Drive-by monitoring of wifi hotspots

**wysocki** · 12-17-2004, 01:09 AM

My new carpc has a wifi antenna and, as I'm driving along, I'll see the network connection icon in the system tray come and go as I drive past wifi access points. Is there any software that will show me the relative strength of the signal and bandwidth available?

Also, I assume most of these are relatively secured but, without a lot of hacking, what would be involved in getting an internet connection?

**Peoples** · 12-17-2004, 01:15 AM

of course....search for wardriving on the internet.
depends what chipset you got....prism2 or whatever....but if you got linux, use kismet....windows use netstumbler

**fantomas** · 12-17-2004, 01:18 AM

Originally Posted by wysocki

Also, I assume most of these are relatively secured but, without a lot of hacking, what would be involved in getting an internet connection?

i've actually found that less than 50% are secured so knock yourself out. oh yea, btw, its illegal in most cases.

**Peoples** · 12-17-2004, 01:22 AM

actually....its never illegal unless you attempt to enter a password, basically like breaking an entering, the law is some act "unauthorized access to a system" or something like that. But anyway....if it has DHCP and you connect to it, and it assigns you an IP.....then your not "stealing" bandwidth, they're giving it to you.

**reggiek945** · 12-17-2004, 01:29 AM

Hey Peoples, what part of Maryland are you from? I grew up in Baltimore, MD. Left in 1988, Army. Now I leave in Oklahoma. Went to LakeClifton/Eastern High.

**Peoples** · 12-17-2004, 01:30 AM

Lol, all over, Frederick, Ocean City, Towson, Owingsmills, Stevenson, Parkville. What part of baltimore you from?

**fantomas** · 12-17-2004, 01:31 AM

so you walk into a house, unauthorized, thats unlocked and a tv falls on you so now its legally yours? i dont think so. and dont say its different because its not. its illegal to connect to an AP when you dont have permission.

**Peoples** · 12-17-2004, 01:35 AM

no....but i do recall a man winning a lawsuite.....he was walking on someone's roof (a burgler) and he fell through the skylight and landed on a knife in the kitchen.....He sued and won the suite......By the way....I had my tv stollen in a smilar situation as you described....and because I did not have proof it was my TV......yes....its their tv now.

Permission is only denied if they set a password. Even if the password is password.... it counts as restricted..any attempt to login is breaking the law...unless you have permission of course

**Peoples** · 12-17-2004, 01:37 AM

The situation with the TV was a bit different. My roommate was high on E and got in a fight with some college frat guys outside my apt......he hit one of them and ran int he house. they kicked the door down and beat the living **** out of him. they stole my tv and left. the guy who kicked the door down broke his ankle. so he called the cops trying to pin it on my roommate. stupid ****ers were drunk. cops showed up and didnt file a report (i was out of town). when i returned i found the cop and the got the name of the guy who file the complaint about his ankle, cops refused to search his apt for a the tv cause i had no proof of ever owning one.