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Wireless Networking Hardware

Large-Format Printable Wardriving Maps of Seattle 204

Posted by timothy from the let's-see-free-maps-of-everywhere dept.
drewzhrodague writes "In what is sure to tie up a few print queues, us guys at WiFiMaps.com have released large-format printable maps of Seattle. These were generated during a collaboration with the University of Washington's communications department. This is one of the most comprehensive Wi-Fi mapping project to date, as 100 undergrads swarmed downtown Seattle to collect wardriving data. We've rendered their results at 300dpi, for letter, tabloid, and architectural E sized paper. There is both the standard layout, and the aerial versions available using bittorrent."
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Large-Format Printable Wardriving Maps of Seattle More

Large-Format Printable Wardriving Maps of Seattle

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  • Now you too can be arrested for war-driving... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by stephenisu ( 580105 ) on Saturday February 05, 2005 @07:39PM (#11586078)
    While I am cool with it, keep in mind there are some possible legal implications to wardriving.
  • Can anyone deliver those files outside bittorrent, I am unable to use BT (studnet)
    • I'll send them to you, but only if you give me your studnet ID. I've been looking for studs all day.

    • Re:bittorrent (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Thats_Pipe ( 837838 )
      yeah, It does suck for those college students who go to a tech school that KNOWS it has to limit ANY P2P bandwidth leaving the school. But of course, if you are going to a tech school, you should already have a linux box setup in someones apartment off-campus and be running the torrents from there.

  • Better give this one to the wife... (Score:5, Funny)

    by L0phtpDK ( 711021 ) on Saturday February 05, 2005 @07:41PM (#11586092)
    ...god forbid if I get lost and have to ask for directions on this one: "Excuse me sir, can you please give me directions to the nearest 'default' access point?"
  • How fast technology advances
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • IIRC, the arrest was not only because of wardriving, but because the wardriver cracked into a company's corperate computers and copied/attempted to copy credit card numbers.

  • Not bad, but... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Faust7 ( 314817 ) on Saturday February 05, 2005 @07:43PM (#11586110) Homepage
    I'd really like one of Redmond. Or, rather, this one specific part of Redmond...

    No reason, really. Honest.

    • The FBI does a sweeping investigation of the Redmond, WA area after Bill Gates found adult videos and yachts were being billed on his credit cards without his knowledge.

      FBI director Robert Mueller refused to comment on whether Internet hackers stole his numbers from a Microsoft Word Document he stored on his laptop, only adding "If the crooks like porn, it's not our business."

      More news at 11.

  • Don't you mean.. (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Large-Format Slashdotable Wardriving maps of Seattle?

  • Legality? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by The Grey Clone ( 770110 )
    Is this legal? Are would it only be illegal if something like the Induce Act was passed? It seems to me that someone out there is going to think this is illegal and prosecute. Oh, and it's "generated."

    • Re:Legality? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by bluGill ( 862 )

      If anyone needs it, I will witness under oath that my access point is open to everyone intentionally.

      As a christian I believe it is my duty to give away that which doesn't cost me. (and in some cases that which costs me, but that is a more complex area)

    • It's illegal to provide maps now? Holy shit, I'm glad I don't live in America. (NOTE: No identifiable information of the owners has been made available on this map. It isn't a "here's where all the abortion doctors live" map.)
      • Yes, thank you -- we did not include indentifiable information for the owners of the APs -- no MACs, no street addresses, no names. The original point of this map and WiFiMaps.com is to show just how many of these things are being deployed. There's a shitload!

  • map of my home town (Score:5, Funny)

    by bird603568 ( 808629 ) on Saturday February 05, 2005 @07:49PM (#11586133)




    ..




    that's the map. Just my house and my neighbors. Maybe I need to wardrive Baltimore. If anybody has tell me
  • publicly releasing maps of the WiFi area coverage in Seattle is a somewhat good idea in that the people know if they are covered by WiFi in that area, but it is also kinda dumb. Its just wasting space on the host and on the World Wide Web. I mean, seriously, overing arial maps of all of seattle is also a security risk...of course i probably would be arguing this point if the WiFi network was in Davie...

