The answer to better Wi-Fi security could lie on the surfaces of a wallpaper. A team of French researchers at Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble was able to develop a wallpaper that can allegedly block Wi-Fi signals. Working together with Centre Technique du Papier, the researchers claim that the wallpaper prevented Wi-Fi signals from being transmitted beyond the confines of an office or apartment. If you will observe the photo above of the said wallpaper, you will notice that it has a triangular snowflake-pattern. The team said that the mesh has filtering capabilities and that it can only block a few set of frequencies used by wireless LANs.
Cellular phone signals and other types of radio waves on the other hand, can reportedly get through the wallpaper. Pierre Lemaitre-Auger, the Director of Studies at Grenoble INP’s ESISAR engineering school said that in addition to the wallpaper’s ability to prevent Wi-Fi snooping, the technology can also be used in places where there is a need to block external Wi-Fi from coming in. The French researchers said that the wallpaper is currently being licensed to a Finnish manufacturer for production, and that it’s cost will be similar to a traditional mid-range wallpaper. The team hopes to have the Wi-Fi blocking wallpaper available in the market next year.
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