During quarantine I built a portable Wifi scanner/hash catcher from parts I had laying around the house.

TL;DR My security cameras were sending video to China. The following is how I found out and stopped it. # A while back I bought some Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) security cameras and a Network Video Recorder (NVR). The setup was pretty easy - plug the cameras into the NVR, install the app on my phone, and link them up by either scanning the camera-specific QR codes, or hand-typing the codes as shown on the NVR monitor.

We bought a new Lenovo Yoga 700-11isk laptop a couple years ago and kept having problems with it charging. We went through 2 AC adapters, and even replaced the charging port. It suffers from a poor design that causes the charging port to become loose over time, and ultimately stop charging. After the last round of AC brick and charging port replacements, it worked for a while (~6 months) and fell victim once more.

A few months ago we upgraded to Charter’s Business-class internet - basically the same 60Mbps residential service but with a static IP. When the tech finished the install, I plugged my laptop into the cable modem and was pulling down almost 70Mbps! I powered everything down and put my hodgepodge of network stuff back into place. Everything was A-OK, or so I thought. From the top - EdgeRouter X, Netgear FVS336G, security camera NVR, and a Netgear switch.