QUOTE (FriendoftheDork @ Feb 22 2016, 08:03 AM)

I know in theory it is ludicrous, but if the signal strength is low enough isn't it almost impossible to detect unless you are extremely close or the device is already hacked through the Matrix? I remember in SR 4, a Signal 1 device was practically impossible to detect unless literally ascendent to the user. If you need to get that close to hack a cyborg's arm, he is close enough to eviscerate you.
In 4th yes, it was that way, but thanks to the Magic that is the Matrix any device openly accessing it can be detected within 100 meters automatically and with a little work can find things anywhere in the world.
QUOTE (5th Ed Core pg 235)
You can automatically spot the icons of devices that
are not running silent within 100 meters of your physical
location. No matter where you are in the Matrix, your
commlink or deck (or your living persona) only has its
own antenna for wireless signals, so this distance is measured
from your physical location no matter where you
are in the Matrix. Beyond this distance, you need to make
a Matrix Perception Test (p. 241) to find a specific icon.
For all intents and purposes, there is no “physical”
distance to any host in the Matrix. You can always spot a
host from anywhere on the planet without a test, assuming
the host isn’t running silent.
You can always keep track of your marks, so you can
spot an icon you have a mark on without a test, no matter
the distance.
Running in low level dataflow to and from the matrix mode is what they call running silent in 5th and you can still be detected, just takes a bit more work is all.
You can see more on this on pg 235-236 in Core as well.
The logic is that to really get your full Matrixy bonus goodness you can not just be a receiver of the digital wealth that is the Matrix, you have to be giving back at the same time.
So your smartlink is not just taking in wind conditions and other details, but it is feeding it's own position and data into the Matrix so it can extrapolate optimal targeting angles and other such because apparently all that computional capacity was taken out of the toys.
The Matrix is a cool idea for society in general, like my siggie says it offers the world at your fingertips, but it also comes with the ultimate Big Brother looking over your shoulder all the while.
Which for the normal wageslave is nothing new and almost comforting to have that enveloping layer of protection around them, but for Runners it's suffocating and not really ideal since getting caught because your shorts are singing out to security is embarrassing.
But it also begs the question how a society operates when brown-outs occur or signal noise spikes and your pretty little Matrix is out of reach during those times because physical storage is not the norm anymore and someone cut a lot of corners with devices so how much they do themselves is questionable.
Add to it that the programming behind the Matrix is almost organic, not meaning there is a flesh and blood brain hooked into it, but rather the corps have torn chunks of digital bits out of something far larger than they can currently comprehend and cobbled the pieces into their little Matrix from it, which raises even more questions than it answers.
See Data trails for more teasers on this.