Kansas City Area?

[asmodianx]

I recomend using the HostAP drivers for linux and using kismet. Kismet is a passive mode scanner which picks up alot more AP's and is generally more comprehensive.

Getting kismet to work however may be a pain. The Hostap drivers support Prism II cards (the DWL650 *should* work with these). The Orinoco may require a driver patch to work in passive mode. see http://www.kismetwireless.net
for more info.

Otherwise using Netstumbler for windows is a good option. If your cards dont work, try using the NDIS5 driver.
http://www.netstumbler.com

As for GPS's
You can pick up a Garmin Gecko for around 100$
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?s ... c=111&sp=1
Or an Etrex
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr ... B0002VQ3TE

Really all you need is a working gps which supports NMEA(which most do),
and a serial/power cord. I use a Garmin Rhino 110 which works quite nicely. The Serial/power cord was kind of expensive ($40.. ouch) but its worth it not to play the battery shuffle.

As for WIFI antanae, stop by microcenter, they sell a variety of small antanaes. I have one which does not fit my orinoco however it does
fit my SMC. Also anything that will fit an Apple Airport will also fit the orinoco. If in doubt find an antane which supports a TNC connector and find a converter on ebay. .. Or just buy the whole thing on ebay.
I got an SMC antanae, it hangs nicely over my rearview mirrior mount.

Hope this helps.

[NPMurphy]

Well, the DWL-650 RevP isn't actually a Prism2 card. All DWL-650's up to the revision prior to RevP are Prism2, but it seems they decided on another chipset.

I never thought of checking Microcenter, I was horribly displeased by their lack of decent wifi cards, I didn't even consider that they would have antennae, as they don't have any cards that would take them (without modification).

I've played with both Kismet and Netstumbler. I put my Orinoco card (no antenna yet) in my laptop with Netstumbler running as I drive around on errands, or two and from work. I don't have a GPS, so I can't map them, but it's still fun to see how many APs I find, just as I go about my daily business.

I started buying wifi equipment to start with because I intend to turn one of my laptops (the EverEx, without a battery) into a portable access point. All the cards I've purchased to this day were to obtain that end. I'm happy with the Orinoco, but NetBSD doesn't have the driver support for hostap mode, which is why I ordered the Senao card. The Orinoco works fantastically with Netstumbler, haven't tried it with kismet.

Once again, I really do appriciate the input.

I'm looking into possibly building my own antenna, probably an omni collinear. They seem fairly easy to make, seemingly only second to Cantennas.

I've been researching buying and making antennas, and I think I've decided that I should buy pigtails for my cards so that I have uniform connectors for all my equipment. The plans I saw for a collinear antenna had a N-Female connector on it, and I've been reading up on the different connectors. From what I've read, Getting (x)-to-n-female pigtails seems like the way to go (where x is Orinoco/MC or MMCX).

My wardriving efforts have to remain low-key though. My car has recently been in an accident and has body damage, so I don't really want to call more attention to myself. This means I probably won't get a mag-mount antenna for my car. If there are any local wardrives upcoming, I would love to tag along, as I don't really feel comfortable going out on my own.

Also, if there's anybody in the area that has made or wants to try to make their own antenna, I would love somebody to show me the ropes, or maybe explore the ropes together. All I have for reference right now is some websites.

[asmodianx]

No one as of yet has given me any trouble over wardriving.
IAs for cards, I recomend the SMC 2532W-B. Its PRISM 2.5 and can be used in conjunction with two antanae and its 200mw. Or taking a look on ebay for prism 2.5 cards. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 35896&rd=1

The SMC card goes for about 70$.

[frogman]

Toshiba Satellite CDT400 - Gentoo (FreeBSD probably when 5.3-RELEASE is official)/Pentium (don't remember clock speed, don't have it with me)

I've got a stack of Toshiba lappys. A bunch of them are Pentiums. IIRC the 400 is a P-75. If you want parts, I've got 'em in spades. Off the top of my head I've got a 400CDS, a 205CDS, a 410CDT, a 420CDS, and a couple 486s in the mix. They're Satellite and Sat. Pros. I usually use the 410CDT to stumble, but I've been slowly building up a Compaq LTE 5300 to replace it. Anyway, I've got RAM, bateries (of various states of discharge...), HDDs but no space CD-ROMs. i can loan you a CD-ROM if you need to do an OS install. IIRC none of these older ones can boot off a CD-ROM, but it does make doing an install much easier.

