QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall

#1

Post by speckx » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 3:59 PM UTC

QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall
jeffgeerling.com

Re: QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall

#2

Post by Scene_Cast2 » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 4:13 PM UTC

I wonder if this tool can help with EMC compliance testing. My TinySA needs an LNA, so I wonder if this has the required noise floor.

Re: QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall

#3

Post by ck2 » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 4:14 PM UTC

if it can spot/track drones that is a marketing opportunity for airports around the world that have to deal with drone nonsense which shut down flights for days

Re: QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall

#4

Post by fiatpandas » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 4:23 PM UTC

The visualizer app reminds me of the same UI / output you get from acoustic cameras.

Re: QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall

#5

Post by pixelesque » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 4:26 PM UTC

ck2 wrote: post #3

if it can spot/track drones that is a marketing opportunity for airports around the world that have to deal with drone nonsense which shut down flights for days

If would likely need to track them well (not sure from this article/video if that's the case?) to be useful in that scenario...

Drawing a splodge in roughly the location (not sure if there's range info either? I doubt it if it's passive) overlaid on the video likely won't cut it...

Re: QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall

#6

Post by bri3d » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 4:28 PM UTC

ck2 wrote: post #3

if it can spot/track drones that is a marketing opportunity for airports around the world that have to deal with drone nonsense which shut down flights for days

Most major airports will already have a counter-UAS system, it's a huge industry.

One big issue with radar is that it has the same problem pilots and human observers do: it struggles to distinguish drones from anything else in the sky (birds, balloons, planes, etc.). This is an active and improving research space, but by and large with radar, when your pilots report a drone, you still don't know how to figure out if it's the typical mis-identification or something real.

Re: QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall

#7

Post by tamimio » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 4:32 PM UTC

It should be more specific, it spots RC drones operated on ~5.8ghz, it won’t spot RC on 900mhz, nor cellular enabled ones.

Re: QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall

#8

Post by _davide_ » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 4:34 PM UTC

tamimio wrote: post #7

It should be more specific, it spots RC drones operated on ~5.8ghz, it won’t spot RC on 900mhz, nor cellular enabled ones.

for lack of directonality?

Re: QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall

#9

Post by kristianpaul » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 4:36 PM UTC

And yet since rtl-sdr times we have passive radars as an option as well https://www.rtl-sdr.com/tag/passive-radar/

Re: QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall

#10

Post by relaxing » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 4:36 PM UTC

_davide_ wrote: post #8

tamimio wrote: post #7

It should be more specific, it spots RC drones operated on ~5.8ghz, it won’t spot RC on 900mhz, nor cellular enabled ones.

for lack of directonality?

for lack of frequency tuning