These days, everyone is on the lookout for digital criminals hacking into online accounts and devices, but traditional in-person robberies are still popular with crooks. WiFi jamming is starting to become the preferred method for crooks to break into your homes and steal your personal property. The main purpose of wifi jammers is to prevent your smart home devices like your doorbell cameras, your wireless alarm systems other wifi cameras from detecting and recording criminals if they attempt to break into your home. Thieves always seem to have the upper hand when it comes to technology, but there are some ways you can protect your home and family from this potentially dangerous situation. Here's what you need to know.
What is WiFi Jamming? Wifi jamming is the act of disrupting the communications of wireless devices. In short, a jamming device uses a stronger signal that is transmitted from your router that allows all of your devices to connect. If your wifi signal is jammed, it makes it impossible for gadgets like your router, smartphones, laptops, and your smart home security devices to maintain a stable connection. There are jammers available that can disrupt the signals for your mobile phone, your home 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wireless signals as well as Bluetooth devices.
How You Can Tell If Your WiFi Has Been Jammed. Under normal circumstances, your WiFi signal will stay consistent. If you have an old router or if there is a rare outage, you might lose connection. There are several things that will let you know your wifi signal is being jammed. Here are the signs.
All of a sudden, your wireless devices will have a poor signal.
Your internet connection will slow down.
Your wireless devices will frequently disconnect and reconnect
Your wireless devices will use more power
How to Prevent WiFi Jamming to your devices. Wifi jamming attacks can be hard to detect and although jamming equipment can be obtained on the internet, it's not legal to use them. If you want to stop WiFi jamming from occurring, consider doing the following things to your home:
Connect your devices to 5GHz. WiFi jammers for the most part are designed to target 2.4 GHz, which is commonly used by wireless devices, especially your smart home security devices. That is why it is suggested that you switch to 5GHZ, as it can reduce the interference of jammers with your device.
Make sure your wifi signal is encrypted. Verify your wifi network is encrypted with WPA3 at the very least WPA2. Encrypted networks are also less vulnerable to jamming attacks.
Wired connections are the most secure. It's tempting to use wireless connections for your home security devices because they are easy to install for most DIYers. Also, your average home doesn't have an ethernet cable running throughout the house. Your devices that are connected with Ethernet cables aren't affected by jammers. If possible, hire a professional to run ethernet to a couple of cameras on the exterior of your house that can record even if your wifi goes down.
Get a wifi camera with onboard storage. Most of your wireless. A majority of wireless smart doorbells and wireless cameras record information to the cloud. This is great if your wireless works, but if your wifi is interrupted, this can be a problem. If you want wireless cameras, consider getting devices that have onboard storage of videos like an SD card that doesn't need the cloud to record. If you like your current setup, you could also ad a trail camera or two. These don't rely on wifi and record directly to an SD card.
Get a home security system that can run on cellular service. If you're using a security system, that relies on wifi, make sure it has a backup that will run on cellular data if your wifi is jammed. This protects you by staying connected to emergency services if thieves attempt to jam your wifi to gain entry without being detected.
Install multiple wireless access points in your home. If you rely on one router to provide internet to your devices in your home, it can make you easy prey to wireless hacking. Installing several wireless access points can make it harder for crooks to block the wifi in your home. Devices that rely on a wired connection for an access point will provide better protection.
Take further steps to stay safe. Always build your protective wall when it comes to preventing thieves from breaking into your home. The more you do to make your house a less attractive target, the safer you will be.
Get a battery backup for your router. Having a battery backup installed and connected to your router is a good thing to have during power outages and storms, but it can come in handy if a criminal decides to cut the power. A router running on a batter backup keeps your devices internet-connected and recording (providing crooks don't use wifi jamming).
Get your house off the internet. Check Zillow, Realtor.com and Redfin for photos of your house and remove them. The more crooks know about the layout of your home, the better for them.
Use Exterior motion lights. Motion sensor lights and detection beams alert you to activity and deter criminals. You can also control some exterior lights remotely from inside your home.
Automate your Smart home. Schedule your interior and exterior lights to make it look like someone is home when they're not. Also, consider technology that will allow you to arm your house automatically when you leave.
Secure Your windows. Windows are often the weakest point of entry for burglars. You can install secure locks, security film, or security bars on your windows.
Hopefully, this will give you tips to help you keep you and your family safe if crooks try to use wifi jamming to break into your home or steal personal propery outside your home. If you enjoyed this post, let me know in the comments below. Stay tuned to my blog for more insightful articles and guides to help you strengthen your security posture and your knowledge about technology. If you have any questions, please reach out via email or on social media. I'm always available.
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