[Guest]

I've got a stack of Toshiba lappys. A bunch of them are Pentiums. IIRC the 400 is a P-75. If you want parts, I've got 'em in spades. Off the top of my head I've got a 400CDS, a 205CDS, a 410CDT, a 420CDS, and a couple 486s in the mix. They're Satellite and Sat. Pros. I usually use the 410CDT to stumble, but I've been slowly building up a Compaq LTE 5300 to replace it. Anyway, I've got RAM, bateries (of various states of discharge...), HDDs but no space CD-ROMs. i can loan you a CD-ROM if you need to do an OS install. IIRC none of these older ones can boot off a CD-ROM, but it does make doing an install much easier.

Actually, my Toshiba is kinda tweaked. The keyboard has a short in it, or maybe the chassis/grounding strips around the keyboard; some of the keys don't work, namely the tab and F2 keys, and being a tab-completion addict like I am, i'd be curious if you had any Toshibas destined for the scrap bin that I might be able to grab a keyboard off of.

[NPMurphy]

forgot to login~

EDIT: Also, I have a 500MB and a 700MB hardrive, the 500MB is fine for what I do with it, but if you happen to have something larger than 700MB you would trade for (I'll throw in some money to make it worth while), I'd appriciate it. I can't seem to find anything less than 20GB 2.5" HDDs.

[asmodianx]

Asmy's warehouse of goodies. well err apartment ..

1 x Toshiba tecra 8000 (64mb ram, 6Gb Hd, PII 300)
1 x Compaq 6500 (PII 300, 6gn Hd, 160 Mb ram)
1 x Compaq presario 1610 (MMX 150 Mhz, 16 Mb, Hd?)
1 x Panasonic toughbook (P6 133Mhz, 72 Mb ram, 2 Gb hd)
1 x Nec Versa V/75 (486dx4 75, 16 mb ram, 2 Gb Hd)

I have a few 200 Mb thru 500ish drives too.

I would prefer not to rip in to the innards of my laptops for pieces.

Let me know if your interested, I d be willing to let the Versa go fairly cheap.

[ZeNiTH]

Oh, I should have checked wigle's forums much earlier. I just started stumbling around the Overland Park area in late October. Been doing it about every other weekend and have found that about 2/3s of the networks I have found haven't been submitted yet. And im still just driving the main streets, rarely going into neighborhoods.

I haven't seen any other wardrivers from the area yet, and it seems kcwireless has gone down? I started the Wigle group Kansas City Wardrivers if any of you want to join. halcyon has joined already, if you happen to read this post, please contact me. Just as I was typing that I see that I got a private message from ax0n... Replying now.

I think a good way to schedule some KC wardrives would be if we could meet up at the KCBeatdown lan parties? O_o

Last edited by ZeNiTH on Wed Dec 29, 2004 5:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

[asmodianx]

OP has quite a bit. Ax0n has the Olathe area scoped out deciently. Ive hit some main streets in Johnson county alot of mine come from road trips here and there. I havnt really had time to properly hit everything.

What kind of rig are you using?

[ZeNiTH]

Compaq V2000: 1.5ghz Centrino, 60gb, 512mb, Proxim Orinoco Gold B/G, 7dBi antenna, gps mouse, netstumbler, 98 grand prix gt

http://zenith.notepadhax.com/images/war ... esetup.jpg

I really haven't gone through the neighborhoods yet, just along some of the main streets of the OP area. I need a navigator to help me get through all these neighborhoods D=. I have been going the speed limit or over so far, im sure I would pick up a lot more if I were going slower. I think my rig must be pretty good if I have gotten so many APs in just a few months =)

[ax0n]

Depends on your antenna and stumbler setup. NetStumbler is pretty quick, and having an external antenna helps.

When I'm wardriving a neighborhood, I have my GPS mounted up by my dash, and I just compare the map of the neighborhood from WiGLE or mapquest to what's on my GPS. It's pretty easy to find your way back to the main drag with a GPS.

We definitely should meet up for a little group drive though.

[ZeNiTH]

I never noticed that "First Discovered By Me" filter before, very handy... http://zenith.notepadhax.com/images/war ... covery.gif

Yea, I definately need to start going in these neighborhoods. And I think I can pretty much stay away from the north-eastern part of KC cause someone got pretty much all of that.

I use a NetStumbler plugin that relays the gps info to MS Maps and Streets, so I have been using that sometimes. I just have problems looking into the passenger seat to read the map.

[asmodianx]

Nice job!
It seems the external antanae does the trick!

I hang my antanae over my rear view mirrior. But a true out side antanae would would find alot more I agree.

-AX

[x-filter]

Well Zenith has found is nav.


LOL.. I find it wrather pointless to wardrive where I live, and I enjoy wardriving with zenith. (smithville.. wouldn't think tehre is much up this way)

[argh]

gee, i hadn't been here in too long. i have talked to both sean n. and chris w. on the phone ever since they've been there! small world. there used to be a girl there named suzanne also, but i think she has left for greener pastures.