Wi-Fi waves carry the story of the room
How Wi-Fi sensing works, where it is already in use and what it means for the people who run access networks. Written from our own lab and three decades of building networks.
Simulation: two access points fill the room with waves. The person scatters a wave of their own and changes the channel measured at the receiver.
Every time a router talks to a phone, the signal travels along several paths at once: through walls, off furniture, around people. When someone moves, those paths change, and the change is recorded in the signal itself.
Wi-Fi sensing is the technique of reading those changes to detect presence, motion and, under controlled conditions, even breathing. No camera and no dedicated sensor, just the equipment already sitting in the subscriber's home. Since 2025 the technique has its own standard, IEEE 802.11bf, and large operators already sell it as a service. This site gathers what a network professional needs to judge it with their own eyes.
The essentials
Four questions every ISP asks the first time the subject comes up.
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What is measured?
Mainly CSI (Channel State Information): the receiver's per-subcarrier estimate of how the channel changed the signal's amplitude and phase. It is the raw material of almost all modern sensing. Read the fundamentals
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What can be detected?
Presence and motion are in commercial production. Room occupancy and monitoring the daily routine of older adults are in pilots. Vital signs and gesture recognition are still research. See the applications
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Is there a standard?
Yes. IEEE 802.11bf was approved in May 2025 and published that September. It defines how devices negotiate and exchange sensing measurements from 1 to 7.125 GHz and above 45 GHz. Read about the standard
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Where does the ISP fit in?
The ISP owns the device at the center of the home. That makes it the natural candidate to offer sensing as a service, and also responsible for the data that service produces. See the path for ISPs
Recent updates
Lab notes, readings of the standards and market tracking.
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Why we created a Wi-Fi sensing reference
Wi-Fi sensing has left the lab and become a product. This site follows that transition from the point of view of those who run access networks.
Does your company want to know whether its installed base can already support sensing, or set up a pilot?
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