RF-Blocking Wallpaper

spitefulcrow writes "Silicon.com is reporting on a new application for RF-absorbing materials: Wallpaper that blocks Wi-Fi. BAE, the British defense contractor, has announced that the same material used to foil radar by stealth bombers can be used to selectively block certain frequencies and prevent wireless networking signals from entering or exiting a building. Is this the next take on lining the walls with lead?"

Comments

Wallpaper hats!

[liamo]

Tinfoil is just so passee these days.

I'm really busy

[isoprophlex]

I will be wonderful when the adhear this technology in movie cinemas so that the wankers sitting behind me who answer there phones during the films, can't take their "important calls".

Re:I'm really busy

[meringuoid]

Many people need to be contactable as part of their job. Do you want to exclude these people from the cinema completely?

If being contactable means they have to spoil everyone else's enjoyment of the film, then...

Yes. Absolutely. I want to exclude these people from the cinema completely.

Re:I'm really busy

[aflat362]

I agree that cell phones are abused way too often. (Jerks taking useless calls in a theater is a prime example)

However, we should never block cell phone reception anywhere.

What if a doctor were to go watch a movie and one of his patients started dying and he needed to be contacted? What if a loved one were in an accident and people were trying to get ahold of you so you could possibly see them before they died?

There are many scenarios where having cell reception is important.

Just try to use the vibrate or silent mode. I can deal with people forgetting to turn their phones off in a movie (though I myself have the courtesy to turn mine off), as long as they don't yack on them in the theater.

Re:I'm really busy

[swillden]

Serriosely if you job requires your assistance even when your in a cinema... and you can't escape for a measly 2 hours, get a new job.

I'm a parent.

Why Not Just Encrypt?

[afriguru]

UK defence contractor BAE Systems has developed a stealth wallpaper to beat electronic eavesdropping on company Wi-Fi and wired LANs.

Instead of qoing through the hassle of covering a building with this wallpaper, why can't system admins just get into the habit of implementing encryption all the way (particularly for Wi-Fi networks?)

Re:Why Not Just Encrypt?

[Cska Sofia]

Why take the risk of an outsider breaking your encryption if you can prevent their access to the signal in the first place?

Re:Why Not Just Encrypt?

[afriguru]

The attacker may well be inside the building; business offices are generally not run as military zones! And what about the windows of the building; will they be covered too? Breaking high encryption is probably not as easy as bribing a staff member to for access.

Re:Great for paranoid nuts, useless for real peopl

[rich_r]

Sounds good if you're doing a makeover of, say, a secure military area.
Obviously you can still pipe stuff through wires. (you know, those plastic/rubber coated strings of metal? remember them?)

RTFA

[cperciva]

This means that you can not use WLAN, cellphones and terrestrial TV/Radio. Is this really what you want?

Quoth the article:
The company has produced panels using the technology to produce a screen that will prevent outsiders from listening in on companies' Wi-Fi traffic but let other radio and mobile phone traffic get through.

Interesting

[hot_Karls_bad_cavern]

For sometime i've wanted to have my main workstation off the network, grid and inside a faraday cage. But think about how ridiculous that would be/look? The other machines in the house would be okay to leave alone, but i'd want at least one that i knew was safe (data transfers would be on extreme need only, i.e. data sets into and encrypted messeges written inside).

But i'm getting away from my original point: this is sweetness. No, it's not exactly what i'm looking for, but it's a stop in the correct direction. Think you've never had a neighbor whom owns a 900MHz scanner? Anyway, i think this is great. You and i both know that information, its protection, secure dissemenation, and reliability of said information are the weapons of the upcoming century. You need to have your data safe whether you think so or not, so the more things like this the better.

Re:Great for paranoid nuts, useless for real peopl

[arivanov]

Quite usefull for setting test environments as well. In fact, extremely useful if you are working on cellular infrastructure or any other radio equipment that operates in a licensed band.

Okay, nice idea but...

[KitFox]

What about the windows and doors? RF goes through them too. I could just see somebody wallpapering their ceiling also. (It's such a lovely print though!)

It really strikes me as a product for the "Security-Concerned-But-Uninformed", because I really wonder how many companies that want to use this will block other means of RF egress. And those that don't will simply have a false sense of security and a big hole in their "defenses".

Believe me, I'm literally right across the hall from a "RF-Secure" room at times, and that has EVERYTHING covered in every direction, windows, doors, floor and ceiling.

forget walls.

[ross.w]

I want to put this stuff on my car.

No more radar speed traps!

Re:I know it's not tin foil, but....

[Fishstick]

Not nearly as effective or attractive as aluminum. ;-P

Aluminum is the perfect medium for constructing an AFDB

1. Get a five foot sheet of aluminum foil (standard one foot wide Reynolds Wrap brand will do nicely.)
2. Fold the sheet four times into five equal segments so that you end up with a 1x1 foot square, making sure that you fold over the dull side of the foil leaving the square shiny* on both sides.
3. Use scissors to cut from one corner of the square to the center, making a straight line.
4. Bend the foil from one side of the cut under the other, making a slight cone. Again, make sure that the outside of the cone has a shiny side of the foil; this is VERY important.
5. Place the cone on your head and squash the top and sides to make it fit snugly.
6. Apply Scotch tape liberally making sure to secure the cut in the foil and any form-fitting creases made in step 5.
7. Use more tape to secure AFDB to your cranium.

