[NNagain] can I change the subject?

[NNagain] can I change the subject?

[le berger des photons]

sorry,  haven't read the rules for here.

I wanted to talk about what the operators here in France seem to be doing.
Tell me if you figure I"m mistaken,  tell me if maybe the same thing is
going on elsewhere.

I changed operator at the beginning of the year, got into a long
conversation with the installers.  Because of that I forgot to turn off the
wifi on the box they'd delivered.

The next day I configured a pair of ubnt devices to create a link.  Out of
habit, I did a speedtest.  Got less than 10 mbps instead of the usual 300
mbps.

I understood why immediately.  The box was using the air for its own
purposes.  I wasn't using the wifi on the box, nobody was.  The neighbors
are far away.  I turned the wifi off on the box,  these last five years
since they imposed their box when one orders a connection, it's been
impossible to lower the power.  Both radios are on full blast. (either or
both can be turned off).

I turned off the wifi and my new link immediately showed the usual 300 mbps.

My theory is that they are using the wifi to constantly spy on the
customer.  I'm figuring that they're using these microwave devices as
optical cameras which can see through walls.

Do you know anything about any of this?

thanks

[NNagain] Re: can I change the subject?

[Frantisek Borsik]

Was it a modem with Wi-Fi? You were trying to setup a mesh with UBNT APs,
then?

Wi-Fi Positioning System, WPS, leverages zonal accuracy to precisely locate
objects and people indoors - do you mean something like this?

All the best,

Frank

Frantisek (Frank) Borsik


*In loving memory of Dave Täht: *1965-2025

https://libreqos.io/2025/04/01/in-loving-memory-of-dave/


https://www.linkedin.com/in/frantisekborsik

Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp: +421919416714

iMessage, mobile: +420775230885

Skype: casioa5302ca

frantisek.borsik@gmail.com


On Fri, Nov 7, 2025 at 12:51 PM le berger des photons via Nnagain <
nnagain@lists.bufferbloat.net> wrote:

> sorry,  haven't read the rules for here.
>
> I wanted to talk about what the operators here in France seem to be doing.
> Tell me if you figure I"m mistaken,  tell me if maybe the same thing is
> going on elsewhere.
>
> I changed operator at the beginning of the year, got into a long
> conversation with the installers.  Because of that I forgot to turn off the
> wifi on the box they'd delivered.
>
> The next day I configured a pair of ubnt devices to create a link.  Out of
> habit, I did a speedtest.  Got less than 10 mbps instead of the usual 300
> mbps.
>
> I understood why immediately.  The box was using the air for its own
> purposes.  I wasn't using the wifi on the box, nobody was.  The neighbors
> are far away.  I turned the wifi off on the box,  these last five years
> since they imposed their box when one orders a connection, it's been
> impossible to lower the power.  Both radios are on full blast. (either or
> both can be turned off).
>
> I turned off the wifi and my new link immediately showed the usual 300
> mbps.
>
> My theory is that they are using the wifi to constantly spy on the
> customer.  I'm figuring that they're using these microwave devices as
> optical cameras which can see through walls.
>
> Do you know anything about any of this?
>
> thanks
> _______________________________________________
> Nnagain mailing list -- nnagain@lists.bufferbloat.net
> To unsubscribe send an email to nnagain-leave@lists.bufferbloat.net
>

[NNagain] Re: can I change the subject?

[Livingood, Jason]

> conversation with the installers.  Because of that I forgot to turn off the
> wifi on the box they'd delivered.
> The next day I configured a pair of ubnt devices to create a link.  Out of
> habit, I did a speedtest.  Got less than 10 mbps instead of the usual 300
> mbps.

It is quite common for ISPs to do this, especially when they also operate a 5G network, as they broadcast a hidden SSID that a mobile phone will use instead of 5G - carries offload onto WiFi about 80-90% of mobile data. For example, you may but service from “ISP X” and you buy wireline service and 5G mobile service and (via handset carrier settings) you handset will see the hidden SSID and connect to that rather than the 5G network.

That said, getting 10 Mbps vs 300 Mbps sounds like you are not correctly provisioned in the network or having some other significant impairment - and you should contact your ISP to fix it.

> I turned off the wifi and my new link immediately showed the usual 300
> mbps.

Sounds like some sort of misconfiguration or significant performance bug in the gateway software. As noted above you should contact the ISP.

> My theory is that they are using the wifi to constantly spy on the
> customer.  I'm figuring that they're using these microwave devices as
> optical cameras which can see through walls.

Doubtful. You may want to be more concerned about the tracking that occurs at the application layer and via mobile handset apps.

JL

[NNagain] Re: can I change the subject?

[le berger des photons]

apparently I was not clear.

the < 10 mbps  with the box's wifi on,  and the 300 mbps with the box's
wifi off refers to a speedtest between the two ubiquiti devices.  Nothing
at all to do with the internet connection.

I am 100% certain that nobody's cell phone was connected to my box.  I know
this because of my remote location and complete lack of neighbors.  Only
rodents and deer and wild pigs.  I'm not aware of any of them having cell
phones.

So please respond again now that I have hopefully cleared that up.

thanks

On Fri, Nov 7, 2025 at 2:58 PM Livingood, Jason via Nnagain <
nnagain@lists.bufferbloat.net> wrote:

> > conversation with the installers.  Because of that I forgot to turn off
> the
> > wifi on the box they'd delivered.
> > The next day I configured a pair of ubnt devices to create a link.  Out
> of
> > habit, I did a speedtest.  Got less than 10 mbps instead of the usual 300
> > mbps.
>
> It is quite common for ISPs to do this, especially when they also operate
> a 5G network, as they broadcast a hidden SSID that a mobile phone will use
> instead of 5G - carries offload onto WiFi about 80-90% of mobile data. For
> example, you may but service from “ISP X” and you buy wireline service and
> 5G mobile service and (via handset carrier settings) you handset will see
> the hidden SSID and connect to that rather than the 5G network.
>
> That said, getting 10 Mbps vs 300 Mbps sounds like you are not correctly
> provisioned in the network or having some other significant impairment -
> and you should contact your ISP to fix it.
>
> > I turned off the wifi and my new link immediately showed the usual 300
> > mbps.
>
> Sounds like some sort of misconfiguration or significant performance bug
> in the gateway software. As noted above you should contact the ISP.
>
> > My theory is that they are using the wifi to constantly spy on the
> > customer.  I'm figuring that they're using these microwave devices as
> > optical cameras which can see through walls.
>
> Doubtful. You may want to be more concerned about the tracking that occurs
> at the application layer and via mobile handset apps.
>
> JL
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> To unsubscribe send an email to nnagain-leave@lists.bufferbloat.net
>