Researchers Develop Wallpaper That Blocks Wi-Fi Signals
A group of European researchers has developed a new kind of wallpaper that blocks WiFi signals.
Next to the practice of securing your smartphone and email address with a strong password, nothing has educated mainstream consumers about the importance of technology security like the now-common practice of looking for an open Wi-Fi signal.
Nevertheless, failing to secure one's home Wi-Fi signal with a good password remains a common misstep and can lead to a number of privacy and security issues. Enter ... Wi-Fi wallpaper?
With the help of researchers at France's Grenoble Institut Polytechnique and the Centre Technique du Papier, a Finnish materials company called Ahlstrom plans to introduce an affordable, consumer version of wallpaper that blocks Wi-Fi signals. According to French news services The Connexion and Le Point, the product, which will be commercially known as Metapaper (in French Métapapier), will hit the market sometime next year.
The wallpaper can block Wi-Fi signals in the 2.45 - 5.5 GHz range, while simultaneously allowing television, FM radio, and mobile phone signals to pass through its surface. Metapaper can be applied to a variety of surfaces including concrete, brick and plaster, and won't be affected by decorative additions such as a layer of common house paint. No announcement has been made as to when this product might reach the U.S. market.
As originally developed, one version of the anti-Wi-Fi wallpaper came to be known technically as Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) sheeting, and was developed years ago by BAE Systems for U.K. telecommunications firm Ofcom to prevent unauthorized access to private WiFi signals. However, in its early stages the technology wasn't cheap. Just 10 square feet of the Wi-Fi blocking wallpaper was estimated to cost about $800, a manageable cost for a major business looking to guard its secrets, but a hefty price to pay for an non-commercial individual simply looking to add another layer of protection to their home computing environment.
Back in 2009, Japanese researchers came up with a paint that also blocked Wi-Fi signals.