A portable captive portal that disguises itself as a public Wi-Fi access point and serves locally stored audio manifestos, while a retro four-digit display counts visitors.
Honeypot Manifesto is a small networked media-art device built around a ESP8266, a four-digit 7-segment display, a push button, flash storage, and a self-contained web server.
The idea loosely borrows from two technologies from very different periods:
- 📻 Cold War numbers stations, which transmitted mysterious spoken sequences over shortwave radio
- 🍯 Honeypots, systems intentionally made attractive to encourage interaction
Instead of broadcasting coded numbers over shortwave, Honeypot Manifesto creates a Wi-Fi network. A nearby visitor connects to it and reaches a local captive-portal page containing an audio player.
The content is not fetched from the Internet.
It is stored directly in the ESP8266.
Nearby phone
│
│ Wi-Fi
▼
┌──────────────────┐
│ FireBeetle │
│ ESP8266 │
│ │
│ Wi-Fi AP │
│ Captive portal │
│ Local web server │
│ Flash storage │
└────────┬─────────┘
│
┌─────────┴──────────┐
▼ ▼
Manifesto audio Visitor counter
│ │
▼ ▼
Phone browser 4-digit display
The reference demonstration uses a recorded Contracultura Maker manifesto generated with text-to-speech.
- 📡 ESP8266 Wi-Fi access point
- 🌐 Self-contained captive portal
- 🎧 Locally hosted MP3 audio
- 💾 Audio files stored in ESP8266 flash
- 🔄 Multiple audio files can rotate between visits
- 🔢 Persistent visitor counter
- 📟 Four-digit retro LED display
- 🔘 Physical activation button
- ⚙️ Local administration interface
- ✏️ Configurable Wi-Fi SSID
- ⬆️ Browser-based MP3 upload
- ♻️ Visitor-counter reset
- 🔋 Portable power-bank operation
- 🖨️ Two-part 3D-printed enclosure
- 📴 No upstream Internet connection required for the manifesto
- 📜 MIT licensed
Publishing something on the Internet does not necessarily mean anybody will pay attention to it.
Honeypot Manifesto changes the way the content is encountered.
Instead of:
Post manifesto online
│
▼
Another URL among millions
the project creates:
Unexpected Wi-Fi network
│
▼
Curiosity
│
▼
Connect
│
▼
Captive portal
│
▼
Hidden audio
The small amount of effort required to discover the content becomes part of the interaction.
The network itself is therefore part of the artwork.
One of the conceptual references for the project is the numbers station.
During the Cold War and afterward, unusual shortwave broadcasts could be heard transmitting combinations of:
- numbers
- letters
- tones
- musical fragments
- repeated phrases
They were widely understood to be associated with intelligence communications, particularly one-way messages intended for agents in foreign countries.
A simplified numbers-station architecture is:
Intelligence service
│
▼
Shortwave transmitter
│
▼
Numbers / coded message
│
▼
Radio receiver
│
▼
Unknown listener
Honeypot Manifesto replaces:
shortwave transmitter
with:
Wi-Fi access point
and replaces:
coded numbers
with:
spoken manifesto
Historical reference:
BBC — The spooky world of the numbers stations
In information security, a honeypot is generally a deliberately attractive or exposed system intended to encourage interaction so that activity can be observed.
Traditional examples include:
fake SSH server
fake web application
fake credentials
fake vulnerable service
decoy machine
Honeypot Manifesto uses the term more loosely.
It is not designed primarily to collect attack telemetry.
Instead, the attractive object is:
a seemingly useful Wi-Fi network
and the intended reward for exploring it is:
unexpected audio content
The architecture is closer to a captive-portal art object than to a conventional intrusion-detection honeypot.
Power bank
│
▼
┌───────────────┐
│ ESP8266 │
│ │
│ Access Point │
│ Web server │
│ Flash storage │
│ Admin page │
└───────┬───────┘
│
┌────────────┼────────────┐
│ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼
Push button Display Wi-Fi users
│ │ │
│ │ ▼
│ │ Captive portal
│ │ │
│ │ ▼
│ │ Audio player
│ │ │
│ │ ▼
│ └────── Visit counter
│
▼
Start server
| Qty | Component | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DFRobot FireBeetle ESP8266 | DFRobot |
| 1 | DFRobot Gravity 4-Digit LED Segment Display | DFRobot |
| 1 | Push button | DFRobot |
| 1 | Power bank | Portable power |
| 1 | microUSB cable | Power |
| 1 | Two-part 3D-printed enclosure | Cults3D |
The reference controller is the DFRobot FireBeetle ESP8266.
Relevant characteristics include:
- Tensilica L106 32-bit MCU
- 80 MHz clock, configurable up to 160 MHz
- 2.4 GHz 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
- TCP/IP
- I²C
- SPI
- UART
- PWM
- Arduino compatibility
- external SPI flash
- USB or LiPo operation
- Access Point / Station modes
Official page:
The board is particularly appropriate for this project because a single inexpensive microcontroller can provide:
Wi-Fi network
+
web server
+
local storage
+
GPIO
without requiring a Raspberry Pi or external router.
