wireless hacking conspiracy

[nibot]

Lately I've taken an interest in messing with 802.11 wireless networks (aka WiFi). You can take a simple off-the-shelf wireless network card, attach a directional antenna, and have a long distance, high speed network link. (The group I will be working for over the summer [IGPP/SDSC] has a 70-mile link, though a supplementary RF amplifier is necessary to achieve this.) It's also possible to put a network card into "promiscuous" or "rfmon" mode and read all traffic, find and map wireless access points (when done in an automated fashion in conjunction with GPS, it's called "wardriving" after the "wardialing" of old; here in Berkeley, "war biking" (or even war-walking) is sometimes practiced. The naming is an unfortunate matter of history). Anyway, I think it would be really cool to develop a rooftop-to-rooftop network in Berkeley, and to learn about antennas in a way I never did with amateur radio. If you would like to participate in a project to learn about this stuff and try to establish some cross-Berkeley links, please send me an email or reply to this post.

I have acquired a bunch of Lucent Orinoco Silver/Gold cards and their clones for use in this project — these cards are popular for WiFi fun because they support an external antenna and also are very well supported in Linux (as well as in Windows and by programs such as Netstumbler). I have extras that I am willing to sell, especially if that will inspire you to participate in this project. (-: Further posts pertaining to wireless networking will most likely appear on nibot_lab. I'd like to have an antenna hacking session sometime next week.

Additionally, I will relay an invitation from the EFF:

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) cordially invites you to a reception to meet Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of Anarchist in the Library: How the Clash Between Freedom of Control is Hacking the Real World and Crashing the System (Basic Books, May 2004) and Larry Lessig, EFF Board member and author of FREE CULTURE: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity (The Penguin Press; March 2004).

Professors Lessig and Vaidhyanathan will offer remarks and sign copies of their books, which will be available for purchase at the event. For more information, please contact Terri Forman at tforman AT eff.org. Details: Monday, May 17, 2004; 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m; Room 180, reception to follow in Crocker Garden; Stanford Law School; 559 Nathan Abbott Way; Stanford, CA 94305.

Comments

[natan.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you'll be here next semester… but I'd be willing to actively participate in it then and help the project. I'm going to be in LA all summer, but when I come back in the Fall I'd be willing to participate.

[nibot.livejournal.com]

I certainly won't be here next semester. I'm talking about next week. (-:

That said, hopefully a core group will develop and work on it next semester too.

[natan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I won't have hardware to use for this by next week. Bummer. If you want to use my roof, you're more than welcome to setup whatever you want.

Right now all I have up in Berkeley is my iBook (no PCMCIA slot) and a D-Link 802.11b WAP. The D-Link does have two changeable antennas, and if you have any use for it you can borrow it til the end of the semester.