CASUALLY working on a book on some things in my life. I do have hundreds of pages of letters and audio recordings of me telling about some of my adventures in Haiti to Family and friends back when they were all freshly happened (they saved them for me as I told them I was using the letters like a journal). So many interesting things happened there alone. I started talking about some of them in a reply to a Reddit post starting here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1cvu50z/comment/l4sl10e/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I was responding to a post about this image from Haiti:

Telling people I had actually been there on those exact slopes and shared some interesting insights from a visitor’s perspective. I actually had multiple people on Reddit randomly DM me and beg me to write a book just about my experiences there alone. My time in Haiti alone could be a book by itself if you read a few of my comments in that thread. Some events can be fairly scary/traumatic though, so I won’t copy much in here.

But yes, absolutely, a book is on my list of things to write up someday, though I would prefer to self-publish, maybe under a pen-name and certainly without profit, or else to have all profit go to some specific non-profit organizations. Mostly, I think I can share some inspiring stories of how I got through some tough times in my life (particularly my mid to late 20’s), took responsibility for my life instead of wallowing in victimstance forever, made some major life changes and ultimately found a great way to heal, be happy, have a wonder family, successful life and some life lessons I learned along the way. I am not sure I want my name generally featured though.

I have no desire to become a public figure. I do not want fame/fortune. I just think I could provide some literary value to humanity and some interesting perspectives from some of my less common experiences and how to take responsibility for our lives to better the world and love everyone everywhere.

But for now, my family gets priority, and part of that is getting to where we can comfortably “retire early” and have the freedom to do other things to help our family and other people. So, building and scaling up some businesses are taking up most of the time we aren’t spending with our children, other than the occasional breaks I take to come enjoy forums. lol

[Crease]

My favorite part was the LockPickingLawyer video. I like his stuff.

@carverofchoice

Signs DO act as a level 1 deterrent from the less likely instance of a crime of opportunity

I’ve heard that other signs (both literal and figurative) can provide deterrence, as well, such as “beware of dog” signs. Some advice I’ve seen for home security suggests advertising that you have a big dog even if you don’t have a dog, because dogs themselves can be burglary deterrents, so posting signs on your fences and putting out things that look like food and water dishes for a big dog might make a home a less attractive target.

[carverofchoice]

Yes, that works reasonably well against the opportunist burglars…not so much for the others (Family, friends, neighbors, acquaintances, acquaintances of acquaintances, etc who do the most burglarizing). The majority of burglaries are also from youngsters between 15-25yo. If you have teenage kids, then someone who knows your kids is a lot more likely to burgle your house than a stranger. Though car burglaries are most often crimes of opportunity rather than people who know you. All depends on certain details.

Maybe I should put up a “Beware of Cat” sign…more people need to see videos like this one before that works though (Disclaimer/Warning, it has the guy getting attacked yelling F-bombs in fear so I won’t embed the video in the forum).
Preface: The owner was out of town and asked his friend to “House sit” and go feed his cats and change their litter for him and they viciously attacked the stranger (from their perspective, a "Burglar): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oipw_d_eKA8

Now if only I could put that video on a sign in my front yard that plays when someone walks by.

[Crease]

@carverofchoice

Maybe I should put up a “Beware of Cat” sign

My parents had an “attack cat” sign on the fence at their previous home, but it was inside the fence as an amusing decoration when they had an indoor-outdoor cat.

@carverofchoice

videos like this one

That. Was. AWESOME! I like how the guy put his hands up like he was submitting to a mugger and apologizing—seemingly sincerely—to that cat, which has some serious fighting moves.

This is kind of the opposite of that:

Ласковый кот

It reminds me so much of what my guy does, only he has a clear preference for my left shoulder and has since his time as a foundling kitten.

@carverofchoice

occasional breaks

Heh.

Trying to be at least somewhat back on topic, I don’t think an “attack cat on the premises” sign should be part of a home security strategy in the face of Wi-Fi jammers.

[ssummerlin]

@carverofchoice

Wait, I was told all my long posts WERE already books all by themselves…now I have to re-evaluate my whole life!

Cut and paste should get you started.

Sounds like you had (have) an interesting life.

I enjoy listening to others’ experiences to learn the positive and possibly the negative results to use or not use in my life.

