WLAN - WarDriving - Antennaz

Wireless is the new revolution. Wireless comes in different forms: Wireless-WAN like GSM, CDMA, EDGE, 3G etc. Wireless MAN like LMDS and MMDS. Wireless LAN which includes 802.11, HiperLAN2, HomeRF. Wireless PAN: Bluetooth, UWB, IrDA etc.

Download my slides from class.

Wireless LAN is of special interest to me because it can be used from in-building networks to long distance networking. I am currently using DLink DWL-900AP+ access point and DLink DWL-650+ PCMCIA Card.

If you are wondering, the PLUS means 2 times the standard speed of 11 mbps of 802.11b. These PLUS cards work on 22mbps and uses a different chipset. So BEWARE, DWL-650+ is not similar to DWL-650 when drivers are concerned!

HACKING into DWL-900AP+
The Amazing power Hack : http://home.earthlink.net/~mlampie/PowerHackDWL-900+.html
you just need to upgrade the firmware. The power hack worked for me. NetStumbler showed a substantial power increase. My AP is a Revision C2.

POE Hack: http://www.ralphfowler.com/links/dwl900.html
This can prove very useful as the 900AP+ does not have Power Over Ethernet.

The DWL-650+ External Antenna HACK: The DWL-650+ has an on-board Antenna. However there is a miniature Connector on the board. See more on: http://deimos.homelinux.org/wireless/mod_dwl650+/ Be careful with the soldering! I nearly damaged my card!!

 

Antennaz
Why buy an expensive antenna when you can make your on. DiY!
Here are some links:
 

The easiest one is the CANtenna:

http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html
http://www.nodomainname.co.uk/cantenna2/cantenna_mark_2.htm
http://www.cruftbox.com/cruft/docs/cantenna.html
http://www.wwc.edu/~frohro/Airport/Primestar/Primestar.html

I tried the CANtenna with cans made out of old photocopy machine drums. They were the correct size!

You can find N-Connectors at CNC (Communications and Communicate), Jamal, in the same building as WDN. They are priced at about Rs 900! You can also place order from Digital Link.

RF coaxial cables (LMR-400) can also be bought from CNC at about Rs 400 per meter.

Another interesting thing to try out is the Collinear Omni: http://www.guerrilla.net/reference/antennas/2ghz_collinear_omni/

WarDriving

I have been WarDriving around Kathmandu. I am using a 14dBi patch with a 200mW card. I am using Kismet and AirSnort. I will be posting my results soon!

Making Kismet and AirSnort work
D-Link has no official Linux support for DWL-650+. There exists, however, a open source driver, namely acx100. Getting the driver to work isn't easy. Download the latest driver from the mentioned webpage. With 2.4.x kernels, the module can be compiled with a single make. For 2.6.x kernels, you'll have to copy some files into the kernel source tree, refer to the README for details. Recompile the kernel after the files have been copied and the Makefile have been edited. I was not able to use the ACX100 drivers for DWL-650+.

KISMET HOWTO: http://www.tipsybottle.com/technology/wireless/RedHat8-Kismet-HOWTO.shtml