Hams Report 85-mile 802.11b File Transfers @ Oregon

[Scott Weikart]

I would assume the hams used directional antennas on both ends, and
carefully pointed the antennas at each other.

So, this may have little relevance to monitoring people's
mostly-omnidirectional wireless LANs.  Well, maybe you could so some
math to make the ham's numbers scale, but I would guess there are
more direct methods to measure/compute risk.

-scott

On Wednesday 14 April 2004 10:21 am, richard childers / kg6hac wrote:
> Those of you inclined towards worrying about eavesdroppers will find the
> following interesting ... QST Magazine (or was it NASA Tech Briefs?)
> recently reported that two people successfully achieved connectivity and
> exchanged files across a span of 85 miles, using COTS technology and
> antennas optimized for operation in the 2.4 gHz frequency.
>
> People operating 802.11b networks in corporate environments, take note -
> your networks can probably be monitored from anywhere within a few
> [dozen?] miles of the antenna, depending upon obstructions, and perhaps
> from over the horizon, as well.
>
> Regards,
>
> -- richard