Long-Range WiFi = hack your town's WiFi from home?

[EnthusiastXYZ]

Normally WiFi hacking happens when the attacker is near the access point and/or the victim, but don't long-range WiFi technologies take nearby proximity out of the equation? Industrial long-range WiFi Transceivers can cover several miles. Doesn't that make it possible and feasible for operators of such long-range WiFi systems to perform WiFi attacks on typical short-range WiFi systems that are within the range of the long-range WiFi systems?

 

[ZodaEX]

Yes

 

[GotNoRice]

Possibly, just keep in mind that this is a 2-way signal that we are talking about. Long-range WiFi systems (point to point links) usually have strong transmitters and large receiving dishes on both sides of the link. In the theoretical example you mentioned, the long-range WiFi system would have plenty of power to transmit a signal, but would be at the mercy of the comparatively weak transmitter from the residential wifi connection for the return signal. This signal would be degraded even further by all the nearby access points likely operating on the same frequency. You would need a large dish that was not only big enough to receive the weak signal but focused enough to pick out your signal as opposed to half of your neighborhood.