*A Note About The Shiny Side:
It can't be stressed enough how important it is to have the shiny side pointing out. This is needed because the shiny side is most reflective to psychotronic radiation, while the dull side can actually, in certain environmental conditions, absorb it. However, as is illustrated in the instructions above, it is also wise to complement this with a layer of foil pointing shiny side in. This will keep your brain waves, which are also reflected by the shiny side, from being picked up by mind-reading equipment. There is a small number of aluminum foil researchers who believe that this may cause an alpha-wave harmonic to build up in the skull resulting in memory loss or pseudo-religious visions, but their findings have never been replicated by the aluminum foil research community at large. Even if their findings are validated, the risk involved is small compared to the potential of mind-intrusion.

Re:I know it's not tin foil, but....

[Fishstick]

RTFWS:

* FOOTNOTE: The American spelling** of aluminum is used here. If you are searching for more information on aluminum, be aware that the British spell it "aluminium" (and pronounce it accordingly).

** HISTORICAL FOOTNOTE: Aluminum was originally named "alumium" by Sir Humphry Davy, who later changed it to "aluminum" (perhaps in an attempt to make it more Latinized since alumen is Latin for alum, the aluminum compound that the name is derived from). The British (and allied English speakers) shortly thereafter changed the name once more, this time to "aluminium" so that it would again match the pattern of most other elements (helium, sodium, etc.), while the North Americans eventually decided to keep the second, slightly more traditional name. I predict that North Americans will adopt the more regular "-ium" spelling by the year 2050, prompting the British to start calling it "alumininium". At that point debate can begin on changing "platinum" to "platinium"

;-)

Yes, hospitals too.

[teidou]

Most people don't understand why hospitals would use this: every hospital I have worked in would be interested.

Cell phones, even by being on can affect drug infusion pumps: it is not good to have the infusion rate spontaneously jump from 1 mL/min to 100mL/min. What's worse is that some people don't know the difference between "standby" and "off" - they think just not using it will turn off the transceiver. (Yeah, yeah, Snopes says it's not a big problem. They're FOS on this one: it really does happen).

Some visitors argue it is a problem with the medical equipment and they should get to keep their phone on: 1) possibly a valid point, but the fact is that patient health is threatened by the phone, and 2) the historic FCC position is that RF shall not interfere with other equipment. (Incidenally, new medical equipment is better shielded (hinted at on the FDA website).

Finally, to the genius who wants to point out that many hospitals are using wireless for notebook computing and wireless monitoring: 1) those in use are on different frequencies than cell phones, and 2) they are very carefully tested before implementation, (Also, I'm not sure on this point, but I believe they are probably less powerful than cell phones; this is why repeaters are in every hallway rather than just one on the roof. If the wallpaper is just on the exterior of the building, I doubt it would not interfere with current use).

Teidou

Re:Yes, hospitals too.

[Myself]

While you're right that it's the transmitter's responsibility not to cause interference, I still think it's dangerously irresponsible to keep old machines in service that've proven themselves unreliable in the face of common interference.

You make an excellent point that the WLANs used in hospitals are very low power. Yes, they put APs every few yards down the hallways, so that the portable devices never have to step up their transmit power to reach one.

The solution to the cell phone problem in hospitals is to put base station equipment IN the hospital and run Radiax down the hallways. Alternately, just put cell sites as close to the building as possible. When the phones can reach a tower easily, they'll limit their output power accordingly.

This is also the counterintuitive solution to the weenies who protest when a cellphone company wants to put a tower near the high school. (This frequently happens when an athletic field is getting new lights.) Compare a cordless phone to a moonbounce transmission, which requires more power?

The first mobile phones weren't cellular, there was a single base station in the center of town. The powers used were on the order of 50 watts, so it's a good thing the vehicle-mounted antenna was several feet from the handset. When cellular was developed, it meant you were always within a mile or two of a tower, so the power levels decreased drastically. Phones reduce their output power in response to requests from the tower, because it's easier for the tower to "hear" the faint phones if the near phones aren't screaming.

Shielding the place into an RF hole is counterproductive. In the event that someone forgets to turn their phone off, it'll sit there chirping out its maximum transmit power every once in a while, searching for a tower it can't find. Worse yet, it'll maintain contact with a tower it can just barely hear, only if it really blasts out the RF. This helps nobody.

RF-Blocking Wallpaper

[Alexis de Torquemada]

Sounds good, where can I download it?

My parents were doing this when I was a kid

[macemoneta]

My mom always loved the foil/felt (flock) wallpapers in our dining room, when I was growing up (about 40 years ago). The foil was always grounded, because it went under the (metal) outlet and switch covers, which in turn grounded to the (metal) box. I know the foil was conductive, because we once had a two-wire appliance short to it's metal case (before the days of 'double insulated' design), and I got a shock touching the wall and appliance.

Maybe companies selling this kind of wallpaper should rebrand it as inexpensive high-tech (but low cost) Faraday shielding. And maybe the defense agency could save a few billion dollars by using an off-the-shelf solution. Nah.

National Security

[Moblaster]

I keep telling my mom that my room is classified and off-limits. Now with my Stealth-fighter wallpaper, I'll be able to call the Feds any time she breaches the perimeter.

then put the damn phone on VIBRATE and call back

[SuperBanana]

I'm a parent.

That's nice. Put your phone on vibrate. When it rings and says "Home" (or worse, the sitter's cell phone #) get up, go into the hallway, and answer it. If you're not fast enough, witness the wonder of using the "missed calls" list. This is also why god invented text messaging, which we Americans just haven't seemed to figure out quite yet. "Nick is screaming for his ba-wa-na, what/where is that?" "Joey ran into the wall, at e-room, hes ok but need med insurance info". Etc.

Incidentally, for well over half a decade people went to the cinema, dinner, etc and left their kids behind with a sitter...with no cell phone. Don't give me this "I'm a parent, I simply must be within seconds contact of my children at all times" bullshit.