Hiding wireless traffic

Security is actually an issue for some servers using ComputerCraft. I often play anarchy servers where the map is incredibly large (100k blocks in every direction from spawn). People often hide in plain sight simply due to the massive distance they are from any high traffic areas. In order to determine the location of someone's base, I could create an array of computers listening for any messages being sent on open channels and use the modem_message event to get the amount of blocks away from me the message is being sent. Set up an alarm when a message is received, and I am ready to pillage and plunder.

Is there a way to mask where the message is coming from? I looked at one of the examples for the Modem API:

print("The sender is: "..(senderDistance or "an unknown number of").." blocks away from me.")

This seems to imply that there can be something that renders the computer unable to read the sender's location. Is this true?

Split from this old thread.

Ender Modems are capable of cross-dimensional transmissions. Messages received from an alternate dimension omit the distance parameter. I can't recall off the top of my head, but I believe this may also be true of modem messages coming in via a Wired Modem (though obviously you'd need to locate the cable run to "sniff" those sorts of transmissions in the first place).

Otherwise no, you can't hide it. You could perhaps mask it somewhat by setting up repeater computers at random locations, though.

Wireless range is proportional to altitude, the lower you are the less range you have.

That said though, with how CC works, if one modem is in range of the other (and not necessarily vice versa) then both modems will be able to send and receive signals from each other (even though one of them looks like it would be out of range).

It may still be something which will help, have your wireless modems as low as possible so that you are relying on your sniffers signal rather than doing yourself a ill-favour by having a computer at the top of the world.

If I recall correctly, the bottom of the world is just out of range of the surface. It will be a lot of stairs but you will be safe (provided as they are not sniffing from y level 200 or something). Also, wireless range is very low when close to bedrock, so you may find wired modems and a ton of cables cheaper and easier.

Another thing, gold modems have a lot of range and may be sniff-able from the surface so avoid them in your base. However, they may be useful for your own sniffing.

You're all right, the best way to avoid detection is simply to avoid using the ender modem. Because regular wireless modems are such short range, they shouldn't be an issue in the scenario I described. And of course, wired modems already boast their strong security in situations like this on the wiki.

Well, no, as Lupus was saying - if one modem is within the range of the other, then you've got two-way communications between them regardless of the weaker modem's range.

The point you may not be clear on is that this means that any transmissions sent from a regular wireless modem will be seen by any ender modems which happen to be listening on the right channel(s), so long as they aren't more than a couple of billion blocks away; world height and weather also doesn't make a fig of difference to them.

Bomb Bloke, on 21 April 2016 - 03:05 AM said:

Otherwise no, you can't hide it. You could perhaps mask it somewhat by setting up repeater computers at random locations, though.

I'm curious how repeater computers would mask a signal coming from my base when you have the all-seeing Ender Modem? Or are you talking about only receiving signals to my base? Either way, it seems like wireless modems are a bad idea and I should just be sticking to a wired setup.

The idea is that suddenly the same signal is coming from multiple locations. It's certainly not a perfect mask - for that, you'd indeed be switching to wired setups.