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Hardware Hacking Wireless Networking Privacy Hardware

Hot-Rodding A Bluetooth Adapter 145

Posted by timothy from the don't-blame-us-we'll-blame-you dept.
carbolic writes "Remember the Bluetooth records where we 'modded an adapter' and connected to a cell phone first from 1 kilometer, then from 1 mile away? Popular Science has the hack in the November issue (or online now) with instructions. Additional step-by-step is laid out here for USB, and and here for PCMCIA. Soldering is required, but come on - you can't be a true geek without learning to solder."
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Hot-Rodding A Bluetooth Adapter More

Hot-Rodding A Bluetooth Adapter

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  • Soldering is fun. I modded my Xbox. Now where is my Bluetooth adapter...

  • Programmers with soldering irons (Score:5, Funny)

    by wiredog ( 43288 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @09:24AM (#10575059) Journal
    *Shudder*

    Even more frightening than programmers with screwdrivers.

  • Solder globbing (Score:5, Informative)

    by nolife ( 233813 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @09:24AM (#10575061) Homepage Journal
    you can't be a true geek without learning to solder.

    The bigger the glob, the better the job!

    Basic soldering [elexp.com] tips.

    • Re:Solder globbing (Score:4, Funny)

      by Indy Media Watch ( 823624 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @09:26AM (#10575079) Homepage
      The bigger the glob, the better the job!

      I'm sorry, were you talking about soldering or masturbating?

    • excellent link. I've added it to my links to teach people how to solder. /crosses fingers people don't learn so I can continue making $$ on repairs...

    • Re:Solder globbing (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Did you just pull that soldering "tip" (sorry for the pun) out of your ass? A bigger glob does not mean you did a better job.
      • That was a joke. Maybe i should have included a real tip,
        Here's one..
        Clean Clean Clean. Without clean solder, clean tip, clean surface, and clean component legs, no amount of skill will get you a good joint as the solder will not flow correctly. If you start clean, all that is left is fine tuning your heat bridge skills and using the correct amount of solder. You can get a good joint with practice. All oxidation and oils must be removed from all things for the rest of the process to work. There are fi
    • There is an error on the page you linked to, the "right" diagram shows the solder sanwiched between the iron and the joint, hte iron should be on one part of the joint and the solder on another, that way the heat draws the solder into the joint and forms a strong bond, if the solder is hotter than the joint (as in the "right" diagram) the joint will be significantly weaker.

  • I'm a nerd! Not a sprinter! (Score:5, Funny)

    by G-Licious! ( 822746 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @09:26AM (#10575075) Homepage
    So now we have to walk a full mile to knock that Bluetooth spammer out?

    Great hack..

  • Soldering (Score:5, Funny)

    by MrDoh! ( 71235 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @09:29AM (#10575108) Homepage Journal
    Thing about soldering, I just KNOW that the joint is bad if I've not scarred myself. At some point during the process, I have to touch skin to hot bit to make my pain sacrifice to the gods of solder. Once this suffering is endured, I know that it'll work. If no pain, no joint, and I'll have to redo it until I'm scarred from the experience.

  • Burrrrr! (Score:5, Informative)

    by wowbagger ( 69688 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @09:31AM (#10575130) Homepage Journal
    OK, I don't know what scares me more:

    The fact that these guys are using what looks like their kid brother's woodburning kit as a soldering iron (just look at the size of this thing compared to the size of the pad they are working on), the fact that they didn't prepare the coax (tin the leads) BEFORE they put it into place, or the fact that they are blithly ignoring the part 15 regs which DO NOT ALLOW an external antenna to be installed on a device like this.

    Oh, let us not forget that the cable they are using is not rated for the Bluetooth frequency range, and will have a pretty significant attenuation at those frequencies, that the connectors they are using will not have a good impedance match at Bluetooth frequencies...

    • this is called consumerism.
      They take something apart, break it, buy another.

      Linksys is happy, and if everyone keeps their mouth shut the FCC never knows about it.

      If, on the off chance, the FCC does find out about it...well our government could ALWAYS use more money, so slap the modders with a fine. I'm ok with it because Bluetooth I have not.

      • Re:Burrrrr! (Score:3, Insightful)

        by c_oflynn ( 649487 )
        >Linksys is happy, and if everyone keeps their mouth >shut the FCC never knows about it

        No, the FCC can still find out about it if it investigated a lot of complaints of interference... there is a reason devices are only allowed ot transmit a certain range!
      • That's the great thing about hardware hacking these days. The basic components are practically disposable!

        Check out this NPR radio segment [npr.org] where Peter Rojas of Engadget [engadget.com] talks about hardware hacking the iPod and other stuff.

    • Yeah, dog only knows what the standing wave ratio of this hack is going to be. I was always taught to use antennas and cable length for the frequency you're looking to transmit.

      Err.. or something.

      • Re:Burrrrr! (Score:4, Informative)

        by russotto ( 537200 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @09:57AM (#10575338) Journal
        The antenna IS the right frequency.
      • Coaxial cable has a standard impedence, it should match the output of the transmitter unless it is rather odd. Coax does have resistive losses at high frequencies, but over a few feet it should not be much.

        It looks like they are using 2.4 GHz band antennas (probably intended for WiFi use), evidently Bluetooth is in the same band.

        Probably not much of an SWR problem.
    • No kidding on that soldering iron. I'm surprised he didn't just destroy the whole board immediately. He should have had a proper chisel tip in the thing at least. Now if he wanted to do an actual good job, he should have had a nice Metcal solder station like this MX500 [metcal.com]. I've used these things for years and it is impossible for me to ever touch a normal soldering iron again. Just make sure to keep the tips nice and clean.
    • Another thing is, last I recall, there are bluetooth adaptors that have external antenna connectors, and pigtails can be purchased.

