GoKawiilDeveloper Converts Gemtek W1700K Wi-Fi 7 Router Into 320Msps SDR Receiver
A hardware project has repurposed the Gemtek W1700K Wi-Fi 7 router's MediaTek MT7996 radio chip as a wideband software-defined radio receiver, capturing raw 14-bit IQ data at up to 320 megasamples per second. Custom firmware, built without any MediaTek code, drives the radio from cold boot and streams captured data over 10 GbE to a Linux host, which renders a live spectrum and waterfall display in a browser.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The project demonstrates that consumer networking silicon can be repurposed into capable SDR hardware once its proprietary initialization and calibration sequences are reverse engineered, which could lower the cost barrier for wideband radio experimentation across 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz bands. Because the firmware was built by decoding MediaTek's registers independently, it suggests a path for hobbyists to unlock similar capabilities in other MT7996-based routers without vendor support. The open documentation (architecture and roadmap) indicates the creator intends this as an ongoing, extensible platform rather than a one-off hack.
- The W1700K's MT7996 chipset can capture 14-bit IQ samples at rates up to 320 Msps across 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz bands.
- Custom, MediaTek-code-free firmware controls the radio's LO, sample rate, gain, and filtering directly from a host computer.
- Captured data streams over 10 GbE using a zero-copy UDP pipeline, enabling real-time spectrum and waterfall visualization in a browser.
RTL-SDR Blog V4 USB Receiver — If this project has you excited about turning hardware into a wideband SDR receiver, the RTL-SDR Blog V4 is a fantastic and accessible way to start experimenting with real-time spectrum analysis and signal decoding. It's a proven, well-supported dongle that works great with popular SDR software like SDR#, GQRX, and CubicSDR, letting you explore the radio spectrum just like the router hack in this article.
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Published there as: “Turn a WiFi 7 Router into a 320Msps Software Defined Radio Receiver”
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