Sniff Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is a technology used around the world and we, as Americans, respect all cultures and creeds.  That said, occasionally we like to celebrate ourselves (NSFW, as if the title didn't make it obvious): Unfortunately, America has been behind the times in Wi-Fi.  No longer!  We now have motherf*#king 2.4 GHz channels 12 and 13. This blog has a rigid rule to avoid politics, so I'll phrase this as apolitically as I possibly can: from January 20, 2009 to January 19, 2016, America's wireless authority -- the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) -- repeatedly authored rules that damaged Wi-Fi.  In 2010 the FCC banned Wi-Fi on channels 120 through 128, in 2014 the FCC messed up channels 52 through 144 by requiring additional dynamic frequency selection (DFS) scanning and in 2016 the FCC declined a proposal by satellite phone provider Globalstar to allow 2.4 GHz channels 12 and 13 to be used for "terrestrial, low power services" (TLPS), which just so happen t

It's a rough world out there, folks.  The economy stinks (or, is great if you live in western North Dakota), finding love is harder than ever (or, easier than ever if you use online dating) and WiFi bandwidth is scarce (or, plentiful if you use the 5 GHz band).  Into this quagmire wades the Google Chromecast.  A cheap ($35 USD), little (about the size of an e-cigarette case) gadget that allows you to mirror your smartphone/tablet/computer screen to your television.  If you want to feel like a member of the 1% (at least, the top 1% of WiFi spectrum consumers), this is the gadget for you. Reviews, tutorials and takes on Google's Chromecast are plentiful, so let's skip that.  On this blog we don't care whether people like the gadget.  We care about what the gadget does to the WiFi.  Does it suck up bandwidth?  Is it chatty during down times?  Does it interfere with existing networks? Let's take the first question last ( Charles Van Doren voice).  The Chromecast w