Mark57

Per this thread I promised to post results of my amp test.

Hardware/software:
Compaq E500
Knoppix 3.8.1 installed on the HD
Kismet 2005.01 R1-2
Senao 2511CD+ EXT2
Amp=1 Watt (no name) indoor version, 18 dB gain pre-amp (2nd one on FAB-Corp's amp page)
Mobile Mark 5 dB Mini-Mag Omni on the roof

Today I drove to a residential location that had already been stumbled with Kismet. I parked on the street and started Kismet without the AMP and waited 1 full minute without moving. I detected ZERO AP's. I then powered up the amp an immediately found 17 AP's, again without moving. The top of the map is North. The farthest AP to the West is 585.7 feet and the farthest one to the East is 681.4ft. As you can see, it's still mostly detecting the ones in open line of sight (no big surprise there).

Even though this area was already covered with Kismet without the amp, 3 of the AP's were new. I typically stumble at approximately 18 - 20 mph in this type of housing edition.

I've experienced much better range than this in more open areas. The first day I had it, I parked ~1/2 mile from downtown in a vacant lot with a good view of downtown and detected 765 AP's in 5 minutes without moving. 545 of there were previously detected by me. I drove around closer and got better GPS locations for the new ones.

The attached pic was not intended to give a lot of detail, just a visual overview so you get the idea.

I'm very satisfied with this amp and the results it's providing. I'm seeing new AP's with it in areas I've covered extensively on a daily basis with Kismet. I can only conclude those AP's were too weak to detect previously. There are too many of them showing up since I got the amp to be new AP hardware.

Attached Images

East copy.jpg (20.7 KB, 176 views)

Deoje

I just ordered this from Fab-corp.

Item:1 - Qty:1, 2.4GHz 802.11b/g 1 Watt Indoor Amplifier, Price:194.95

Item:2 - Qty:1, 19 inch LMR-100A N Male / N Male Pigtail, Price:14.95

Item:3 - Qty:1, 19 inch RP-MMCX to N-Male Pigtail, Price:14.95

Item:4 - Qty:1, Cantenna Kit, 19 inch ORiNOCO, Avaya, Proxim, Price:19.99

Can't wait to get it.

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Mark57

Enjoy

Mark57

I ran another test this morning. There's a vacant field near downtown that's surrounded by condominiums and office buildings. This field is one square city block in size so I'm a fair distance from any detectable AP but there's an abundance of AP's just past the field boundaries. I'd previously driven the entire area using the amp, street by street to get accurate GPS locations. Each of the following tests lasted 1 minute each. I parked in the middle of the field and fired up a new Kismet session without the amp. I found 5 AP's. I then started a new session with the amp powered up and at one minute I had 68 AP's. Note, it was still adding AP's slowly at one minute so it was obviously pulling out less than strong signals. I'll create and post the map here tonight. I'm interested to see it myself.

Let's just say I'm very satisfied with this amp. I feel like my driving is much more effective than it was before.

theprez98

If you'll be so kind as to send the amp to me, I can test it out in this environment and report the results back to you.

Also, I've heard that specific amp could be problematic; you really should send it back to the manufacturer via me.

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Mark57

Sure thing, I just now put it in the mail to you. Be sure to wait at home for the snail mail person to bring it. It's in the mail via the New Orleans post office . . . .

theprez98

The way looting has been going down there, the cops are likely to get it before the looters!

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Mark57

I wonder what will happen to all the AP's in WiGle for that area?

I've been looking at my logs recently trying to reconcile where my AP's are with out GPS coordinates in WiGle. I resubmitted about 30 of my August logs and picked up almost 500 new AP's with GPS. Not sure what's going on with that.

Scruge

I'm not sure what's going on at wigle but the maps for my area are really flakey. I've up'd over 30k yet when I filter for just mine it only shows a handful, less than 1000.

So how do you stumble now? Do you drive a mile, stop, collect for a few minutes and then move on?

Mark57

I've not had issues with the maps using JiGle or DiGle but the main web map can be weird at times.

I still stumble the same way. The only audibles I have enabled in Kismet are GPS lost and new AP's. When I hear the new AP discovery rate really speed up, I slow the vehicle down. If it's real strong, I try to stop. This is like around downtown or apartments areas, never on the road.

Scruge

You must of slowed down to much during that TCU upset saturday.

Mark57

Looks like we "both" did. What happened to you guys?

Not making excuses but the few returning starters we have are injured so we have a LOT of freshmen/sophomores stepping into starting roles with little or no playing experience. Adrian Peterson was hurt but came back in later. The offensive line couldn't do anything and the backs and QB's can't do much without them doing their job. Our defensive secondary is pretty weak although they were good at making the tackle after the catch. They're very young.

I saw glimpses of good stuff Saturday and a lot of bad stuff to. They came out like a different team the first series after the half, but it only lasted that one series. It could be a long season. I'm sure Mack Brown and the Longhorns are loving this.

Scruge

So you've got kismet, amp and the easiest city on the continent to drive, you should really start kicking some serious ass soon.

umm... maybe I should consider plan B, 24" parabolic, amp, kismet and the roof of a 75 story office building in downtown.

Wonder if wigle has any issues with 10,000 APs from a single point.

Mark57

Hmm, so what part of doubling my AP count every month for the 2 + months I've been uploading is bad?

Now you're bringing a gun to a gun fight! That's a pretty good thought. Seriously, if you ever do run Kismet, you'll kick yourself for not doing it sooner. I did. I could go to a higher gain antenna but this 5dB Mobile Mark is nice and small.

I keep a GPS breadcrumb trail of every stumble so I don't repeat accidentally and waste time. I combine those into one overlay file so I see all the stumbles on one map in real time and can easily see what's undone. When I started Kismet, I tossed those and started over. Now that I have the amp, I'm starting over again.

renderman

Only one antenna? You need to think bigger.

Never underestimate the power of multiple antennas.

http://www.renderlab.net/projects/wardrive/rig/ (needs updating)

Basically, I have 2 x 5db mag mounts (AMP'd) on the roof along with 2 x 16db directionals pointed out the sides.

I got a couple senao 200mw cards at defcon that will allow me to integrate some other gear, but budget constraints (read: house, GF, food) have limited my purchasing of new pigtails (hint, anyone got some MMCX to N-male pigtails they'd like to donate )

In the end I'll probobly have the 2 omni's on the roof, the 2 directionals on the WRT pointed at the sides and maybe a couple wide angle panels pointing fore and aft.

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