Wi-Fi Cards Can Now Detect Microwave Ovens

An anonymous reader writes "Researchers at UW Madison have used regular WiFi cards to detect non-WiFi interference sources like microwave ovens, Bluetooth devices, cordless phones, Xbox controllers and video cameras. They call their software Airshark. Current products like Wispy, Spectrum Expert are expensive and need extra hardware, whereas Airshark is a software-only solution that can directly work on the Wi-Fi cards on your laptops and APs. This also paves way several interesting applications. For example, your WiFi network will not be affected anymore just because your neighbor switched on a microwave oven or a cordless phone — the newer WiFi APs will be able to switch the channels and adapt to the interference accordingly."

Comments

If only all wifi devices could work cooperatively

[Skinkie]

Then the entire spectrum problem is solved, and everything would be autoconfigured for the basic paradigm: connectivity. Now I don't expect a microwave to give me food-over-ip, but I would expect a neighbor wifi cell, helping my AP to extend the signal, if my client would move out of range (aka: has more noise).

I've done this plenty

[ModernGeek]

When my downloads get slow and I can't refresh slashdot, it means it's time to take a break because mom is making me a snack upstairs.

Re:Why is there still microwave oven interference?

[bbn]

WIFI is only allowed to transmit 100 mW (0.1 watt).

Even if only 0.01% of the microwave is leaking it is still more powerful than the WIFI. And even less is required if you do not have a perfect WIFI signal to begin with.

Re:If only all wifi devices could work cooperative

[complete loony]

Hi, I'm working for The Serval Project, and like other projects related to wifi mesh routing, we do have high level goals like this. And we're actively trying to make them a reality.

One of our staff just returned from a presentation to IEEE, to propose a more open standard for the next 802.11 spec.

The basic premise of our proposal is that the protocol for using wifi devices to route traffic should be dealt with in kernel or user space. Not in the radio spec. And that adhoc, and 802.11s are useless for this task (Damn you BSSID, why you change?). We also think that security and perhaps even error correction should be dealt with via a VPN or baked into the application layer.

We want the next wireless spec to include a basic packet radio mode, operating in any unlicensed white-space spectrum, that gives as much control as possible to higher levels of the OS. So that new interesting ideas are easier to experiment with and implement.

And we've been invited to the next IEEE working group to help make it happen.