I have a player who's telling me that his Technomancer can hack any piece of equipment that has a Node, regardless if their not in mutual signal ranges or if the WiFi Signal is even turned off. Can Technomancers hack something regardless of no Signal being present or not being within Mutual Signal Range?

As a side note, can Technomancers hack anything that's using a Laser Link rather then a Signal to transmit and recieve information?

If there is no Signal the technomancer can't hack, specially if the equipment is turned off.
I don't know about laser link, I know there is an echo that allows a technomancer to make his skin function like a skinlink, perhaps there is an echo for that also.

A TM still needs to be in signal range and he has no way to demodulate signals from a laser link, much less create his own. But remember that every device not running in hidden mode also acts as a relay, so being out of range should rarely be an issue.

If the device has it's signal turned off, then the TM needs either physical access and the skinlink echo, or the device has to be connected to the matrix via a hardline.
TMs cannot by themselves interact with a laserlink, they need hardware to do that. There is no echo that allows them to shoot a communication laser from their eyes.

But there should be. While skinlink is handy to have and builds to one of the best echos combinations ever most technomancers I know get by by just having a piece of juink comlink with basicalyl every sort of trasmision media they can cram on it built in and have it with a wifi connection. Now for an offnet system their going to need to get up there and physically patch it on the system but other then that it's no problem.

The Skinlink echo from Submersion will allow the hacking of a device without a Signal Rating, if the technomancer is able to touch the device (Unwired, p. 147).

There are no Echoes or Complex Forms which allow a technomancer to hack a device that is powered off or to mimic the effects of a Laser Link. A technomancer could technically hack into a device which has a beam link connection to another device and hack across the beam connection. (Unwired, p. 51)

Also note that the skinlink echo lets them access any device whether it has a skinlink built into it or not, so long as it's on and is being touched by the TM.

Bah, if they gave technos a laserlink echo, then people will claim there's only a slight power difference between a communication laser and a laser capable of doing damage.
So then they add in an advanced echo that allows the eye laser to do damage, and next thing you know there's 10,000 technos running around seattle shooting lasers from their eyes while spouting cliche anime attack names.

There's already rules for catgirls (surge) with psychic control over computers(technomancer) and their talking animal companions (bastet), don't give them magical eye beam finisher moves too...




Oh damnit, I hate my brain... 5 teenager magicians with custom armor spells that are visible as colored spandex suits, various light element combat spells, and weapon foci that look like cartoonish versions or real weapons... Mentor them all to a free spirit that manifests as a floating head.
I should take this to a different thread...

I just pictured their armor all taking the form of sailor suits, and each one going with a different elemental specialization, the electric one being more physical and unarmed combat style, the water one being the brainy one, plus having a fire and two light ones........

And don't forget the TMs with a signal over 9000.

Please don't. Just don't....

Hehe. Little girls - for when everything just absolutely, positively has to die.

Lolz at above comments.
But yeah, back to main topic.

No, if the node in question has no signal he can't hack it via ordinary TM signal. You need a two way communication to establish a subscription and that is needed when you're logging/hacking into a node.

However, you MIGHT (forgot and don't want to look it up at the moment) be able to send it a spoof command as all it needs is to receive it as there is no need for a subscription. But this would be the case where it HAD wifi on but an effective signal of 0 due to jamming or whatnot. If it had wifi but was turned off then it can't receive signals of any kind.

Getting back to the main topic as well, the answer is a resounding.... maybe.

Via AR, he has to be within the mutual Signal range, and wifi capabilities have to be turned on.
Via VR, he can access if from anywhere if he takes long enough to find the node AND it is connected to the Matrix (even if wifi is off, such as via an optical connection), though this may require hacking through several nodes to access the one you want.
If wifi is off and it's not connected to the Matrix at a whole (such as an internal system that is within a specific complex and not connected to anything outside the facility) then the only way to hack it is to be in person to something connected to that system AND have the Skinlink Echo.

When I read this thread title it gave me the idea of a TM who's bedroom has high rating WiFi negating wallpaper on it to block out signals so he can sleep better, a-la Daredevil's sensory deprivation bed.

Do technomancers dream of digital sheep?

I'd like to note that if a device has laser link, a tm can always get a cheap commlink/skinlinked or wireless-enabled laser link receiver and roll with that.

True, but it'd become apparent real fast to one end of the link that communications were severed, unless you decided to use two laser linked devices and literally perform a "man in the middle" attack. Though over distance, the precision necessary would be incredibly bullsh*t to maintain a perfectly straight line.

Sometimes. More often than not, they're trying to hack in to their own alarm clock while asleep t shut it off. That, or their apartment complex's fire alarm system...

Damned complex and testing the alarm system at nine in the morning when us normal, up-at-all-times-TM's are trying to get a full three hours of sleep. Seriously, how dare they?

In all honesty, I was actually trying to access the fire alarm system at my complex. Wirelessly. With my mind. To shut it down. While snoozing... Didn't work.