How's this setup sound?

UberDemon · 03-06-2007

I'm going to be running on a winxp platform for now. The CD/DVD drive in my Toshiba Satellite 4600 pro is FUBAR, so I can't run a Live CD like BackTrack. My intention is to do some wardriving with peaceful purposes, nothing illegal. My client card is currently a pcmcia card with realtek 8180 chipset, but tomorrow i'm picking up an orinoco gold (atheros chipset, although the guy has 3 and i'm going to be looking for the hermes chipset fcc id). So I'll have an mc connector if i'm not mistaken.

From there, I need a pigtail and an antenna. So much conflicting info on antennas out there! I know my budget is in the no more than $50 range. I've read the cheap antenna faq, and spent many hours googling. Still haven't found the answers i need. I know I want an omni, and i'd need at least 6 feet of cabling to lead up to my pigtail, if i mount the antenna on the roof of my car. So, magnet mount omni is what i'm looking for. How's this:

http://www.hyperlinktech.com/web/hg2407mgu.php

and how does it compare to FAB's 5 dbi "best atenna" for $55:
http://www.fab-corp.com/product.php?...cat=282&page=1

and then FAB has one which looks nearly identical to link #1, for $9, which is rated for 5.5dbi?!
http://www.fab-corp.com/product.php?...cat=282&page=1

so if links 2 & 3 are from the same company, are rated for almost the same dbi, but one is $55 and one is $9, it's a BIT confusing.

So what's a good antenna for not a whole lotta $? I'm technically inclined, but not much of a solderer, so i'm leaning towards purchasing an antenna rather than trying to build my own quite yet.

UberDemon · 03-06-2007

On a related sidenote. I really would like to mess around with a live distro like BackTrack, but I can't boot from my CD drive. Something wrong with the mobo i am guessing, as i have switched out the drive itself.

Anyhoo, is there a way to take a bootable ISO and install it to it's own bootable partition on a hard drive?

Barry · 03-06-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by UberDemon

On a related sidenote. I really would like to mess around with a live distro like BackTrack, but I can't boot from my CD drive. Something wrong with the mobo i am guessing, as i have switched out the drive itself.

Anyhoo, is there a way to take a bootable ISO and install it to it's own bootable partition on a hard drive?

I have backtrack booting off a usb thumbdrive. If you have a desktop you can use that to set it up.

ccie4526 · 03-06-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by UberDemon

and then FAB has one which looks nearly identical to link #1, for $9, which is rated for 5.5dbi?!
http://www.fab-corp.com/product.php?...cat=282&page=1

I use that one when I'm on the road in a rental car and want to do some sniffing about the various places I visit.

If you're really serious and want to run an antenna of substance, yes, it costs a little bit more, but far worth it in the long run. I have one on my pickup truck.
http://www.cometantenna.com/pdfs/gp-...ec%20sheet.pdf

UberDemon · 03-06-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barry

I have backtrack booting off a usb thumbdrive. If you have a desktop you can use that to set it up.

I'm booting off a laptop, and the bios does not support booting from usb. Thanks for the suggestion though. I've tried various bootable floppies that are supposed to allow you to boot usb devices for bios that don't allow booting from usb (mostly for a USB CD drive for installing windows), but none of them work for this laptop. In fact, to get XP on here I had to first install 98se via a network share, then i was able to use my external usb cd drive from 98 to do a fresh install of xp.

UberDemon · 03-06-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by ccie4526

I use that one when I'm on the road in a rental car and want to do some sniffing about the various places I visit.

How well has it worked out for you? Is it a noticeable difference from an internal antenna?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ccie4526

If you're really serious and want to run an antenna of substance, yes, it costs a little bit more, but far worth it in the long run. I have one on my pickup truck.
http://www.cometantenna.com/pdfs/gp-...ec%20sheet.pdf

I would eventually like to spend the money for a great antenna, but right now it's not in the cards. Trying to figure out what the best bang for my buck is with around $50 to spend. If the consensus is that it's a waste of time and money then i'll stick to my internal antenna, but something tells me for $50 there's got to be something out there that works fairly well.

ccie4526 · 03-06-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by UberDemon

How well has it worked out for you? Is it a noticeable difference from an internal antenna?

