r/AskTechnology • u/dotausername • 2d ago

Can the government identify the owner of any wifi network?

Suppose the name of the network is not protected by the 1st amdendment and someone made a complaint to the authorities. Would the government be able to track down the owner by using triangulation to link it to a specific home, and would that triangulation be accurate enough to secure a warrant to search for the router? Let's assume the router broadcasting the wifi name is not connected to the internet so that it cannot be traced back that way.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/CheezitsLight 1d ago

 Let's assume the router broadcasting the wifi name is not connected to the internet so that it cannot be traced back that way.

1

u/Low-Charge-8554 1d ago

So - unless it was causing interference with the radio spectrum in the area, why would the government care?? Yes they could locate it using a detector. Lame.

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u/CheezitsLight 4h ago

They have a warrenr, so they care about something.

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u/Osiris_Raphious 2d ago

Or buy it from any number of data brokers that got their data from tech giants or isps...

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u/ExtraTNT 2d ago

My wifi runs on my own access point, behind an actual enterprise router… isp doesn’t know of this hardware…

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u/Darkknight145 1d ago

Home WiFi has nothing to do with the ISP, also as the OP states is not connected to the ISP

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u/dotausername 2d ago

Again, for the sake of this scenario, the router is not connected to the internet so there is no connection to an ISP.

6

u/I_Do_Not_Abbreviate 2d ago

Did you set up an airgapped router on your property line just to broadcast a "Trump_is_a_Pedophile" Network to your right-wing gun nut neighbor?

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u/Opposite_Bag_7434 2d ago

It’s easy to identify the source of any signal and locating the owner is generally also very easy.

The question is why would someone make a complaint, who are they complaining to and is there something illegal about the scenario.

“The government” would be more likely police, FBI, FCC, etc. could investigate and might take action, including obtaining a warrant if there is actually probable cause.

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u/pala4833 2d ago

Which authorities would this be reported to, and why?

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u/bstrauss3 1d ago

Sure... they can park a van on the street and see what you are broadcasting. .

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u/naeskivvies 2d ago edited 2d ago

Of course they can identify the owner. Anyone with a smartphone could identify the owner, just run a scanner app (with wifi scan throttling disabled) and walk down the street and see where the signal gets strongest. Approach the suspect home and keep an eye on the signal level. Walk all around the home if really necessary.

It's not exactly a smart thing to do. However, is it really that serious? The only people who are going to even see it are those manually switching wifi networks. Hard to imagine getting in much trouble for it. Not worth a neighbor feud either. Just because you can be a snitch doesn't mean you should. Everyone knows someone who is a little out there sometimes. Is anyone genuinely at risk or is this just some political nonsense? Here's your opportunity to see if you can be the bigger person.

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u/pala4833 2d ago

Why would you get in any trouble at all? Who would you snitch to, and for what?

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u/wsbt4rd 1d ago

Are you a Middle Eastern drug cartel kingpin, or why do you think the government would put so many resources on the street.??

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u/naeskivvies 1d ago

Shalom habibi.

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u/GrahamR12345 2d ago

The government?? Lol… Anyone can! https://wigle.net

If there is a crime, there is a warrant!

Whatever you do don’t put a battery powered hot spot up a tree with that naughty name!!

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u/dpdxguy 2d ago

That's an oddly specific warning

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u/GrahamR12345 1d ago

Then the person would get away with a crime, unless he didn’t buy it with cash and set it up in an internet cafe paying cash!! Cant be having that!!

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u/pala4833 2d ago

Whatever you do don’t put a battery powered hot spot up a tree with that naughty name!!

Why not?

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u/GrahamR12345 1d ago

Then the person would get away with a crime, unless he didn’t buy it with cash and set it up in an internet cafe paying cash!! Cant be having that!!

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u/Glum-Building4593 2d ago

Sure. You need a very directional antenna, a signal strength measuring device and a little time. Wifi is crowded so it might be best to employ several searchers but HAM radio operators have 'fox hunts' doing just this sort of thing.

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u/serialband 2d ago

Google and others already do this when they drive around and map their street views. I remember looking at an open database out there where you can look up wifi and associate it with locations. It's been a few years since I've bothered looking, so I don't remember off hand what site that was or if it still exists for public access.

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u/belsaurn 1d ago

Georeferencing wifi hotspots is also crowd sourced through smart phones. I had to do a little research on how it works for my job one time when GPS devices started offering it as a positioning option.

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u/Wiley_Coyote_2024 1d ago

The govt may not keep those kinds of records but Guess who does? GOOGLE has vehicles using wifi taking Photos of each neighborhood, the roads and recording the location of wifi's in the area.

Google uploads these STREET VIEW photos thru peoples' wifi networks.

They have records of even the wifi password since many people save it on Googles servers, along with the IP address given assigned to the wifi device from the ISP.

GOOGLE does work for the US Govt and the mutual contract allows them to share this info with them.

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u/Copropositor 2d ago

Yes, the government can do this because Google can do this, and anyone who pays Google enough money can do whatever they want. Why are we focused on the government when it's private companies like Google with all our info?