NetStumbler.org Forums - View Single Post - How To Use the Linksys WUSB54G With Netstumbler

05-28-2006

I thought I'd share what I found while playing with this particular adapter. FYI, it uses the RT2571 chipset by RALink. Unfortunately, it has to use the NDIS 5.1 driver in NetStumbler, which is less than ideal.

But the good news is that you CAN make it work, at least going by what I've observed in the last hour or so while playing with different settings in Windows.

I've noticed that while using this adapter, Netstumbler seems to find all the access points around me, but then will "lock on" to the one that I last connected to prior to starting up NetStumbler, and will only "see" that one AP, even though there are at least four other active APs that I know I can pick up. I think this behavior is caused by the driver, not NetStumbler. I've read something before about how the driver will keep a list of APs in its buffer, and the buffer will only get flushed every xx minutes or something like that. This is not what you want for wardriving, obviously. You want the card to be constantly scanning all 11 channels, all the time.

Anyway, here's what I did (and what you can try) to stop that behavior:

If you're using the RALink configuration utility (or some other utility), exit it. I took it out of the Startup group too, but you may want to leave it in there if you don't do much stumbling.

Then, make sure the Wireless Zero Configuration service is turned ON. That's not a mistake. Click Start, Run, and type services.msc. Find the service and make sure it's set to Automatic and then Start it, if you had it turned off.

Next, you want to go to the View Wireless Networks screen. On the left, click on Change the order of preferred networks. Under preferred networks, you'll see a list of the networks that you've connected to before. Click on them one at a time and remove them. Make sure the list is empty, and then click OK.

Wait a few seconds, and Windows will inform you that there are wireless networks available. This just confirms that you've emptied the list.

If you haven't noticed by now, what we're trying to do here is prevent Windows from connecting to any AP, either using the built-in Windows tool or the one from RALink.

So, now that you've got the computer in this state, go ahead and start NetStumbler. Uncheck the icon that will make NetStumbler turn off the Wireless Zero Configuration service. We want to keep it on. Then, click Play and wait a few moments. NetStumbler now will "see" all the access points around you, and will KEEP seeing them, instead of only the one AP that you were connected to. (Hopefully your own!)

Tip: If you want to make absolutely sure you don't connect to anyone else's AP on accident, the easiest way to do that is to disable TCP/IP for your wireless adapter. Without TCP/IP, you can't get an IP address, therefore you won't ever connect to something you're not supposed to.

Hope this helps all the WUSB54G users out there.

05-28-2006	#1 (permalink)
mbolgian Posts: n/a	How To Use the Linksys WUSB54G With Netstumbler I thought I'd share what I found while playing with this particular adapter. FYI, it uses the RT2571 chipset by RALink. Unfortunately, it has to use the NDIS 5.1 driver in NetStumbler, which is less than ideal. But the good news is that you CAN make it work, at least going by what I've observed in the last hour or so while playing with different settings in Windows. I've noticed that while using this adapter, Netstumbler seems to find all the access points around me, but then will "lock on" to the one that I last connected to prior to starting up NetStumbler, and will only "see" that one AP, even though there are at least four other active APs that I know I can pick up. I think this behavior is caused by the driver, not NetStumbler. I've read something before about how the driver will keep a list of APs in its buffer, and the buffer will only get flushed every xx minutes or something like that. This is not what you want for wardriving, obviously. You want the card to be constantly scanning all 11 channels, all the time. Anyway, here's what I did (and what you can try) to stop that behavior: If you're using the RALink configuration utility (or some other utility), exit it. I took it out of the Startup group too, but you may want to leave it in there if you don't do much stumbling. Then, make sure the Wireless Zero Configuration service is turned ON. That's not a mistake. Click Start, Run, and type services.msc. Find the service and make sure it's set to Automatic and then Start it, if you had it turned off. Next, you want to go to the View Wireless Networks screen. On the left, click on Change the order of preferred networks. Under preferred networks, you'll see a list of the networks that you've connected to before. Click on them one at a time and remove them. Make sure the list is empty, and then click OK. Wait a few seconds, and Windows will inform you that there are wireless networks available. This just confirms that you've emptied the list. If you haven't noticed by now, what we're trying to do here is prevent Windows from connecting to any AP, either using the built-in Windows tool or the one from RALink. So, now that you've got the computer in this state, go ahead and start NetStumbler. Uncheck the icon that will make NetStumbler turn off the Wireless Zero Configuration service. We want to keep it on. Then, click Play and wait a few moments. NetStumbler now will "see" all the access points around you, and will KEEP seeing them, instead of only the one AP that you were connected to. (Hopefully your own!) Tip: If you want to make absolutely sure you don't connect to anyone else's AP on accident, the easiest way to do that is to disable TCP/IP for your wireless adapter. Without TCP/IP, you can't get an IP address, therefore you won't ever connect to something you're not supposed to. Hope this helps all the WUSB54G users out there.