Dirt Cheap Wardriving Rig
Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 6:57 pm
What is the minimum one can spend on a useful wardriving rig?
Having someone give you the components for free or dumpster diving for parts is left as an exercise for the diligent reader.
I myself recently used the following method:
Basically, you need a computer with wifi and GPS capabilities that can access wigle.net. Many used smartphones of recent manufacture fit these requirements. I favor android because linux and wigle's own wardriving app. Used LG Vortex VS660 Verizon Cell Phones are currently available on Amazon for under $40. You may be able to aquire them for less on ebay. Finding another suitable phone for less money is left as an exercise for the diligent reader.
Once your Vortex arrives in the mail you are presented with the following problem: when you first turn it on, the phone is setup to sign you up for Verizon voice and data service with no obvious way to access the Android OS. Now, one may very well want to have voice and data service, but it costs money and the point of this exercise is to be a cheap bastard. How to bypass this screen? My friend Google gave me the answer:
From the language selection screen (the first screen when you boot up the factory reset phone):
Press “Volume Up.”
Press “Volume Down.”
Press the “Back” button.
Press the “Search” button.
You can now access the android OS. Get yourself some wifi access and install the wigle wardriving app from Google Play. Go wardriving. Enjoy!
A quick test reveiled that the Vortex's wifi detection capabilities holds up well against my more expensive droid razr. On the same run, the vortex detected 1044 APs while the razr detected 1080. I was rather chagrined to discover that the cheaper vortex gets a more accurate GPS fix.
The only obvious downside to this method is that you need wifi access to upload your results instead of being able to upload anywhere you have mobile data service.
Having someone give you the components for free or dumpster diving for parts is left as an exercise for the diligent reader.
I myself recently used the following method:
Basically, you need a computer with wifi and GPS capabilities that can access wigle.net. Many used smartphones of recent manufacture fit these requirements. I favor android because linux and wigle's own wardriving app. Used LG Vortex VS660 Verizon Cell Phones are currently available on Amazon for under $40. You may be able to aquire them for less on ebay. Finding another suitable phone for less money is left as an exercise for the diligent reader.
Once your Vortex arrives in the mail you are presented with the following problem: when you first turn it on, the phone is setup to sign you up for Verizon voice and data service with no obvious way to access the Android OS. Now, one may very well want to have voice and data service, but it costs money and the point of this exercise is to be a cheap bastard. How to bypass this screen? My friend Google gave me the answer:
From the language selection screen (the first screen when you boot up the factory reset phone):
Press “Volume Up.”
Press “Volume Down.”
Press the “Back” button.
Press the “Search” button.
You can now access the android OS. Get yourself some wifi access and install the wigle wardriving app from Google Play. Go wardriving. Enjoy!
A quick test reveiled that the Vortex's wifi detection capabilities holds up well against my more expensive droid razr. On the same run, the vortex detected 1044 APs while the razr detected 1080. I was rather chagrined to discover that the cheaper vortex gets a more accurate GPS fix.
The only obvious downside to this method is that you need wifi access to upload your results instead of being able to upload anywhere you have mobile data service.