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(98 votes) Published: Feb 04, 2006 11:26 p.m. In 4 Favorites Lists Viewed 1304 times
Ok, I just did an egg directory search and it appears that many people on this site are totally clueless about wardriving. So, if you have already familiarized yourself with wardriving, please disregard this egg. Otherwise, sit back and get ready to experience the best internet of your life.
Tired of dialup (yes I still have dialup at home, mostly because my dad’s coorporation pays for it)? Want to download music more efficiently or even MORE SAFELY?
Wireless (WiFi) Internet has become much more commonplace in recent years. Now, instead of being simply a privelage for the wealthy and technologically blessed, almost every housing development or even town has at least a few good wireless networks. The key is finding them, marking their locations on a good map, and then using them to download large music and movie files.
There are two primary types of wireless networks, those that are secure (WEP) and those that are nonsecure. Obviously, we will be dealing with nonsecure wireless networks, as they have become so ubiquitous, it is no longer necessary to even possess hacking skills.
Wardriving involves driving around in a vehicle (usually a car) with a few friends and locating various wireless \"hotspots\" and then connecting to them via your wireless card. The beauty of wireless internet lies in the fact that it is, indeed, wireless. Thusly, there are no concrete boundaries to its availabilty. Whereas with dialup or even hard-wired DSL and Cable, you can only connect through certain access points; with wireless the access is determined through more of a radius model. That is, if you are within the radius of sensitivity, you can, (and hopefully will) connect to the network and utilize it for your own purposes.
So, what do you need for wardriving?
A computer (duh)- Although laptops are by far the best, any PDA (palm etc) and even small desktops running on some kind of battery source (think jerry-rig...) can be employed. The most important piece of equipment is a wireless card. These can be purchased online, at walmart, radio shack (although they suck) or pretty much any other place. Computer shows generally have them for cheapest (that is like less than 30 dollars). Obviously the best way to get one, and the way which most of you should attempt first, is to steal one (schools usually have them on wireless laptop carts).
A car- not entirely necessary, but a plus, especially if you have one or have buddies that drive. I know I did this before I could drive. Remeber, the bigger the car, the larger the work area.
Optional--- A high gain antenna- To mount on your car. I don’t use one personally, because I use a Macintosh iBook G4, which has amazing wireless capabilities on its own. But, there are some good plans on the net. Basic electrical skills are a plus. Its primary purpose is to increase your range of sensitivity (more networks from static location).
HOW TO WARDRIVE: Get some buddies together and go to your local housing development. The more concentrated the houses are (think townhouses in sprawly suburbs--- a wireless hotzone) the better your chances of finding wireless gold. This part is a lot easier than it sounds. You will literally be astounded by the large number of wireless networks you can hook onto. You’ll probably want to download some software that detects wireless signal. I use MacStumbler, a variant on Netstumbler (available from netstumbler.com).
It is highly reccomended that you set up some kind of workstation in the back of your car. This can include, but is certainly not limited to: A desk of sorts (again.. jerry rig) especially for those larger computers, some kind of light shielding device (be it only a cardboard box, trust it helps), and preferably something else to do while you’re downloading large files (cards, porn, use your imagination).
So, what do you do if someone sees you? The best thing to do is to just act natural. Close the computer (but not fully, or your files will stop downloading) and act like you’re just sitting there. Most people don’t care, and even more will have no idea that you’re doing what you’re doing, even if they do care. In the United States, the laws on wardriving are somewhat ambiguous, but its best to Err on the side of caution. I personally consider it a perfectly legal practice provided you are on public land while doing it (think parking lot--another reason why townhouses rock for wardriving). If people are too lazy/stupid to restrict access to their WiFi, then I definately can capitalize on it.
Still, if it gets too intense, just leave and don’t come back for a few days...
So, what do you download and why. Well, my home life centers around 56kb/s dailup, so basically anything downloading faster is much better. I use limewire, because I don’t believe in paying for music that pretty much sucks (i generally like 1 song- if that- per cd). A plus about wardriving is that you’re ’physically’ connecting to someone else’s internet. I’m not sure exactly how the whole IP address thing works, so I’m not going to attempt to explain it. But, using simple logic, If I appear as a phatom connector to a network for a few minutes, the RIAA is gonna have a hell of a time tracking me down (or at least thats the way I see it). Still, if nothing else, its much faster than my home internet.
They key to successful wardriving is to heavily capitalize on opporotunity. I know from reading eggs on this site, that a lot of people are experts in being opporotunistic, so this should be a breeze. Housing developments work well, because they’re dense, generally occupied by people that are more well-off (although, I’m definately not poor) and can therefore afford wireless networks for home use. Try to stick to doing it only at night (ie after 10 pm), bring a car that isn’t too conspicuous (obviously no underlight kits, subwoofers blasting, or crazy neons--- this is not the time or place for that) but is rather large. Larger car= bigger workstation. Bring some friends, because it is both creepy and very boring to do on your own. Bring some CDR’s to burn music and movie files directly to rather than filling up your harddrive. And finally, have fun with it... and make records of it for future reference and for others interested in the same cause. Form an underground wardriving society at your school or in your neighborhood with friends. Make detailed maps with things like location, approximate radius of connection, good hiding places, and quick escape routes.
I hope this information has been helpful to you, and I hope to see some of you out and about with the dim glow of LCD screens coming from the back of your cars...
Mar 10, 2006 9:00 pm - good egg very detailed. i use wireless internet from all my neighbors(all pretty fast so i change every day or so, that way they don’t feel like their net is always lagging)wardriving without the driving... war?
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