Absofriggingloutely, an external antenna is ALWAYS better than an internal one. When you consider the internal antenna is doing good to have +2.2dBi of gain, going to a +5.5dBi external is practically doubling your transmit/receive gain, less coaxial cable loss. Having said that....

Quote:

Originally Posted by UberDemon

I would eventually like to spend the money for a great antenna, but right now it's not in the cards. Trying to figure out what the best bang for my buck is with around $50 to spend. If the consensus is that it's a waste of time and money then i'll stick to my internal antenna, but something tells me for $50 there's got to be something out there that works fairly well.

True, you'll note the gain of that antenna is ~+10dBi, which (as it is a logarithmic progression) more than doubles the transmit/receive gain characteristics the radio module sees as compared to the +5.5dBi unit. The down side is that it's 39" long, which means mounting on a vehicle can be difficult. Just remember that the more you can do on the antenna side, the better that your overall system performance will be. Small external > any internal, and large external > small external. All a matter of time before you're driving around and finding all these APs, then contributing them to WiGLE, then watching yourself rise in the "AP Found" count,then catch OCWDD and start doing crazy shit like hratch and mark57 and whitedice and I.

UberDemon · 03-06-2007

Thanks for all the info ccie4526, I appreciate it! I may try FAB's $9 mobile antenna as a short term solution and move up to something better if I really catch the wardriving bug, and am able to budget it.

Barry · 03-06-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by UberDemon

I'm booting off a laptop, and the bios does not support booting from usb. Thanks for the suggestion though. I've tried various bootable floppies that are supposed to allow you to boot usb devices for bios that don't allow booting from usb (mostly for a USB CD drive for installing windows), but none of them work for this laptop. In fact, to get XP on here I had to first install 98se via a network share, then i was able to use my external usb cd drive from 98 to do a fresh install of xp.

Ahh, gotcha. I used to have a laptop like that. The only way I could put an os on it was to pull the drive and install the os in a different pc. Might try checking around www.slax.org Backtrack is based off that I believe.

03-06-2007	#1 (permalink)
UberDemon Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 5	How's this setup sound? I'm going to be running on a winxp platform for now. The CD/DVD drive in my Toshiba Satellite 4600 pro is FUBAR, so I can't run a Live CD like BackTrack. My intention is to do some wardriving with peaceful purposes, nothing illegal. My client card is currently a pcmcia card with realtek 8180 chipset, but tomorrow i'm picking up an orinoco gold (atheros chipset, although the guy has 3 and i'm going to be looking for the hermes chipset fcc id). So I'll have an mc connector if i'm not mistaken. From there, I need a pigtail and an antenna. So much conflicting info on antennas out there! I know my budget is in the no more than $50 range. I've read the cheap antenna faq, and spent many hours googling. Still haven't found the answers i need. I know I want an omni, and i'd need at least 6 feet of cabling to lead up to my pigtail, if i mount the antenna on the roof of my car. So, magnet mount omni is what i'm looking for. How's this: http://www.hyperlinktech.com/web/hg2407mgu.php and how does it compare to FAB's 5 dbi "best atenna" for $55: http://www.fab-corp.com/product.php?...cat=282&page=1 and then FAB has one which looks nearly identical to link #1, for $9, which is rated for 5.5dbi?! http://www.fab-corp.com/product.php?...cat=282&page=1 so if links 2 & 3 are from the same company, are rated for almost the same dbi, but one is $55 and one is $9, it's a BIT confusing. So what's a good antenna for not a whole lotta $? I'm technically inclined, but not much of a solderer, so i'm leaning towards purchasing an antenna rather than trying to build my own quite yet.

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03-06-2007	#2 (permalink)
UberDemon Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 5	On a related sidenote. I really would like to mess around with a live distro like BackTrack, but I can't boot from my CD drive. Something wrong with the mobo i am guessing, as i have switched out the drive itself. Anyhoo, is there a way to take a bootable ISO and install it to it's own bootable partition on a hard drive?

03-06-2007	#8 (permalink)
UberDemon Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 5	Thanks for all the info ccie4526, I appreciate it! I may try FAB's $9 mobile antenna as a short term solution and move up to something better if I really catch the wardriving bug, and am able to budget it.