  • Arrests (Score:5, Interesting)

    by OzPhIsH ( 560038 ) on Saturday February 05, 2005 @07:56PM (#11586175) Journal
    As a few have already pointed out, War Driving has some murky legal waters surrounding it. I hope that the people involved in the creation of this map don't suddenly wake up with the FBI bursting through their doors and a DOJ lawsuit involving intent to facilitate illegal activities/hacking/terrorism/etc. I really wouldn't put it past the DOJ in this day and age. Personally I think using someones wireless network without their authorization should be perfectly acceptable. These people should have properly configured their networks if they didn't want people using them. If they use the network access to own the hosts box, that's one story, but if you're just leeching their internet access it should certainly not be a crime. You're only partaking in activities that the host allowed through his security settings. If they didn't want to allow it, they should either fix their secuirty settings, or not set up a wireless access point when they obviously had no clue what they were doing. Ignorance of security should be no excuse. If you don't want people piggybacking your wireless connection, configure it properly, don't whine about it to the DOJ. You only have yourself to blame.

    • Re:Arrests (Score:3, Insightful)

      by shadowmatter ( 734276 )
      Joe Somebody goes into Best Buy, is told by the sales rep "just plug it in, it will self configure, and you'll be done," goes home, and does just that. It isn't in the sellers' interest to tell about all the precautions one should take, what to watch out for, because that doesn't make a good sales pitch. But "Ahh, it's so easy to set up, anyone could do it" does.

      So we can't even assume that Joe Somebody is aware that users outside his apartment, house, or network, can use his network. His neighbor's TV rem

      • Re:Arrests (Score:2, Interesting)

        by OzPhIsH ( 560038 )
        Ok, I can agree with you that maybe there should be a big sticker on the box with some warnings, but the fact that Joe Somebody has no time or interest in actually learning about the product he intends to buy doesn't pull any sympathy from me. The fact that he is actually listening, and TAKING the advice of a Best Buy sales rep proves that Joe Somebody's an idiot. The fact that Joe Somebody won't even read the manual just reiterates this point. I have exactly ZERO sympathy for people like this. They are sim
      • There are signs all through out my campus reminding us, "Ignorance of campus policy is no excuse for breaking them". I believe then this should go the other way. Ignorance (or lack of caring to read a 10 page quickstart guide) that you're giving away free access shouldn't warrant sympathy from others.
      • Or Joe Somebody might just connect to his neighbours access point believing he is using his own.
    • These people should have properly configured their networks if they didn't want people using them.

      So by your logic, if somebody leave's their car unlocked it's legal for me to steal it? After all they should of 'properly configured' the locks.
      • I actually liken it more to (and I suspect the point the person was trying to make was): If they don't bother to lock their car, then they shouldn't be surprised when somebody steals it. Just like, if they don't bother to lock their network, they shouldn't be surprised when somebody steals their bandwidth. Nothing about legality there, although in the same sentence...

        However, I do disagree with the poster when he states:
        but if you're just leeching their internet access it should certainly not be a crim
    • Okay, I see your statement saying that it should be perfectly okay to use an access point - the defense being that "they should have taken appropriate measures to prevent this" - has already garnered the usual "If I leave my house/car unlocked" etc. stuff. Obviously those aren't really good comparisons.

      So I'll postulate this... If I stand outside your house and switch your TV to a different channel for me to watch - would you mind that ?
      I'm not denying you of any service, you can easily flip it back to wha
      • I really don't think this is a good comparison either. Flipping the television channel to seomthing else is not really the same as sharing bandwidth. It's more like if I was trying to browse the web and you somehow kept typing in a different URL than one that I wanted to goto. Additionally, there is not a mechanism built into to the TV to allow only your remote control to change its channels. Wireless routers have the ability to only allow traffic from your specific MAC, or explicity specified MACs. If this
        • I'll defend my comparison.
          You raise a few interesting points, which I will address. Note that where I say 'you' I mean a hypothetical 'you', being either TV-flipping victim or wardriver where applicable.

          Point: There isn't a mechanism build into the TV to allow only your remote control to change its channels.
          Reply: In a way, they do. Your TV responds only to signals from remotes from the same manufacturer - and even they produce ones with different signal codes. Otherwise it would be difficult to have two T
          • Ok, I'll try to address your rebuttals with a few of my own. Well first my opinion is that a wardriver should be free to access any open access point which allows them to do so without employing additional tools to break encryption, or 'side-step' the normal handshaking rules. This includes spoofing MACs, etc. Any special "tricks" required to get access is a good indication that you shouldn't use the AP. Breaking security is a comepletly different issue that I'm not supporting. On the the points

            1) TV's do
        • Additionally, there is not a mechanism built into to the TV to allow only your remote control to change its channels.

