Top all-time · #4240
The Networking Nerd
Personal blog · networkingnerd.netsystemshardware
The Networking Nerd is a personal blog at networkingnerd.net about systems and hardware. Since 2012, 17 different Hacker News readers have linked it 19 times, most often “How apple watch unlocks the Mac (2016)”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-29, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (5) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN links this 2016 post on how Apple Watch Mac unlock uses 802.11 time-of-flight, cited as a source in discussions of car key relay attacks and proximity checks.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 5 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Networking With A Side of Snark
Most-linked posts?
- How apple watch unlocks the Mac (2016)5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2019-08-08
- The Death of Trill (2016)2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2018-05-25
What Hacker News says?
Here’s a good article further explaining it for those curious: https://networkingnerd.net/2016/09/21/apple-watch-unlock-802...
Comment linking /2016/09/21/apple-watch-unlock-802-11ac-and-time/
on “The U1 chip in the iPhone 11 is the beginning of an Ultra Wideband revolution?”Submitted I was a 10x engineer and I’m sorry as a story · 179 points
HN discussionLWN ( https://lwn.net/Kernel/Index/#Networking ), LWN + kernel documentation ( https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/lin... ) , more LWN + iproute2 source/news/commitlog ( https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/network/iproute2/iproute2.git... and https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/network/iproute2/iproute2.git... << basically the names will give you what to search for on LWN ), and a bit more reading ( https…
Comment linking /2016/05/11/the-death-of-trill/
on “There are real reasons for Linux to replace ifconfig, netstat, etc”Submitted No is a complete sentence as a story · 106 points
HN discussionApparently the Apple Watch does it when using the "unlock your Mac" feature. https://networkingnerd.net/2016/09/21/apple-watch-unlock-802...
Comment linking /2016/09/21/apple-watch-unlock-802-11ac-and-time/
on “Bluetooth relay attacks allow Tesla Model 3 / Y to be unlocked and driven away”Submitted The consumable space data center as a story · 2 points
HN discussionCould latency/time-of-flight threshold be reduced to determine proximity? Requires very accurate clocks on both ends, and support in the wireless cards. Apple developed something similar for Apple Watch unlock on MacOS [1]. [1] https://networkingnerd.net/2016/09/21/apple-watch-unlock-802...
Comment linking /2016/09/21/apple-watch-unlock-802-11ac-and-time/
on “Researchers demo Bluetooth relay attack against Tesla”Submitted The Death of Trill (2016) as a story · 2 points
HN discussionApple Watch Mac unlock uses time of flight to prevent relay attacks. Wouldn't that prevent this kind of thefts? Here's a description of the Apple Watch Mac unlock process https://networkingnerd.net/2016/09/21/apple-watch-unlock-802...
Comment linking /2016/09/21/apple-watch-unlock-802-11ac-and-time/
on “Some new cars at risk of theft by exploiting weaknesses in keyless entry systems”Submitted Programming Unbound as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Coffee As A Service as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Five Stages of IPv6 and NAT as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Network Does Too Much as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Is the M1 MacBook Pro Wi-Fi Slower? as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Should We Build a Better BGP? (2017) as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted How apple watch unlocks the Mac (2016) as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Cargo Cult of Google Tools as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Adapting Applications and Avoiding Acrobatic Adjustments as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Reality as a Service as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
