Smart Router With WiFi Connection Visualization

by Seeed Studio

128K88499

Intro: Smart Router With WiFi Connection Visualization

Here share my latest project, a router with acrylic shell and some leds.

This router has the below functions:

  • Let you know how many devices had connected to your router
  • Show you the real-time net speed by different color of the leds

If you like this router, please follow the below steps.

Cheers.

And thanks @Fiernocht and the other guys provide the ideas to protect your router, really useful

  1. password protect it
  2. set it to the highest encryption your devices can handle ie WPA2 and AES encryption.
  3. Ban any unauthroized MAC addresses on connection
  4. and final, Hide your SSID, by default it broadcasts to everyone

We made a new version of Router at 17 June, click to view ReRouter - Make an Extensible IoT Router

STEP 1: What Do We Need

STEP 2: The Drawing and Laser Cutting

I did some work on structures just as the picture shows. It’s made up of 3mm matte black acrylic board. My friend Xu from seeed help me cutting the board. I guess you don’t have a laser cutting at home, but still you can download the file and find some local hacker spaces to cut it. If there's no hacker space nearby, you can try the Laser Cutting Service supply by Seeed.

You can download my drawing shown as below by click here.

laser cutting

Now, you’ll need one piece of matte black acrylic (3mm 40cm*60cm), and cut the acrylic according by the drawing that you have already downloaded.

STEP 3: Modules Connect

Prepare the cutting acrylic sheet and the circuit modules as the picture shows here.

The hardware connection and case assembly are quite simple.

Firstly lets fix the Arduino Breakout for LinkIt Smart 7688 Duo board to the acrylic board with screws and nuts. The Grove Led Strip is connected to the D6 port on the breakout board.

Then, insert LinkIt Smart 7688 Duo board to the Arduino Breakout board, finish the assembly of the router box as instructed in the following pictures.

STEP 4: Set Up MT7688

Now, we should do some software work, if this is your first time to use MT7688, please put hand on http://www.seeedstudio.com/wiki/LinkIt_Smart_7688_Duo to get started.

If you are quite familiar with LinkItSmart 7688 already, please go to the MT7688 terminal by SSH or Serial.

  • Modify the configure file to change MT7688 Duo into router mode.
vi /etc/config/network
config interface 'lan'
option proto 'static' option netmask '255.255.255.0' option ipaddr '192.168.100.1' config interface 'wan' option ifname 'eth0' option proto 'dhcp'
  • Enable yunbridge
> uci set yunbridge.config.disabled='0'<br>
> uci commit
  • set startup script
> chmod +x script/netDetermineBox
> cp script/netDetermineBox /etc/init.d/
> /etc/init.d/netDetermineBox enable
> /etc/init.d/netDetermineBox start &
> reboot

STEP 5: Using Arduino IDE to Upload Arduino Sketch

  • Download demo code at https://github.com/Lee-Kevin/MT7688_Demo/tree/mas...
  • Click “Download zip” button on right side of webpage to download all codes.
  • Unzip the downloaded zip files to“C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\Arduino\” and remove “-master” in unzipped file name.
  • Launch Arduino IDE.
  • Click Sketch>Add file to add routerBox_Arduino.ino file from“C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\Arduino\MT7688_Demo\mt7688routerBox\”
  • Press CTRL +U to upload codes to your board. Wait for a while until you see a prompt like following figure:

Now congratulations, you have just made an incredibly awesome DIY network router for yourself.

STEP 6: ​The Result

Now，Power up the router, and access it to the network. Let your device connect to the “LinkIt_Smart _7688_xxxxxx”, and you’ll find the Green LED is light up

105 Comments

sunbelt57 8 years ago

If I'm not mistaken, people try to 'guess' your password using software that goes through a list of likely passwords and then tries every conceivable combination of alphanumeric characters - a password cracker - it will bog down your network by constantly trying a different password. Correct me if I'm wrong...