          Err ... curtains???

          :-)

      • If you use up half the bandwidth of my wireless router, I only get to use half as well.

        If you only ever use 1/4 of your bandwidth, and someone else uses 1/2 without your permission or knowledge (excepting cases of metered usage), how does this affect you?

    • If you don't want people piggybacking your wireless connection, configure it properly, don't whine about it to the DOJ. You only have yourself to blame.

      If you don't want people ransacking your living room, install Chubb locks, bolt them securely every time you leave the house, don't whine about theft to the police.

      Okay, common sense really. Every knows to lock their doors these days. It's just that in days gone by (or perhaps in other communities or countries, eg, New Zealand), people could leave

      • This is such a horrible analogy. In order to steal things from you, first I'd have to enter your house, without authorization. Perhaps, if the house were locked, I'd have to bypass your security. I already agree that bypassing someone's security in order to use their network shouldn't be legal. Next I would have to remove things from your house. I suppose this might be equated to taking up bandwidth. However, a few simple clicks is all it takes to kick someone off your network, secure it, and reclaim that l
    • but if you're just leeching their internet

      Emphasis added by me. It's theirs, not yours. You can't dictate 'oh well if they didn't want me on they would of said so' that's not your call to make.
      • Yes, it is their internet connection. However, they have made their available to the outside world for everyone to access. The fact that they did not dictate that they did not want outside users accessing their internet is not my problem. Why should I assume that they didn't want me on? That's not my call to make.
        • Because it's theirs, they shoudln't have to say "Dont Use It", that's common sense. If it's not yours, dont fuck with it.
          • That is easyer said than done.

            E.g. my PDA is set to connect to wireless networks. I open it in the bus to check the calendar. It automatically connects to an open access point. A daemon such as ntpd or mta is starts and use the internet. Did I abuse it?

            Or I go to a cafe, buy a cup of coffee, starts my laptop. The sign on the door says they have free wireless internet. Hmm, I see access points named NETGEAR, default, linksys, default, abcde, and WIRELESS. The girl at the counter does not know anything abo
    • Especially in Seattle, you can't assume that every open access point is that way only because the owner doesn't know how to secure it. Many folks leave their access points open intentionally, as a service to the community. There's even a substantial, organized effort, Seattle Wireless [seattlewireless.net], to encourage more folks to do so.

      In light of this, I think the whole argument about whether finding and using APs is illegal is nonsense. What's the difference between an open-by-ignorance and open-by-design AP? Nothing. May
      • We just wanna show how many APs there are in whatever given area. Perhaps when we released the maps, we could have inlcuded information about our intentions, and a reminder that using unauthorized networks is not recommended. We'll remember for next time!

  • We need a self-localizing map application. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by G4from128k ( 686170 ) on Saturday February 05, 2005 @07:57PM (#11586179)
    Rather that use dead-trees, wardrivers could use the names and signal strengths to nearby stations to estimate their position and calculate movements toward the best accessible WiFi hotspots. Even if the base station is password protected, its broadcast name and existence can help war drivers figure out where they are on the war-driving map. And if each wardriver submits data on stations and signal strengths, statistical combination of all the data could help refine the map further.

    It will never beat GPS, but it would be cool to create a city-wide navigation system that works on WiFi -- "just turn left when you get max signal from MAC 00 60 1D 1C B9 0D."
    • Due to the effects caused by line of sight, signal strength can vary greatly by moving a few feet one way, than go back if you continue in the same direction. You would need a 3d spacial wifi map of the city for that to work if I am not mistaken.

      although, it's not uncommon for me to be mistaken.
    • The issue is that the strenght of the signal is not a linear function of distance. Just think about a signal passing through 3 concrete walls and direct sight antenna on the roof of a distant tower. They may have comparable strength but not the same distance. You can use a clock to measure the travel time but that would be recreating something even more complex than GPS.
      • The issue is that the strenght of the signal is not a linear function of distance.

