fun with wireless networking...

[katster]

I need to get some program that will scan for wireless networks and tell me where the base is.

Seriously. Right now, I'm sitting in the main lounge of College-Durant, the apartment complex where I live. I'm on somebody's wireless network. It's not a campus network, because I'm familiar with all of campus' addresses. It's a pretty marginal signal, and I've learned through experimentation that the best range of an 802.11b network isn't very big at all. (the distance from Heller to Golden Bear, which is maybe 500 feet, I'm not good at guesstimating distance.)

And I'd like to be able to play with this power, and see what's around in places. The ultimate goal is to sit in some outdoor location with the laptop (nicely placed in 802.11b network range) and just cause somebody to wonder in horror how I am managing to surf the net with no cable and no visible wireless card. (mini-PCI card in the computer case *rocks*)

Any help?

Comments

[gdmusumeci.livejournal.com]

MacStumbler will do what you seek. (The page also has links to similar software for other platforms.)


Clear skies! Stout hearts!

[tropism.livejournal.com]

Too bad she has a Thinkpad. ;)

[katster.livejournal.com]

GP *tried* to get me to get a Mac. He nearly succeeded too.

I really *wanted* a TiBook, but I couldn't justify the cost.

-kat

[tropism.livejournal.com]

Yeah.

From what I've heard, OS X has made Macs not suck, but they're still too damned expensive for a model that's equivalent to a PC in performance.

[tropism.livejournal.com]

Whoops, apologies. Posted before I parsed the rest of your post ... all ten or so words of it. Sheesh.