Is Your Router Secretly Spying on You at Home?

What If Your Router Is Secretly Watching You?

Your router—yeah, that plain little box near the wall—might be doing a lot more than streaming YouTube and keeping your smart speaker connected. It could be quietly watching you. Not metaphorically. Literally.

It doesn’t have a camera, microphone, or obvious tracking. Yet somehow, it can detect when you’re home. When you walk from the kitchen to your room. When you’re sleeping. Breathing. Even how fast your chest moves up and down. And here's the twist: it’s already live in millions of homes—slipped in through quiet firmware updates most people never even noticed.

The name of the game is Wi‑Fi sensing. It uses the way wireless signals reflect off your body to map your motion in real time. The waves fill your space, bounce off you, and those bounces carry tiny distortions. Algorithms—built into consumer-grade hardware—analyze those changes and reconstruct movement, location, even behavior.

This is the part they never explain on the box.

You won’t get a pop-up warning. There’s no blinking light. No "Motion Detection Active" label on the app. It just runs. Constantly. Right now, it could be logging when you’re still and when you’re pacing. How you breathe when you sleep. What time you get up and walk to the fridge.

Most people have no idea this feature exists. But it does. It’s in your house. And it’s working 24/7 unless you know how to shut it off.

How the Hell Do Routers See Through Walls?

This is signal physics—and it's quietly reshaping what our devices are capable of.

At the core of Wi‑Fi sensing is a new wireless standard called 802.11bf. Routers built to support it can act like motion detectors, without cameras or microphones. Here’s how it works in plain language: your router is always sending out waves of Wi‑Fi that fill your home. Those signals bounce off walls, furniture, pets, and people. When you move—even just a shift in your chair—those signals change. The frequency shifts. The amplitude dips. The timing stutters.

Your body turns into a physical object the signal has to work around—and modern routers are now sensitive enough to pick up and decode those subtle distortions.

The hardware passes this distorted signal data to onboard algorithms. These are designed to recognize human motion: footsteps, sitting, pacing, breathing rhythms, sleeping stillness, and even falls. Your router learns what’s normal in your space—and what’s not.

And it’s hyper-sensitive. These systems can spot your unique walking gait, detect pauses in movement, track when you fall asleep or wake up, and even monitor the speed and depth of your breathing. Without ever seeing your face.

There’s no internet required. No cloud-based processing. This all happens locally—on the chip, with the data, inside your home. Even air-gapped networks aren’t safe from this kind of tracking. And unless you’re deep into your router’s logs or firmware changelogs, there’s usually no way to know it’s even happening.

Who’s Already Shipping This? — Is Your Router Doing It Right Now?

Here’s the part that hits hardest: Wi‑Fi sensing is already here. Comcast, Linksys, Amazon, Google, and several lesser-known brands have rolled it out—sometimes openly, but more often through quiet firmware updates or vague “smart features” in their apps.

Let’s start with Comcast. Their “xFi” routers now include a feature called WiFi Motion, which uses your existing network devices to detect motion throughout your home. It’s sensitive enough to pick up a hand wave or footsteps across a room. Comcast claims this data helps with home automation and safety—but their privacy policy explicitly allows sharing that motion data with third parties, including advertisers and “partners.” So yes, it could absolutely be monetized. And no, most users never realized they opted in.

Then there’s Linksys Aware. This feature got injected into their Velop mesh routers through firmware updates. It uses signal disruption between nodes to detect movement—no extra hardware needed. Linksys frames it as a safety feature for elderly users or parents monitoring kids. But there's no clear disclosure about how the motion data is stored or shared, and it can be enabled by default depending on your setup.

Google’s Nest and Amazon’s Eero systems are also in on it. They call it “context-aware automation,” which sounds harmless—until you realize it means the router is tracking motion to trigger responses. Lights, thermostats, speakers—all adjusting based on where you are and how you move. That kind of behavioral data has value. And when it's buried under vague privacy policies, you don’t get to decide where it ends up.

