The W-Fi extender to end all Wi-Fi extenders

Rhino Security founder Benjamin Caudill has created a tool to help privacy pundits (and criminals) connect to wireless networks from a distance of four kilometres, in a bid to foil eavesdropping authorities. The Proxyham Raspberry Pi hardware box is a complement to toolkits such as Tor that mask the source of web traffic. Prolific security prober Caudill told Motherboard the device would be placed at the Wi-Fi source to beam a signal at 900MHz to distant users. "We consider this the last or worst case scenario, the absolute fallback plan if everything else fails," Caudill says. "You can have it all the way across town, and worst case scenario the police go barge into the library across town." Caudill will sell the box at cost for about US$200. Users who wish to build their own will be able to check out the hardware schematics and open source software when it is detailed at Defcon in August. The device is about the size of a large router and sports three antennas. Caudill will work to alter the physical profile of the box cramming it into the form of a book such that it allows libraries to be turned into persistent hotspots. The box will also be upgraded with self-destruction features, capturing the surrounding audio during the unit's final moments to help the user identify their pursuers. It will come as no surprise that people on the sides of both good and evil would appreciate having such a tool available, including but not limited to the likes of privacy advocates, political dissidents, and would-be online drug lords. Having any good enough Wi-Fi extender, though, is better than nothing when you just want to use your home network on the go.