        I agree with you, but don't think it hinders the system as much as it might seem. The key is that most base stations have limited range -- if I can detect the signal at some normal strength level (e.g., not using a cantenna), I know I'm within a 50-100 meters of the transmitter.

        What got me thinking about this was my experience on a recent business trip. Sitting in my room at a bed-n-breakfast, I was picking up 4 wireles
    • And it was said. God responded unto G4from128k.

      Wigle just a little bit [wigle.net]

  • What I want to see (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Ravenscall ( 12240 ) on Saturday February 05, 2005 @07:59PM (#11586199)
    Is how many of these are left in a week once people realize thier networks are being tapped.

  • Strange Request (Score:2, Insightful)

    by solowCX ( 796423 )
    Does anyone have a NON-bittorrent download location? University of Washington screws over its students by decreasing bittorrent speed to near zero.

  • 366 MB?! (Score:5, Funny)

    by abhinavnath ( 157483 ) on Saturday February 05, 2005 @08:04PM (#11586229)
    366 MB?! Do you realize how long it'll take me to download that through someone else's access point?

    • Re:366 MB?! (Score:3, Funny)

      by whm ( 67844 )
      Obvious solution - you need a better access point! There's a great map of them online, just downlo...er heh.

  • I think there's a big problem if I'm only pulling in a single digit KBps rate on one of the files, and the other's not comming through at all. If it is possible to slashdot a torrent then something is wrong.
    • Check your firewall settings. You'll get much better rates if you allow ports 6881:6889 through to your machine.

      For what it's worth, I've finished downloading both torrents and I'm now seeding them at a total of about 20Mbit/s right now (1.3MB/s on one, 700KB/s on the other).. so there's definitely nothing wrong with the torrent.

    • Are you behind a firewall?

      Do you have several pieces available for trade yet?

      Are you uploading at a double-digit speed?

      I'm currently downloading at 20.7K/s with Azureus.

      As far as can a swarm be slashdotted or not, I've seen discussions of that topic, but with only 70 peers visible in the swarm right now, we are nowhere near the level of that happening.

    • It could be a case of too few seeds, and too many incompletes. BitTorrent starts to see some issues when the queries are hammering a very few seeds hard - they seem to spend so much time saying "sorry, busy" that they hardly can get the data out.

  • For the love of god..... (Score:2, Informative)

    by Espen ( 96293 )
    ....get with the proper scalable paper sizes. Any geek would revel in the rationality of the ISO A-type paper sizes [cam.ac.uk]
  • Nice job!

    Small problem. My buddy in Seattle just shut off his WiFi router. Now the map is out of date.

    For the next version, why not release this with a program that wardrivers can use to automatically detect and upload changes to the server? The open source/wiki development model seems to be even better suited to this than to, say, an OS or encyclopedia.
    • For the next version, why not release this with a program that wardrivers can use to automatically detect and upload changes to the server?

      That's something I'll be installing when I finish my "carputer". I hacked my nav system to be a tv and take 3 input sets. I'm spec'ing a carputer for one of the input sets, and will be running gpsdrive among other things on it. GPS Drive integrates directly with Kismet and updates maps live with hit data. I prefer wigle.net myself, and built one of the wiki pages. Now
  • I was reading over their project info, because my Information Warfare class last quarter did something similar for Spokane, WA, but didn't actually plot out any maps (we were mostly looking for corporate vs. personal networks, secured vs. non-secured, % in default configuration, etc).

    Anyway, I'm surprised that they used NetStumbler on Windows XP for their network detection. Our class used Kismet on Linux.

    Netstumbler is a completely active tool. As I recall, sends out association packets and listens for AP
    • Replying to my own post...

      Of course, the UW project was for a Communications Class. Our Information Warfare class was, of course, a Computer Science class.

      Even with the customized Knoppix CD I built for the wardrive, we still had problems with getting the wardrive equipment working properly. NetStumbler in a Windows environment is, of course, going to much more familiar to Communications students than Kismet (a CLI tool) on Linux.

      Still a neat project. I'd like to know a bit more about how they stitched t
  • Hosted on my fast server for your convenience. Hosted for a limited time as this is eating bandwidth... UW Printable maps non bittorent fast mirror http://files.photojerk.com/wifiuwprodraster.zip for raster map!!! Use http://files.photojerk.com/wifiuwprodvector.zip for vector map. Alan

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