The project uses the:
DFRobot Gravity 4-Digital LED Segment Display
The module provides:
- four digits
- 8-level brightness control
- two-wire communication
- 5 V operation
- compact retro-style numerical output
Its role is simple:
Page accessed
│
▼
Counter + 1
│
▼
Update display
The result gives the physical device an immediate indication that somebody has reached the content.
The documented project wiring is:
Button
├── D3
└── GND
Display
├── SDA → D1
├── SCL → D2
├── VCC
└── GND
Diagram:
FireBeetle ESP8266
┌───────────────────┐
│ │
Button ─────►│ D3 │
│ │ │
GND │ D1 ─────► SDA │
│ D2 ─────► SCL │
│ │
└───────────────────┘
│
▼
4-digit display
Use the display module according to its current DFRobot electrical specifications.
After the device is powered from the power bank, the push button starts the server.
The intended sequence is:
Power ON
│
▼
Device ready
│
▼
Press button
│
▼
Wi-Fi server starts
│
▼
SSID becomes visible
│
▼
Visitors can connect
This makes the installation easy to activate only when needed.
The documented default SSID is:
StarbucksWIFI
It can later be changed through the administration page.
The SSID is part of the interaction.
Possible deployment names could instead be:
FREE_WIFI
LibraryGuest
ConferenceWiFi
MysteryNetwork
Manifesto
Use a network name appropriate to the environment where you have permission to operate the device.
When a visitor connects, the device serves a local web page.
Conceptually:
Phone
│
▼
Connect to SSID
│
▼
HTTP request
│
▼
ESP8266 local server
│
▼
Manifesto page
│
▼
Audio player
The page and audio exist on the ESP8266 itself.
No external website is required for playback.
The device does not need an upstream Internet connection to serve its primary content.
Internet
✕
Phone
│
▼
ESP8266
│
▼
Local page
│
▼
Local MP3
This is useful for:
- exhibitions
- workshops
- galleries
- conferences
- temporary installations
- remote locations
- interventions where no router is available
The repository currently includes:
Manifesto.mp3
The device can also accept additional MP3 files through its administration interface.
The project documentation specifies that when several recordings are present, they can be rotated between visits.
That means the installation can contain:
manifesto01.mp3
manifesto02.mp3
manifesto03.mp3
...
and reveal different content over time.
There are two straightforward approaches.
Record the manifesto directly with:
- microphone
- phone
- recorder
- DAW
then export it as MP3.
The original demonstration used ElevenLabs text-to-speech with the Ethan Spanish voice.
This makes it possible to build a complete installation from:
text
│
▼
TTS
│
▼
MP3
│
▼
ESP8266 Flash
For the original demonstration, the audio content was a short Contracultura Maker manifesto.
Its themes include:
- distrust of technological objects as black boxes
- questioning conventional ideas of utility
- building outside expected purposes
- resisting technological conformity
- maintaining skepticism around human/AI interaction
- recursively returning to the beginning
The text becomes more than something published on a page because the delivery mechanism is part of the message:
manifesto
+
unexpected network
+
physical device
+
curiosity
=
Honeypot Manifesto
Configuration is performed locally.
Connect to the Honeypot Manifesto Wi-Fi network and open:
http://192.168.4.1/admin
The documented default credentials are:
User: admin
Password: 123456
Change these values in the firmware before using the device outside a controlled test environment.
The administration page provides functions for:
- changing the Wi-Fi SSID
- uploading MP3 files
- viewing the visitor count
- resetting the visitor counter
Uploaded files are stored in the ESP8266 flash filesystem.
Configuration information such as the SSID and visitor counter is also retained by the device.
A major feature of the architecture is that there is no microSD card or external server.
ESP8266 Flash
├── audio file(s)
├── configuration
└── visitor data
This keeps the installation compact and self-contained.
The main practical limitation is storage capacity.
Compress audio appropriately before uploading large recordings.
For spoken-word material, a modest MP3 bitrate is normally sufficient.
Every content visit can increment the counter shown on the four-digit display.
Example:
0000
│
visitor
▼
0001
│
visitor
▼
0002
│
visitor
▼
0003
Because the display has four digits, the physical interface naturally emphasizes the idea that the work is being discovered one listener at a time.
The value can be reset from the admin interface.
If several MP3 files are uploaded, the installation can vary what each visitor encounters.
Visitor 1
│
▼
Audio A
Visitor 2
│
▼
Audio B
Visitor 3
│
▼
Audio C
Visitor 4
│
▼
Audio A
This opens the possibility of building:
- serialized manifestos
- multi-part narratives
- rotating poems
- different languages
- alternative versions of the same text
- evolving exhibition content
The current repository is deliberately small:
honeypotManifesto/
├── LICENSE
├── Manifesto.mp3
├── README.md
└── honeypotManifesto1.ino
Main ESP8266 firmware.
