War Driving Kit

beermuppet · 02-26-2004

Hello all, I've come to bug you :P

I am thinking of putting together a few war-driving kits for sale on Ebay or elsewhere for sale in the UK.

I was thinking of including the following:

Basic laptop (e.g. Pentium 133, Win 98)
Enterasys/Cabletron Roamabout card (compatible with NS)
Pigtail & Basic External Antenna
Inverter or car power-supply for laptop
Carry Case

I have a couple of questions, first off do you think it would sell? Secondly I was thinking of selling this in the region of £250 (thats around US$400), do you guys think people would buy a kit for this price?

Your opinions, flames, insults, and donuts would be appreciated.

Thanks

Beeeermuppet

The Others · 02-26-2004

I've bought almost all my wardriving stuff off ebay.

Your's doesn't sound like too bad a deal, I've seen much worse. Stuff advertised as for wardrivers or specifically supporting netstumbler rarely comes up on ebay, so that'll help you.

Some points I thought of on first read:

1) there's no GPS in your deal, could you supply one? I don't know wht type of profit you plan to make but I'm sure you could buy GPS mice in bulk for less than £30 eace.

2) Is a case needed? Although I saw some really cheap today, adding those to the deal would surely sweeten it. Maybe it's a good idea afterall.

3) You're bundling it with win 98? A good idea probably, as you'll save money here. However, maybe consider bundling it with a knoppix CD so that people can have some more fun. It might also sweeten the deal. Don't forget, you can't sell netstumbler installed on these laptops.

4) I like the inverter. A ebay search for "laptop car" shows dc-dc converters for about £15. The antenna, too, is a good idea. I imagine you're going to ship those (crappy) £15 ones. That's cool as long as you don't hype it up too much.

I'll search around and see how much I could price something similar up for on ebay, akthough I guess you've been doing that already

peekitty · 02-26-2004

I sold a similar rig over a year ago, but it was running Kismet and other apps on Linux. I did pretty well profit-wise, but the dope that bought it seemed to think it came with free support for life despite my statement to the contrary In huge print in the listing. I've considered doing it again, but in the last year or so I've noticed a leap in the number of people who contact me with incredibly stupid questions about my listings, and I'm not even selling complicated things...

True story: I had an old windsurfing board that was collecting dust in the garage and thought I might be able to sell it to eBayers in the local market, I specified "will not ship - local pickup only" several times and in various permutations. Of course the winning bidder sent me a nice message afterward asking how much it would cost to ship it to Mexico and then called me lazy when I refused. He might have had a point there, but still...

Side note: you might not want to load NetStumbler without seeking approval from the author. Somebody did this briefly a while back and was publicly flogged for it, but I believe Marius gave his consent in the end.

ZipperSeven · 02-26-2004

Use the IE administration kit and put www.netstumbler.org and .com in the favorites. Or better yet make it the homepage. Not installed but shows where said buyer can go to download it, join the fourms, and get support. Plus when said buyer installs it, the good green/yellow/red page with the unsupported lists come up, which is going for averting at least 15 percent of those noobie questions.

Is Knoppix STD redistributable? I'm pretty sure it is. I second the motion on the GPS. I think it was Madhadder that posted an OEM-like Garmin GPS unit called the GPS 12 (the pc version of which includes a serial cable and 12v car charger hard wired.) Only draw back to these is no screen on them to see what kind of lock you have.

Otherwise looks like a solid concept.

EVH-rocks · 02-27-2004

Seems like a good plan, I have seen basic kits on other ebay sites, think its the german one and USA of course. Its usually a compatible card pigtail and antenna though, not the whole deal.

What is the basic spec for a windows stumbling setup anyway?

Id guess a 133 or 166 could do the job , 1 or 2 gig HD , How big do ns those logs get. USB would be cool but more bargain basement machines can be lacking . pcmcia are usually available.
how much ram? 32 or would you get away with 16.

Toshiba librettos would be sweet but for the minimal spec they seem to afford good s/h prices, so portability is still highly desirable.

Thinkpads seem popular at the budget end, panasonic tough books though kinda bulky do offer a cheap rugged solution if the spec is up to it, the ones in the .mil style case look kinda scary too hehe.

Thorn · 02-27-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by EVH-rocks
...What is the basic spec for a windows stumbling setup anyway?...

75MHz Pent-I, 16MB RAM, Win95.

