CONNECT WITH US
eCommerce

eCommerce

6 weird things you can do with an old Wi-Fi router that nobody seems to talk about

How-To Geek logo

Published on

Add as a preferred source on Google
6 weird things you can do with an old Wi-Fi router that nobody seems to talk about

My favorite use for an old router? Turning it into a basic Ethernet switch. The thing is ... that's super boring. Pretty much everyone does that.

So what if you have an old router, nothing you particularly need, and you want to have some fun (and perhaps get something useful out of it)? Let's think outside the box for a second. The first weird thing you can do with an old router is to have it listen to your wireless thermometer. No, I'm not joking.

I admit the whole thing is pretty baffling when you just throw it out there with no explanation, but trust me, you can have your router eavesdrop on a wireless thermometer, weather station, and similar sensors.

For context, a lot of cheap gear like that doesn't actually use Wi-Fi at all, and they just broadcast tiny packets of data over unlicensed radio bands, commonly around 433MHz.

If your old router has a USB port and can run OpenWrt, you can plug in an inexpensive RTL-SDR dongle, install software like rtl_433, and suddenly your router is tracking temperature, humidity, and whatever other sensors you have in your house.

There's quite a lot you can do with this, actually. You can log your readings and send them elsewhere on the network or feed them into something like Home Assistant, even. The router isn't even doing a router-type job anymore in this scenario; it's basically an always-on radio, really.

If turning your router into a makeshift radio receiver didn't phase you, maybe this one will.


Source link
Related Topics:eCommerce

Disclaimer

We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We TheMorningPulse.fyi want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It's possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.