Im just curious what kinds of laptops everyone has, and what wireless cards they are using, i would realy like to start exploring wireless uses but dont know what kind of laptop i should invest in. I dont wana spend that much for a laptop so something used, and also wanted to know what OS people are using, is stumbler for UNIX yet? and what kind of mag mount antennas people have. i would realy appreciate it.


thanks alot,
systemd0wn

SystemDown:
I think just about any laptop will work for stumbing/surveys. I use a Compaq LTE5300 along with a Proxim Symphony WLAN card(DO NOT USE THESE!) for my micro-net, but I can NOT use ANY Proxim card with NetStumbler, they use the Prism2 chipset and are Home RF, NOT 802.11b compliant, so they will not work with any of the survey software that is curently available. They are also FHSS(Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum) and not DSSS(Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum) like the Orinoco silver/gold cards, get one of those over ANY Proxim card, unless all you want to do is run a small home network, which is all you'll be able to do with Proxim cards(I didn't RTFM first, so I lost out!).
I know of many Sony VAIOs, Compaqs and IBMs being used, so the list is long, and I'll bet any machine that has Linux, Windows and so on will work without any troubles.

I have noticed many folks run Linux, and Windows, so you should have no problems calling for help should you need it.

I hope this is of use to you, good luck in your endeavors!

73!
DATA, KA9UCE, A.E.C
ka9uce@NOSPAMnetscape.net

My stumbling laptop is a Digital HiNote DX4-75 with 20 megs of ram. This is running windows 98 so Sniffer 4.7 will work.

Everything works as it's supposed to. If you have anything faster, you'll be set...

Olivetti Echos P100C - 100MHz Pentium (overclocked to 133), 40Mb RAM, Win98SE

My rig is a IBM ThinkPad, Model 755CD. 100MHz Pentium, 16MB, 1.2GB, Win95. Running an ORiNOCO Gold card and an Antenna Systems mag-mount 3dB antenna.

Thorn

Dell PIII 500 laptop with dual lithium ion batteries. Orinoco Gold card w/pigtail connector, fab-corp 5db mag-mount external antenna. Running win-ME with 128MB ram, 20GB hard drive, AiroPeek, Sniffer 4.7, mappoint 2002, stumbverter.

HP N3402 - Celeron 500, 64mb ram, 5 gig HD, Orinoco Silver card, Fab-corp n-male pigtail to (currently) a homemade pringles can antenna. Hey. it works. I'm happy

And, for those of you who care, the pringles can makes a good deal of difference and for 5$, you sure as heck cant beat it anywhere.

I'm gonna try the 'cantenna' (coffee can) next to see if it's any better.

Toshiba 3010CT mini-notebook. 8.5"x11"x0.75"
very small, no CD-ROM. Lucent/Cisco/SMC cards.
USB-to-serial-to-Garmin GPS cable. Dual boot
linux/win98, although I'm having some trouble
with linux since I switched to win98. Fab-corp
omni mag mount. Works for me.

compaq presario 500mhz pentium. 128mb ram, 2gb hd. Lucent Orinoco Gold with 14db patch antenna purchased from hyperlinktech. having decent results with the patch antenna. Making a pringles tonight though so hopefully I'll be able to pick up this AP in my neighborhood i'm after. Using Sniffer 4.7 and airopeek demo. Still learning 4.7 as i'm really used to etherpeek and wildpackets products. Although I really like the interface and functionality of 802.11 features in sniffer 4.7

Word to the wise. Check out fab-corp.com as there prices are FAR better then hyperlinktech. I got rapped. Ahhh live and learn.

Sh00t3r

I have Two

Check out Http://www.veteransmc.com/wireless.htm

1st
Intermec 6640 with wavelan 802.11b ds hr card

SVGA all-light readable display - 10.4" Color Pentium® processor@333MHz
128MB RAM
12 GB hard disk drive
Windows® 98SE or Windows® 2000
Type II and Type III PC card slots available
Integrated 802.11b radio
Integrated ethernet
Integrated USB
Haicom Compact flash GPS card

2nd

Intermec 6651
Hand held pc

Physical Characteristics

Length: 21.3cm (8.4'')
Height: 2.83cm (1.1'')
Width: 14.0cm (5.5'')
Weight: 860grams (1.9lbs.)