EVH-rocks · 02-27-2004

Hmm thats quite a minimal spec, is this the spec for running another windows stumbling app or a live linux cd, I thought NS is a minimum of win 98 OS.

BTW great video on 3 news & thanks for the submarine ping .wav

Out of interest, saw this on UK ebay thought you might like it.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...1&category=177

win ce 3.0 built in 802.11b and gps.
Looks like a pro unit , so you've probably come across it before.

cheers...Paul

The Others · 02-27-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by EVH-rocks
Hmm thats quite a minimal spec, is this the spec for running another windows stumbling app or a live linux cd,

That'd be for running netstumbler. It doesn't take much, just a wireless card that is almost supported.

That device you pointed too is nice. Adding up the pros and cons, however, my phone is a more pwerful device

(SE P900)

Thorn · 02-27-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by EVH-rocks
Hmm thats quite a minimal spec, is this the spec for running another windows stumbling app or a live linux cd, I thought NS is a minimum of win 98 OS.

BTW great video on 3 news & thanks for the submarine ping .wav

Out of interest, saw this on UK ebay thought you might like it.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...1&category=177

win ce 3.0 built in 802.11b and gps.
Looks like a pro unit , so you've probably come across it before.

cheers...Paul

NS will run on a minimal 95 rig. Thanks in regards to the video. The Sovereign actually made a whole "sub ping" collection for NS. It works great. Search for the "Post your sounds" thread.

EVH-rocks · 02-28-2004

Thanks for the info guys, will check out that collection of sub pings next.

OK others yeah Im guessin that the panasonic wi-fi/gps unit is a few years old, wonder what companys used it? wi-fi & GPS sounds like it could be used by anything from mobile technicians to large inventory systems. Saw a BT engineer with a panasonic tough book once, Think Ive seen ex gas board ones for sale too.

Wonder if it was used in a similar setup to the SEARS SST-Page Ranking-1.

Man I loved that thread when everyone was speculating as to what these SSID,s were turning up all over the place.

I like the palm tungsten C that netchaser software looks quite good, will have to stick with my clie SL-10 for now

The Others · 02-28-2004

I was just looking at those things agan now; you're right, the ones with GPS and WIFI do look very nice. I too wondered what they were for, the WIFI model wouldn't be out of place in a wharehouse, but it's be a big wharehouse if you needed GPS to navigate it!

I've had a gas man come round to read my meter not long ago with a toughbook. They're nice devices. I like the ones that Parcelforce use; the same type of thing, but with a large touch screen that you sign on. I love getting parcels and signing on the touch screen.

If I was a lotter winner, i'd buy one to play with. Although it'd probably be played with less than the OQO I'd have to buy

EVH-rocks · 02-28-2004

They might use em in some huge .gov .mil warehouse, like you said both options are built in but used gor different tasks, eg wi-fi inthe warehouse, gps out in the field. Okay on parcelforce have seen UPS using this sort of stuff as well be great if they get

Wi-Fied up, we will see similar instances to the sears sst pr1s here in uk then. Do you remeber marks and spencer using psion LZ,s and XPs , you know the 2 and 4 line ones. Ive had a couple they were fun, think they used em for stock control in APV too, a uk company that makes valve type things.

Also did youread lately on BBC news web site about them putting RF tags in shirts trousers ties etc, said they can track em anywhere in the world. RF tags are becoming popular idea as a replacement for barcodes if manufacturing costs ever drop low enough. sounds like big brother.

The Others · 02-28-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by EVH-rocks
Also did youread lately on BBC news web site about them putting RF tags in shirts trousers ties etc, said they can track em anywhere in the world. RF tags are becoming popular idea as a replacement for barcodes if manufacturing costs ever drop low enough. sounds like big brother.

This is possibly the largest can of worms opened in a long time. Check out www.theregister.co.uk for regular, near daily, developments with this. Some of it's worrying, some of it's just hype; it's all quite interesting.

I just got back from a quick trip to Tescos. They had a consumer boycott in the store that trialed RFID tags insted of barcodes. Don't talk about their clubcard scheme, as an ex-employee, I can tell you that that is big brother in action.

EVH-rocks · 02-28-2004

Hi just reading the articles now, interesting technology but totally inappropriate.

Hmmm Tescos, my folks have a club card and I have tesco as an ISP (they made me do it man, all you can eat internet for only £12.50 a month, how could I resist) .