Jbagel2 8 years ago

that's not how it is done. You just capture the key when any device connects or re-auths on the network, and the the key can then be cracked offline (not talking to the network while attempting to crack the key). Usually takes very little time for most networks

Tryingtomakeit 6 years ago

Thanks, I have been wondering how it is done. I have noticed that if I mistype one character when logging in, my router takes much longer to reject the password. Is that only true of some consumer routers?

DennisM87 8 years ago

"...it turns out that someone is sneakily using it without my permission".

Forget making this thing. Learn to protect your router.

Also if I want to know how many devices are connected to the router I'd just use the free FING app on my cell phone.

RobertZ7 8 years ago

You should use the newest WPA2 security protocol, hide your SSID and turn on MAC address filtering. In this case nobody can steal your wifi without your permission.

MrEunderhill. 8 years ago

Hiding your SSID is a very stupid thing to do. Not only does it not really hide it as it gets broadcasted more frequently in the background, it makes it harder for everyone else to know what channel your router is on. The end result, you get others using the same channel as you are, slowing down your connection.

KarlS76 7 years ago

Lol..Really? My wireless router selects the channel with the least activity.

KarlS76 7 years ago

Can they steal your Wi-Fi with your permission?

WagyourT 8 years ago

mac address spoofers

sogseal 8 years ago

you are joking right? wpa2 yes, but hiding your SSID is useless since you can use a certain tool in kali to reveal it, the mac filtering is useless as well since you acn spoof mac address

Danielsan16 8 years ago

Hiding your SSID only hides it from yourself. Anyone who is trying to crack your wifi password sees the SSID and your Mac address in plain site.

WagyourT 8 years ago

and i just log into the administrative panel on my router and look in the "connected devices" tab. :P

walterflorian_ 7 years ago

how can I make to make it a wireless router extender?

THE HOCKSTER 8 years ago

Thank you for your post. I'm not a super hacker so I found it very interesting.

I'm looking for a router feature that is either DIY or even preferably, already a commercial solution. I need my router to trigger an external event based upon a specific MAC address connecting to it. I have different family members in the home and would like to be able to trigger home automation events when a particular MAC address connects, and disconnects. My current NETGEAR router gives me the ability to use my PC or smartphone to see who is connected, but I need this to be done automatically by perhaps sending the information over the ethernet to an arduino or other. Any feedback from you or others in the community would be greatly appreciated. If you suggest I post elsewhere for better exposure please advise as well. Thank you again!

Jack Rodgers 8 years ago

I like the finished look of your project and am always envious of the Instructables community and their skills. In 1972 I made a couch out of 2x4s using just a saw and drill in an empty room. No table saw. No nothing. It looked like it but the bench thing worked for a while...

Acknowledging this is a 'fun' project and that i have embarked on many myself, there may be many here that are unaware of Ethernet and hubs. 20 years ago I set up local Ethernet networks that someone 50 feet outside the building could not get into nor anyone on the otherside of the planet using the Internet.

The convenience of the smart phone and tablet sacrifice security using WiFi and Cellular even if you have your own private server as one former Secretary of State did. She just didn't realize that email goes out in unencrypted text.

You can secure your fixed desktops and servers using Ethernet and cheap hubs and get safer and faster networking.

And if you use a Hub, as of 10+ years ago, each channel runs at full speed rather than dividing up the bandwidth.

I think Apple's latest WiFi routers as well as other companies broadcast on something like a fixed focus narrow beam rather than in a spherical pattern. This provides a bit more security.

One cool thing would be if someone could create an encryption system where each device would send a key with its request and the other would use the key to encrypt the message. Thus the key would be a random key and only good for that message and reply.

WagyourT 8 years ago

maybe a public/private rsa encryption for the password where the client encrypts the actual password using the broadcasted public key and the router decrypts with the private key.

WagyourT 8 years ago

maybe a public/private rsa encryption for the password where the client encrypts the actual password using the broadcasted public key and the router decrypts with the private key.

gismo1 8 years ago

sounds like the old token ring network idea, A bit of re-working and you might be on to something.

diy_bloke 8 years ago

cool, but changing the password and maybe have MAC fitering seems like a more secure option. Nevertheless I like it for its sheer coolness factor

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