Wardriving in UK?

I have a Belkin FD7632-4 router which for want
of something better to do I'd like to attach
an external aerial to just to see what is
living in the area. (I'm in SW UK)

Why has the Belkin got 2 aerials and which one
do I connect to?

If the Belkin is not suitable can anyone suggest a
router that is?

Any other tips?

TIA

Just Another M.I 5 1/2 Fan wrote:
> I have a Belkin FD7632-4 router which for want
> of something better to do I'd like to attach
> an external aerial to just to see what is
> living in the area. (I'm in SW UK)
>
> Why has the Belkin got 2 aerials and which one
> do I connect to?
>
> If the Belkin is not suitable can anyone suggest a
> router that is?

Use Google and search for wardriving.

I would also suggest spending a few weeks researching
basic wireless fundamentals as your questions would seem
to indicate you are way over your head.

"Just Another M.I 5 1/2 Fan" <smellyfartybum@aol.com> hath wroth:

>I have a Belkin FD7632-4 router which for want
>of something better to do I'd like to attach
>an external aerial to just to see what is
>living in the area. (I'm in SW UK)

It's not easy to do war driving with a wireless router. It's normally
done with a wireless *CLIENT* radio.

>Why has the Belkin got 2 aerials and which one
>do I connect to?

Diversity reception. It increases the probability that one antenna
will hear the signal better than the other. More specificially, it
protects against "frequency selective fading" problems, where one
antenna ends up in a null, where the direct and reflected signals
canel. The other antenna is mostly likely not in the null and will
hear the transmission.

>If the Belkin is not suitable can anyone suggest a
>router that is?

Yes, but don't do it. There are routers that have a client mode which
do work for wireless sniffing. I suspect this is not what you want.

>Any other tips?

Yep. Work on the fundamentals, learn the buzzwords, and read the
various war driving web sites and blogs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardriving
See the URL at the bottom of this article.



--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Thanks for the explanation on aerials Jeff.
I had visions of all sorts of reasons for
various frequencies with the twin aerials.

I have a Compaq laptop which shows
an unbelievable number of unsecured
routers around town but the lappy
has no facility for an external aerial.
It would be nice to sit indoors with a
2.4G aerial outside on a rotator which is
what I was sort of asking if it would be
worthwhile doing.

The price of directional aerials for 2.4G
seems to be someone's idea of a joke though.

Seems to be some quite easy to construct aerials here:-

http://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Antennas/WiFi/

"Just Another M.I 5 1/2 Fan" <smellyfartybum@aol.com> hath wroth:

>Thanks for the explanation on aerials Jeff.
>I had visions of all sorts of reasons for
>various frequencies with the twin aerials.

If you're really into antenna diversity, see:
| http://www.commsdesign.com/design_co...cleID=16500279
| http://www.commsdesign.com/design_co...cleID=16501888
| http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk72...8019f646.shtml

>I have a Compaq laptop which shows
>an unbelievable number of unsecured
>routers around town but the lappy
>has no facility for an external aerial.

The usual solutions are:

1. Add a PCMCIA or USB wi-fi card or device. You can run two at the
same time, although it's good form to disable (in software) the one
you're not using.

2. If your Compaq has a MiniPCI card inside, then it might be
possible to snake a u-FL pigtail through a convenient vent hole to the
MiniPCI card.
| http://www.hyperlinktech.com/web/cab...UFL&pgType=ufl
If you do this, use the "main" connector on the MiniPCI. I also
suggest you make the installation permanent as the u-FL connector will
not survive more than a few insertion/removal cycles.

>It would be nice to sit indoors with a
>2.4G aerial outside on a rotator which is
>what I was sort of asking if it would be
>worthwhile doing.

Sigh. Please don't try to build a radar station. The coax cable
attentuation is really horrible at 2.4GHz. Unless you mount the radio
on the roof next to the antenna (or better yet, on the antenna),
you'll lose most of your signal in coax cable losses. This can be
done but methinks there are less complex ways to do sniffing. Also,
note that your wi-fi card will be transmitting as well as receiving. I
don't think your neighbors are going to appreciate the resultant
interference from your sniffing arrangement.

>The price of directional aerials for 2.4G
>seems to be someone's idea of a joke though.

You must be looking at the wrong web pages. 24dBi big "barbeque
grill" dish antennas can be purchased for about $60 US.
http://www.pacwireless.com/products/directional.shtml
http://www.fab-corp.com/home.php?cat=251
However, a small panel antenna with about 8dBi gain is more than
enough for casual war driving. Ask in the wardriving blogs what
others are using. That should give you a clue as to what works best.




--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

"Just Another M.I 5 1/2 Fan" <smellyfartybum@aol.com> hath wroth:

>Seems to be some quite easy to construct aerials here:-
>http://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Antennas/WiFi/

Yep. They are fairly easy.
My favorite is the biquad and Franklin sector antennas.
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/antennas/
Just ignore the salad bowl. The coffee can antenna is probably the
easiest to build, involving only one hole and one solder connection.
Also see:
http://www.freeantennas.com
for easy to build reflectors.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

"Just Another M.I 5 1/2 Fan" <smellyfartybum@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1162753318.843410.61910@h48g2000cwc.googlegro ups.com...
>
> I have a Compaq laptop which shows
> an unbelievable number of unsecured
> routers around town but the lappy
> has no facility for an external aerial.
> It would be nice to sit indoors with a
> 2.4G aerial outside on a rotator which is
> what I was sort of asking if it would be
> worthwhile doing.

> The price of directional aerials for 2.4G
> seems to be someone's idea of a joke though.

Not Really, Go to:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ultimate-2-4-GHz...20041094255The YAGI antenna, Orinoco Gold Card and pigtail cable are the things youneed. Please get the Orinoco gold card with the EXTERNAL input port for apigtail cable as this is very handy because soldering wires can be annoying.Or go here to view the entire store:http://stores.ebay.com/War-Driving-WorldIts cheap enough, you will need these. I live in Ireland and Im getting themshipped over soon. You should find yourself a LiveCD. My favourite isBackTrack, a SLAX flavour of Linux. This isnt nessecerry because you canalso use Windows, but that would be embarassing :)Use, Kismet and Airsnort/Aircrack/Airdump and Etheral. Every tool isavailable within the LiveCD [its like finding a tresure chest the first timeyou run BackTrack].WarDriving is legal, hacking into the networks without persmission isILLEGAL. Do it at your own risk but I would advise that you study more aboutWiFi Networks before jumping in the deep end [as one previous personstated]. If your not careful you could hack the wrong person and end up ingetting a beating and thrown in jail.Be careful man, dont hack unless its for a good reason. Also study/researchEVERYTHING before doing anything because you will also need to purchase aGPS device if you want to map ANY wifi spot/router around your area...unlessyou wish to study the dBi rate from the NetStumbler graphs [which I findextremley interesting and its a method that can be used also to findintruders and its very effective if you have common sense].Sorry for the very long sentences and loads of commas, its late and I amtired.-Peace out.-C Denver