Right now, hundreds of devices around you are broadcasting radio signals you can't see, hear, or feel. Your neighbor's garage door. Every car in the parking lot. The weather station on someone's roof. The tire pressure sensors on every vehicle driving by. All of them are talking -- and with the right tools, you can listen.
WiFi Mothership maps the spectrum above 2.4 GHz -- your WiFi routers, Bluetooth devices, and cell towers. But there's an entire world below that: the Sub-GHz band (300 MHz - 928 MHz).
Sub-GHz signals travel farther than WiFi, penetrate walls better, and use less power. That's why your garage door opener works from 50 feet away through a wall, but your WiFi drops when you walk to the kitchen.
These devices operate on ISM bands (Industrial, Scientific, Medical) -- unlicensed frequencies anyone can use. The trade-off: because they're unlicensed, most devices use simple protocols with minimal or no encryption. That means you can receive and decode them with cheap hardware.
Our database contains 692 protocol signatures across 40+ device categories. Every device below is constantly broadcasting a radio signal with a unique timing pattern -- like a fingerprint. Here's what's out there.
An RTL-SDR dongle covers 24 MHz to 1.7 GHz. That means far more than just IoT devices -- you can track aircraft, decode ship positions, receive satellite images, and listen to first responders.
Everything receivable with an RTL-SDR dongle (24 MHz - 1.7 GHz). All passive -- receive only, no transmitting.
| Frequency | Band Name | What You Receive | Antenna (1/4 wave) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 88-108 MHz | FM Broadcast | Commercial radio stations with RDS data | ~30 in |
| 108-137 MHz | Aviation | Air traffic control, pilot voice, ATIS | ~24 in |
| 129-136 MHz | ACARS | Aircraft text messages (gate, fuel, weather, delays) | ~23 in |
| 137 MHz | Weather Satellites | NOAA APT + Meteor M2 LRPT images from space | ~22 in |
| 150-160 MHz | Pagers | POCSAG/FLEX -- hospitals, fire, EMS (plaintext) | ~18 in |
| 162 MHz | Marine + Weather | AIS ship tracking + NOAA weather radio + EAS alerts | ~18 in |
| 315 MHz | ISM (US) | Car keyfobs, garage doors, TPMS, security sensors | ~9 in |
| 433 MHz | ISM (Global) | Weather stations, IoT, doorbells, remotes, keyfobs | ~7 in |
| 450-512 MHz | UHF / Trunked | P25, DMR, business radio, FRS/GMRS walkie-talkies | ~6 in |
| 850-900 MHz | Cellular | Cell tower mapping + coverage analysis | ~3.5 in |
| 868 MHz | ISM (EU) | Z-Wave, LoRa, smart meters, security (Europe) | ~3.4 in |
| 915 MHz | ISM (US) | Smart meters (AMR/AMI), LoRa, Z-Wave, Meshtastic | ~3.2 in |
| 978 MHz | ADS-B UAT | Aircraft below 18,000ft (US), FIS-B weather, TIS-B traffic | ~3 in |
| 1090 MHz | ADS-B ES | Aircraft position, altitude, callsign, speed (worldwide) | ~2.7 in |
| 1575 MHz | GPS L1 | Navigation signals, spoofing/jamming detection | ~1.9 in |