Smaller companies like Plume, Origin Wireless, and Cognitive Systems are white-labeling this tech into a growing number of devices. If your router app has features called “motion awareness,” “smart sensing,” or “presence detection,” chances are you’re already broadcasting motion data—and probably have been for months.

You didn’t get a heads-up. There was no “enable surveillance” popup. The rollout was silent, backgrounded, and pre-checked.

What’s at Stake — Why This Tech Opens the Door to Real-World Exploits

Let’s get brutally honest: Wi‑Fi sensing massively expands the potential for real-world surveillance and exploitation—and most people have no idea it’s even active.

First off, these systems don’t just log presence. They log patterns. They learn how you move. When you wake up. How long you sit still. Where you walk after dinner. They’re not just collecting motion—they’re building behavioral profiles. And that kind of telemetry has serious value. It’s useful to advertisers, sure. But it’s also useful to stalkers. Abusive partners. Corporate spies. And yes, hackers.

You don’t need to hack a webcam to spy on someone anymore. If someone gains even partial access to your router—via default credentials, insecure firmware, or malicious firmware pushed remotely—they can harvest motion data. They’d know when you’re home, when you’re away, and when you’re asleep. It’s a passive surveillance layer you never see coming.

Even worse? The data can be spoofed or manipulated. Researchers have already demonstrated attacks where false motion patterns are injected to trick automation systems or cover malicious activity. Imagine someone training your router to ignore real movement—or to trigger phantom alerts that wear down your trust in security devices. The spoofing potential is enormous and under-researched.

All of this is happening on a device most people never think about. Your router was built to send data—not observe you. But now, it’s doing both—and it’s doing it in silence. Just radio waves, bouncing off your body, being turned into a private surveillance stream you never agreed to.

How to Find Out If Your Router Is Doing This — Are You Already Being Watched?

If you’re reading this and thinking, “Is my router doing this right now?”—the answer might be yes. But don’t panic. Start by checking what’s already running.

Open your router’s companion app or web admin panel. Look for anything labeled “motion detection,” “Wi‑Fi sensing,” “presence awareness,” or a branded feature like xFi Motion (Comcast) or Linksys Aware. These settings are often buried under “Smart Home,” “Advanced Features,” or “Device Behavior”—not in Privacy or Security where you’d expect them. If you find a toggle, that’s your first clue. If it’s on, turn it off. If you can’t find it, keep digging.

Then check firmware update logs. Companies usually don’t announce motion sensing in big bold letters—they sneak it in under vague language like “contextual automation” or “enhanced device intelligence.” Google your router’s exact model number with terms like “802.11bf,” “Wi‑Fi motion,” or “motion awareness”. If it supports those, it’s already capable of tracking you, even if the feature hasn’t been activated yet.

Still unsure? Start monitoring your network behavior. If you see your router transmitting or receiving data during times when no other device is active—or you’re seeing patterns tied to movement—it might be logging local motion events. Advanced users can use tools like OpenWRT or DD-WRT firmware to get full insight into what their router is doing under the hood. Even if you don’t flash it, these communities have diagnostics and guides that help expose hidden features.

And if your smart lights or thermostats start reacting to you before you touch anything—or you’re getting alerts like “movement detected in hallway” when you didn’t install motion sensors—that’s your router doing the watching. Subtle signals like temperature changes, auto lighting, or app notifications are often tied to motion sensing—even if no one ever told you that’s how it worked.

Bottom line: if your router was made in the past few years and came from a major brand, don’t assume it’s safe by default. Check. Verify. And disable anything that tracks your physical presence.

How to Shut It Down — Kill the Surveillance in Your Own Home

If you’ve confirmed—or even suspect—that motion sensing is live on your router, you don’t have to accept it. This isn’t one of those “too late” situations. You can shut it down and start reclaiming your space today.