It implements the networked installation logic.
Example audio used by the project.
Original project summary, hardware links, and enclosure link.
MIT License.
git clone https://github.com/ronibandini/honeypotManifesto.git
cd honeypotManifestoDownload:
Add the ESP8266 Arduino core through Boards Manager.
Project:
Select the board configuration appropriate to the FireBeetle ESP8266.
DFRobot also provides board-specific documentation through the FireBeetle product page.
The reference display is:
DFRobot Gravity 4-Digital LED Segment Display
SKU DFR0645-G
Use the current DFRobot example/library compatible with the display.
Documentation:
Use:
Button → D3 + GND
Display SDA → D1
Display SCL → D2
Display VCC → appropriate supply
Display GND → GND
The documented defaults are:
SSID: StarbucksWIFI
Admin user:
admin
Admin password:
123456
Change at least the administration password before deployment.
Open:
honeypotManifesto1.ino
compile and upload it to the FireBeetle ESP8266.
Connect a power bank through microUSB.
Press the physical button to activate the network.
From a phone or laptop, connect to the configured SSID.
The local portal should become available.
If the operating system does not automatically open its captive-portal assistant, open:
http://192.168.4.1/
manually.
Open:
http://192.168.4.1/admin
and use the configured credentials.
From there:
change SSID
upload audio
inspect counter
reset counter
The project uses a custom two-part enclosure.
The enclosure is designed around:
- FireBeetle ESP8266
- four-digit display
- push button
- internal wiring
- portable power arrangement
The compact enclosure turns the network server into a visible physical object rather than leaving it as a loose development board.
Hackster News published a dedicated feature by Nick Bild about Honeypot Manifesto.
The article describes the project as a portable ESP8266 device that presents itself as a Wi-Fi access point, leads curious visitors to locally hosted audio, and displays the number of accesses on a seven-segment counter.
Access Point of Interest — Hackster News
The complete project page documents:
- ESP8266
- four-digit display
- push button
- wiring
- captive portal
- audio uploads
- multiple-file rotation
- visitor counter
- SSID configuration
- administration page
- default settings
- enclosure
- demo
Honeypot Manifesto — Hackaday.io
Gallery:
The Spanish-language project article explains the origin of the device in Contracultura Maker workshops, the inspiration from numbers stations, the captive-portal concept, construction, administration page, audio workflow, and demonstration manifesto.
A 2025 interview with Roni Bandini in Colombian magazine Revista RAYA discusses Contracultura Maker and explicitly references Honeypot Manifesto among the devices associated with that practice.
¿Qué es la contracultura Maker? Entrevista con Roni Bandini — Revista RAYA
The custom 3D-printable enclosure is available on Cults3D:
Honeypot Manifesto emerged directly from the ideas explored in the Introducción a la Contracultura Maker workshops.
More projects, essays, machines, and technical context are collected in:
- FireBeetle ESP8266 — DFRobot
- Gravity 4-Digit LED Segment Display — DFRobot
- DFR0645 documentation
- ESP8266 Arduino Core
- ElevenLabs
- Numbers stations — BBC
- The Honeynet Project
Other projects by Roni Bandini combining unusual networks, hidden content, physical devices, and Maker Counterculture.
An ESP8266 pocket game that turns nearby Wi-Fi network metadata into game targets.
Like Honeypot Manifesto, it repurposes the normally invisible Wi-Fi environment as material for a standalone physical device.
github.com/ronibandini/routerattack
Ephemeral micropoetry stored directly on MIFARE NFC cards, limited to three lines and three readings before deletion.
Another project where a communications/storage technology becomes the medium for distributing text.
github.com/ronibandini/MIFAREPoetry
An experimental off-grid payment ledger running over Meshtastic direct messages and embedded hardware.
Another project that takes an existing communications technology and builds an unexpected application on top of it.
github.com/ronibandini/Meshtbank
The documented example credentials are:
admin
123456
These are suitable only as development defaults.
Use a different password before operating the device in a public or semi-public setting.
MP3 files can consume ESP8266 flash quickly.
For spoken-word recordings:
- keep files short
- use an appropriate bitrate
- remove unnecessary metadata
- verify free filesystem space before uploading several recordings
Honeypot Manifesto is released under the MIT License.
See LICENSE for details.
Roni Bandini
Maker, AI developer, electronic artist and writer.
- 🐙 GitHub: @ronibandini
- 💼 LinkedIn: Roni Bandini
- 📸 Instagram: @ronibandini
- 🐦 X: @RoniBandini
- ✍️ Medium: bandini.medium.com
- 🛠️ Hackster: Roni Bandini
- 🔧 Hackaday.io: Roni Bandini
Buenos Aires, Argentina.