An idea is forming , portable rf scanner hooked up to notebook cruising the neighbourhood looking for unblocked RF tags.

Grocery stumbling, to alert the public that they should use a rfid tag blocker (from the link you gave me earlier.)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/35852.html

cheers..paul

beermuppet · 04-20-2004

Hi Guys,

Just to let you know I've started putting the wardriving kit together - thanks for the sound advice. I will be including a GPS Mouse and Knoppix, with Links to, but not including Netstumbler.

Many thanks again for all your help

BM

02-26-2004	#1 (permalink)
beermuppet Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: UK Posts: 119	War Driving Kit Hello all, I've come to bug you :P I am thinking of putting together a few war-driving kits for sale on Ebay or elsewhere for sale in the UK. I was thinking of including the following: Basic laptop (e.g. Pentium 133, Win 98) Enterasys/Cabletron Roamabout card (compatible with NS) Pigtail & Basic External Antenna Inverter or car power-supply for laptop Carry Case I have a couple of questions, first off do you think it would sell? Secondly I was thinking of selling this in the region of £250 (thats around US$400), do you guys think people would buy a kit for this price? Your opinions, flames, insults, and donuts would be appreciated. Thanks Beeeermuppet __________________ == Compatible cards and other wardriving equipment for sale: http://www.computerguy.co.uk

02-26-2004	#2 (permalink)
The Others PeaceDriver Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Dos Palabras, Mandoras Posts: 2,920	I've bought almost all my wardriving stuff off ebay. Your's doesn't sound like too bad a deal, I've seen much worse. Stuff advertised as for wardrivers or specifically supporting netstumbler rarely comes up on ebay, so that'll help you. Some points I thought of on first read: 1) there's no GPS in your deal, could you supply one? I don't know wht type of profit you plan to make but I'm sure you could buy GPS mice in bulk for less than £30 eace. 2) Is a case needed? Although I saw some really cheap today, adding those to the deal would surely sweeten it. Maybe it's a good idea afterall. 3) You're bundling it with win 98? A good idea probably, as you'll save money here. However, maybe consider bundling it with a knoppix CD so that people can have some more fun. It might also sweeten the deal. Don't forget, you can't sell netstumbler installed on these laptops. 4) I like the inverter. A ebay search for "laptop car" shows dc-dc converters for about £15. The antenna, too, is a good idea. I imagine you're going to ship those (crappy) £15 ones. That's cool as long as you don't hype it up too much. I'll search around and see how much I could price something similar up for on ebay, akthough I guess you've been doing that already __________________ all good ends all ?u=273 Last edited by The Others : 02-26-2004 at 02:57 PM.

02-27-2004	#5 (permalink)
EVH-rocks Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: remote scottish highlands (after leaving therpalm trees of torquay in the english rivierra Brrr chilly man! Posts: 149	Seems like a good plan, I have seen basic kits on other ebay sites, think its the german one and USA of course. Its usually a compatible card pigtail and antenna though, not the whole deal. What is the basic spec for a windows stumbling setup anyway? Id guess a 133 or 166 could do the job , 1 or 2 gig HD , How big do ns those logs get. USB would be cool but more bargain basement machines can be lacking . pcmcia are usually available. how much ram? 32 or would you get away with 16. Toshiba librettos would be sweet but for the minimal spec they seem to afford good s/h prices, so portability is still highly desirable. Thinkpads seem popular at the budget end, panasonic tough books though kinda bulky do offer a cheap rugged solution if the spec is up to it, the ones in the .mil style case look kinda scary too hehe. __________________ 'We havent had that spirit here since 1969'

02-27-2004	#7 (permalink)
EVH-rocks Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: remote scottish highlands (after leaving therpalm trees of torquay in the english rivierra Brrr chilly man! Posts: 149	Hmm thats quite a minimal spec, is this the spec for running another windows stumbling app or a live linux cd, I thought NS is a minimum of win 98 OS. BTW great video on 3 news & thanks for the submarine ping .wav Out of interest, saw this on UK ebay thought you might like it. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...1&category=177 win ce 3.0 built in 802.11b and gps. Looks like a pro unit , so you've probably come across it before. cheers...Paul __________________ 'We havent had that spirit here since 1969'