Start simple: open your router’s app or admin panel and look for anything labeled motion detection, Wi‑Fi sensing, or presence awareness. If there’s a toggle, turn it off. But don’t stop there. Some devices continue background sensing even when the switch is flipped. After firmware updates or resets, check again. These settings have a habit of re-enabling themselves without asking.

Next, cut down your exposure by changing how your network operates. Use Ethernet in bedrooms, offices, or anywhere you want real privacy. Wired connections don’t pulse motion-sensitive signals through your walls. Every square foot of disabled Wi‑Fi is a win. And if you can’t go wired, relocate your router. Move it out of private areas and into common zones where surveillance is less invasive by design.

Want to go further? Create signal boundaries. Use mylar sheets, RF-reflective film, or Faraday fabric to block Wi‑Fi from penetrating specific rooms. These aren’t just sci-fi props—they’re effective, and more affordable than you’d think.

Advanced users can go even deeper: isolate your network into VLANs, rotate MAC addresses on your devices, and shut off SSID broadcasting when you’re not home. Each of these tweaks reduces the accuracy of motion data—and sends a clear message: you’re not a passive target.

And if you want complete transparency into your router’s behavior? That’s what we’ll break down next.

What to Buy or Switch To — The Routers That Respect Your Privacy

If your current router has motion sensing baked in, sometimes the best move isn’t to fight it—it’s to replace it. A clean break. A device that doesn’t just “turn off” surveillance, but never shipped it in the first place.

Start by avoiding anything marketed with buzzwords like smart, aware, or contextual. That includes Amazon Eero, Google Nest Wi‑Fi, Comcast’s xFi, and any mesh system deeply integrated with IoT automation. These devices were designed to collect behavioral data. Motion tracking isn’t a bug—it’s a core feature.

Instead, go for routers that came out before Wi‑Fi sensing (802.11bf) hit the consumer market. Models from TP-Link, Ubiquiti, and select Asus lines are reliable picks. They’re respected by privacy-focused users and often have strong community support for customization and hardening.

Want full control? Look for routers that support OpenWRT, DD-WRT, or Tomato. These custom firmware platforms strip away all the extra “smart” bloat and give you root-level access to every process and protocol. No tracking. No silent updates. No unexplained background services. You decide what runs and what doesn’t.

Not sure if a device supports Wi‑Fi motion tracking? Google the model with terms like “802.11bf” or “motion sensing.” If it shows up, skip it. You can also check the OpenWRT hardware compatibility list or browse PrivacyGuides.org for routers vetted by experts and the broader privacy community.

And here’s the real goal: transparency. You don’t have to buy a “dumb” router. You just need one that doesn’t lie to you. The more people start demanding visibility and control, the harder it becomes for manufacturers to hide behind fine print and silent features.

Why This Matters Now — The Fight for Privacy Starts at Home

This isn’t a distant concern. This is right now. Routers in everyday homes are tracking movement—silently, invisibly, and often without the user’s knowledge. Not because it helps you. Because it benefits the companies shipping the hardware and harvesting the data.

That’s the deeper issue. The rollout of Wi‑Fi sensing didn’t come with headlines or press releases. It crept in through firmware updates and app features labeled “contextual intelligence.” And because it sounds helpful—smart lighting, energy savings, fall detection—most people don’t question it. That’s how this spreads: not through force, but through fatigue. Small compromises. Defaults that stay unchecked. And a slow erosion of privacy, room by room.

You don’t have to be a tech expert to push back. You just need to pause long enough to ask: who benefits from this device being aware of my movements? Who owns that data? And what would I do if it ended up in the wrong hands?

Reclaiming privacy doesn’t mean disconnecting from the world. It means choosing the systems that work for you, instead of letting someone else’s system work on you.

And if you want the full story—the deep dive, the citations, the industry history, the back-end mechanics, and the countermeasures—join the Cyber Resistance Club. That’s where I publish the deep research, with full context, source documents, and everything the ad-funded platforms bury.

Your home should be private. Your movements should be yours. And your router should be just a tool—not a sensor.

Let’s build something better.

Stay Curious,

Addie LaMarr