Luckily, I have enjoyed a blessed life with many fond experiences, but I am fascinated how others have lived their lives.

My sister said I am lucky. I consider there is more to it than luck. I did some hard work and made mostly good, correct decisions. I do believe I am more than
blessed. I feel I have been protected when I look back on stupid decisions I made.

I have enjoyed a full life but I would be curious about your adventures.

Maybe write an ebook or hire @peepeep to do voiceover in an audio book.

Family is very important. I realized that even more when I retired.

I will check out your links tomorrow. Thanks as always for sharing technical and life information.

[Crease]

@ssummerlin

hire @peepeep to do voiceover

Wouldn’t this be croak-over? Ribbit-over? (I not-so-secretly hope for a Kermit-like sound.)

[ssummerlin]

@Crease

Wouldn’t this be croak-over? Ribbit-over? (I not-so-secretly hope for a Kermit-like sound.)

Good point. Maybe not a good choice for serious content matter. Good if @carverofchoice wants to do a comedy.

[carverofchoice]

@Crease

That. Was. AWESOME!

Seriously, I’ve watched that video dozens of times, It never gets old.

@Crease

what my guy does

Experts say that if you want a NICE cat, the secret is to get them used to not having an “boundaries” (ie: spend time holding and cuddling them, pet them a decent amount, etc). Cats that get that kind of attention (no boundaries…but NICELY), turn out to be very loving and patient and enjoy it. It even works with most older cats. One of our cats used to bite or scratch if people touched her back (her head was okay), so I fixed that with the “No Boundaries” training. But most people get a dog if they want something that is pathologically codependent and high maintenance. I have one cat that is basically dog.

But yeah, if you want an attack cat, give them plenty of boundaries. I love the loving cats so much though!

@Crease

I don’t think an “attack cat on the premises” sign should be part of a home security strategy in the face of Wi-Fi jammers.

Sadly, No…but if some of the cat attack videos go more viral, they might start to work!

I think one of the best things you can do for jammers is have some kind of monitoring device in the house, and when a number of things stop responding or go offline, have it trigger an automation alert locally. Similar to stuff I suggested here:

@carverofchoice

What I would be more likely personally recommend if someone is moderately concerned but has no known immediate threat they’re aware of would be some of the following:

1. Wi-Fi Monitoring Tools:

• You can use free or low-cost Wi-Fi monitoring tools to keep an eye on your network to alert you to any unusual activity.
• Fing: A mobile app that scans your network and identifies connected devices. It can notify you when new devices join your network.
• Wireshark: A powerful network protocol analyzer that can help detect anomalies in Wi-Fi traffic.

2. Intrusion Detection System (IDS):

• While a full-fledged WIDS may be overkill for a residential home, consider setting up a basic IDS.
• Snort is a popular open-source IDS that can monitor network traffic and alert you to suspicious patterns.
• Configure Snort to focus on Wi-Fi-related events, such as deauthentication attacks or unauthorized access attempts.

3. Wi-Fi Signal Strength Monitoring:

• Keep an eye on your Wi-Fi signal strength. Sudden drops in signal quality could indicate interference or jamming.
• Use tools like inSSIDer or NetSpot to visualize Wi-Fi signal strength and identify potential issues.

4. Alerts and Notifications:

• Set up alerts and notifications on your smartphone or email. For example:
  • Receive an alert when a new device connects to your network.
  • Get notified if the Wi-Fi signal strength drops significantly.
  • Configure Snort to send alerts for specific events.

5. Physical Security Measures:

• Secure your router physically. Place it in a central location away from windows and doors.
• Consider using a lockable enclosure to prevent unauthorized access to the router.

6. Wired Computer for on-site alerts too. To make sure these alerts get through to you while you’re at home, make sure you have a separate computer that is wired by an ethernet cord, preferably one going through the walls or floor or in a way that isn’t easily seen and cut. Have speakers on the computer, and have it make loud announcements when any of those things occur. That way, if the jamming happens while you’re at your home, and just in case your phone is also blocked from getting messages, the wired computer will still get the message from the router and loudly alert you to the problem(s).

If someone wants to go a step further then look into the commercial WIDS solutions. They’re just more expensive, but could give someone the peace of mind they need, so they are an option.

[gitit20]

unlike others, I install a MicroSD card in my cameras so even if the wifi drops it still records events.