Power

Battery Type: 1800 mAh Lithium ION battery pack, (2) Lithium coin backup batteries
Battery Life: 8 hours typical use, 4 hours continuous use
Power Management: Suspend/Resume
AC Adapter: 100 - 240V, 50-60Hz input
Battery Recharge Time: 2.5 hours

Hardware

Memory Standard: 32MB SD RAM, 24MB Masked ROM
Microprocessor: Toshiba 129 MHz MIPS CPU (TX3922) with cache write back function
Interfaces: USB, PCMCIA Type II slot, Type II Compact Flash slot, Serial / VGA/Monitor, IrDA 1.1 (4Mbps), Integrated V.90 modem (56k), Headphone jack
Control Panel: Launcher, two customer defined function keys, one touch access to InkWriter, Mail, Explorer, Internet connection, backlight adjustment, and 180 degree screen rotation
Display: Color TFT Active Matrix LCD, 800x480 pixels, 0.192 dot pitch, 64K colors
Viewing Area: 18cm (7.1'') diagonal
Keyboard: 79 key keyboard

Movie/Still Camera

Rotatable, 350,000 pixel CMOS with multimedia gallery

Special Buttons & LEDs

On/Off, Camera shutter, web surfing, e-mail receipt, 10 icons on display, charging LED, e-mail receipt LED

Software

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® for HandHeld PC 2000
Pre-Installed Software: Terminal Server Client -Thin Client Computing
This integrated thin client turns your Handheld PC into a Windows-based Mobile Terminal. When away from your office, you can now access full-function desktop applications, when connected to Microsoft Windows 2000 Terminal Services. You can connect over both wired and optional wireless LANs, or dial-up connections. When the Mobile Terminal is disconnected, you can still access local data and applications.

Microsoft Internet Explorer for H/PC - compatible with IE 4.0 on desktop Windows Media Player™ - supports both WMA (Windows Media) and MP3 formats Microsoft Pocket Outlook (Inbox, Contacts, Calendar, Tasks) Microsoft Pocket Word, Microsoft Pocket Excel, Microsoft Pocket PowerPoint, Microsoft Pocket Access, Microsoft InkWriter, Microsoft ActiveSync, PC Link, MPEG-4 Camera Viewer, Movie Player, Movie Gallery, Image Editor

Wireless LAN Characteristics

Radio Type: 802.11b, High Rate 2.4 GHz Radio and OpenAir 2.4 GHz Radio

compaq 1600i presario (p2-300, 128mb ram, 6gb, winxp-pro)

toshiba libretto 70ct (p120, 32mb ram, 1.6gb, win98se)
------------------------------------------------------
garmin gps 40 with external amplified antenna

lucent range extender antenna

pringles can

well you ALL have been very helpful! i actualy have some bids on some laptops @ the moment keep your fingers crossed! I think ill save for the Orinoco Gold card. If i can wait that long :\ But thanks alot everyone. Ill probably do a dual boot, XP and LINUX. Not sure yet, gota concentrate on getting the shit first.

Nice community of followers here i can tell, hope i can join you soon.

/systemd0wn

i use a dell inspiron 4000 with 2 battery's one in the modular bay. orinocco gold, gpsIII+ (just ordered a gpsV =) with external powered antenna. works marvelously.

here's something that's not model specific you might want to look for... some laptops don't turn the screen off when you close the lid. this will really drain your power quickly, i find that most of the power used when stumbling is used by the screen, IF it's turned on... of course, turning the screen off when the lid is closed is standard with any new laptops that aren't the bottom of the line, but a few buddies of mine have compaq's that leave the screen on so it thought it was worth mentioning.

i find that 2k works well for stumbling, just because it's typically the preferred OS for laptops in general, above 9x, that is... no comment on xp. ;-)

hey, thanks... Ill be sure to check that out befor i get one. Im thinking a dual boot 2k and Linux (redhat, or something). thanks again.

/systemd0wn

Here's my setup:

IBM ThinkPad 770e
PII 266, 160 MB memory, 4.3 Gig HD
Windows 2k
Orinoco Silver
IBM 10/100 EtherJet
Lucent 5db Omnidirectional

I'm just waiting until my wife isn't looking so I can spend the money on a pigtail. I have the materials for a coffee can antenna, and the Pringles antenna can't be far behind.