02-28-2004	#10 (permalink)
EVH-rocks Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: remote scottish highlands (after leaving therpalm trees of torquay in the english rivierra Brrr chilly man! Posts: 149	Thanks for the info guys, will check out that collection of sub pings next. OK others yeah Im guessin that the panasonic wi-fi/gps unit is a few years old, wonder what companys used it? wi-fi & GPS sounds like it could be used by anything from mobile technicians to large inventory systems. Saw a BT engineer with a panasonic tough book once, Think Ive seen ex gas board ones for sale too. Wonder if it was used in a similar setup to the SEARS SST-Page Ranking-1. Man I loved that thread when everyone was speculating as to what these SSID,s were turning up all over the place. I like the palm tungsten C that netchaser software looks quite good, will have to stick with my clie SL-10 for now __________________ 'We havent had that spirit here since 1969'

02-26-2004	#3 (permalink)
peekitty Macaca Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S. Florida Posts: 1,056	I sold a similar rig over a year ago, but it was running Kismet and other apps on Linux. I did pretty well profit-wise, but the dope that bought it seemed to think it came with free support for life despite my statement to the contrary In huge print in the listing. I've considered doing it again, but in the last year or so I've noticed a leap in the number of people who contact me with incredibly stupid questions about my listings, and I'm not even selling complicated things... True story: I had an old windsurfing board that was collecting dust in the garage and thought I might be able to sell it to eBayers in the local market, I specified "will not ship - local pickup only" several times and in various permutations. Of course the winning bidder sent me a nice message afterward asking how much it would cost to ship it to Mexico and then called me lazy when I refused. He might have had a point there, but still... Side note: you might not want to load NetStumbler without seeking approval from the author. Somebody did this briefly a while back and was publicly flogged for it, but I believe Marius gave his consent in the end.

02-28-2004	#11 (permalink)
The Others PeaceDriver Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Dos Palabras, Mandoras Posts: 2,920	I was just looking at those things agan now; you're right, the ones with GPS and WIFI do look very nice. I too wondered what they were for, the WIFI model wouldn't be out of place in a wharehouse, but it's be a big wharehouse if you needed GPS to navigate it! I've had a gas man come round to read my meter not long ago with a toughbook. They're nice devices. I like the ones that Parcelforce use; the same type of thing, but with a large touch screen that you sign on. I love getting parcels and signing on the touch screen. If I was a lotter winner, i'd buy one to play with. Although it'd probably be played with less than the OQO I'd have to buy __________________ all good ends all ?u=273

02-28-2004	#12 (permalink)
EVH-rocks Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: remote scottish highlands (after leaving therpalm trees of torquay in the english rivierra Brrr chilly man! Posts: 149	They might use em in some huge .gov .mil warehouse, like you said both options are built in but used gor different tasks, eg wi-fi inthe warehouse, gps out in the field. Okay on parcelforce have seen UPS using this sort of stuff as well be great if they get Wi-Fied up, we will see similar instances to the sears sst pr1s here in uk then. Do you remeber marks and spencer using psion LZ,s and XPs , you know the 2 and 4 line ones. Ive had a couple they were fun, think they used em for stock control in APV too, a uk company that makes valve type things. Also did youread lately on BBC news web site about them putting RF tags in shirts trousers ties etc, said they can track em anywhere in the world. RF tags are becoming popular idea as a replacement for barcodes if manufacturing costs ever drop low enough. sounds like big brother. __________________ 'We havent had that spirit here since 1969'

02-28-2004	#14 (permalink)
EVH-rocks Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: remote scottish highlands (after leaving therpalm trees of torquay in the english rivierra Brrr chilly man! Posts: 149	Hi just reading the articles now, interesting technology but totally inappropriate. Hmmm Tescos, my folks have a club card and I have tesco as an ISP (they made me do it man, all you can eat internet for only £12.50 a month, how could I resist) . An idea is forming , portable rf scanner hooked up to notebook cruising the neighbourhood looking for unblocked RF tags. Grocery stumbling, to alert the public that they should use a rfid tag blocker (from the link you gave me earlier.) http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/35852.html cheers..paul __________________ 'We havent had that spirit here since 1969'

04-20-2004	#15 (permalink)
beermuppet Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: UK Posts: 119	Hi Guys, Just to let you know I've started putting the wardriving kit together - thanks for the sound advice. I will be including a GPS Mouse and Knoppix, with Links to, but not including Netstumbler. Many thanks again for all your help BM __________________ == Compatible cards and other wardriving equipment for sale: http://www.computerguy.co.uk

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