Fashionconcious stumblers uses :
Macs with KisMac and whatever card works with it this week.
KisMac, on a PowerBook G3 Pismo.
Senao NCD-2511-EXT2 + 6dbi antenna.
I've also got a random Motorola broadcom-based card that works with kismac in passive mode too, and an orinoco gold.
Yeah, simonl and I are trying to collect one of every supported card just for fun
Here's how we're doing:
AirPort Extreme card - active mode - his macbook, my pb g4, and the Pismo with the broadcom card.
Apple AirPort Extreme card, passive mode - same as above.
AirPort card, passive mode - orinoco in AirPort slot.
Atheros based card, passive mode - we need to get another one - the past one met with a slight accident when it bent a few pcmcia pins, and necessitated the complete disassembly of the laptop for the repair.
Cisco Aironet card, passive mode - don't have one.
Prism2/Orinoco/Hermes - two cards, senao, and orinoco gold.
PrismGT card - wish i had one of those with an external antenna.
USB Prism2 device - he can't find his, and mine is screwed up after a failed firmware hack (attempted to change regulatory domain).
And, the one that's in development - USB ralink device, we should grab one.
So, that's 5 cards we need to find
I think I am somewhere between fashion-conscious (we use kismac), hardcore stumbler (card, and external antenna, but os x, not linux), and OCWDD (trying to find a way to mount the 12dbi antenna on the roof of the car, but getting annoyed that it's not entirely possible, and settling for the 6dbi instead).
I used to be somewhere near casual - I used to use my G4 12" for stumbling, but it was with KisMac and the internal AP extreme, I found half of my nets that way (through sheer persistance...).
The Senao card, and 6dbi antenna are awesome though. I re-drove a route I had done at least 10 times with the 12" G4, and found 100 new networks.
Although it is kind-of obvious that a very good card, and external antenna on the roof will find more than internal laptop wireless.
Most of the people I know that use KisMac do almost fit into the causal category - just use it to find what's out there, and probably can't be bothered with wigle. Actually, most of them have no GPS, so I occasionally lend it to them (on the condition that they give me the log files to upload to wigle
)