      A lot of people are violating FCC regs for wireless networking and the FCC has yet to crack down on people setting up illegal antennas, even though they are very aware of the phenomenon. Bluetooth falls under that same band, though usually lower power.

    • Re:Burrrrr! (Score:2, Insightful)

      by AndroidCat ( 229562 )
      just look at the size of this thing

      I think the camera they're using lets them get pictures up close. I thought it looked like a normal pencil-iron with a beat-up tip.

      Years ago, I picked up a Weller soldering station when they were on sale. More expensive than a cheap pencil, but well worth it, especially on larger projects. (Just having a solid holder for the iron has probably saved me a few burns.)

      Tip: Never solder projects without full-length pants.

    • -1, Parent poster is a shithead (Score:5, Informative)

      by Gordonjcp ( 186804 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @10:12AM (#10575508) Homepage
      LMR-100 *is* microwave cable, and N connectors are suitable for microwave.
    • I have to say that I just LOVE, no ... I ADORE a good dose of semi-competent enthusiasm using the approximate tools with the wrong raw materials to get a result that does something cool in a mediocre fashion.

      Elegence is beautiful thing - but sometimes you just long for a bit of cobbled together crap that barely does the job and has a pretty good chance of either killing you, or at the very least fucking up your neighbours radio reception.

      I actually wish they'd be a bit LESS competent!!

    • Re:Burrrrr! (Score:3, Funny)

      by DAldredge ( 2353 )
      If it bothers you so much, why don't you buy them the correct equiptment and ship it to them?

    • Re:Burrrrr! (Score:3, Interesting)

      by carbolic ( 616993 ) *
      Actually, it's an off-the-shelf Radio Shack $10 soldering iron. The point was to use easy-to-find gear to make the hack work. I used the same iron in these projects [wifi-toys.com].

      As for your other points: Step 7 == Tin The Shield, LMR-100 is the most common pigtail for "low-loss" at 2.4GHz, FCC regs tend to encourage experimentation (debateable), and the frikken thing worked over 1 Mile - depsite the under-engineered design flaws.

  • Practical Application (Score:3, Funny)

    by Indy Media Watch ( 823624 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @09:33AM (#10575138) Homepage
    I was struggling to think of a practical application for this so I came up with an evil one instead.

    Step 1: Fit USB Bluetooth Adapter to victim's PC
    Step 2: Sneak up to one mile away
    Step 3: Use Bluetooth mouse/keyboard to control them

    Of course, from practical jokes comes food for thought of serious security implications.

    Have a look at AtStake's Ollie Whitehouse's [ruxcon.org.au] presentation on Bluetooth insecurities and be extra afraid that you can't look around the room for the attacker any more.
  • Sorry, but the days of geeks going down to Radio Shack and crafting things together are long gone. The modern geek does not solder. Geeks play computer games, download pornography, program (sometimes), and IRC. Soldering is a "dirty" skill, on the level with being a carpenter or plumber...it's unworthy of a geek, and it's something you hire someone to do.

    Sorry, but it's true. Ask around at the next anime convention or star wars message board...you'll see what I'm talking about.

    • You seem to have confused nerds with geeks. That's okay. Common mistake.

      -Peter

      PS: You're right about Radio Shack, though. They're too focused on cell phones and cheap RC cars these days. It's Fistell's [fistells.com] for Denver geeks.

      -Peter
      • I was just poking around on their site, as I haven't been in that place in years (mid-90s most likely)
        It was a lot of fond memories, then a rude surprise to read that David had died in 2002. [fistells.com] His family is apparently still running the store, but that really changes the mood of the day, ya know?
    • You forgot to use flux.. That's why you're bitter.

    • Playing games and masturbating doesn't make you a geek.

      The willingness to experiment with technology makes you a geek. That may involve learning to code, to solder, or to work metal.
    • Sorry, but the days of geeks going down to Radio Shack and crafting things together are long gone. The modern geek does not solder.

      The modern geek is pretty clueless how the hardware he uses works. Most would not know what to do with a soldering iron, even given an unlimited supply of logic ICs, circuit boards, etc.

      Geeks play computer games, download pornography, program (sometimes), and IRC.

      The geekdom bar has really lowered hasn't it? It used to be that geek implied some sort of competence. Now it
      • So... What category do I fall under then? I do play with solder and chips (I'm an EE) and regularly make my way into Rad-Shack when I'm desperate for parts and Digi-key just can't ship 'em fast enough to me. I "code to the wire" all the time in assembly, and enjoy the occasional foray into things like C and Perl on my desktop. Have I ascended to a higher state of geekdom? UberGeekness I might even say? (one of my aim names even, with a slight spelling variation, damn every name being taken already).

        -Jess
        • I too am a geek who solders. I even make money at it when those who think they are soldering geeks aren't (see sig, repairs section).

          Anyone who does not know how things work is not a pureblood geek. They are a half breed and are polluting the geek master . . . uh, this is getting ugly isn't it?

          Ok. . .
          Hacker geek: one who solders, bodges logic and code to do ones bidding
          Nerdy geek: one who doesn't.

          how's that.?
          -nB
          • Anyone who does not know how things work is not a pureblood geek. They are a half breed and are polluting the geek master . . . uh, this is getting ugly isn't it?

            How *what* works? I have been coding since back when you had to solder together the computer first (S-100, yum), and I've tossed together a couple .com executables under DOS with raw opcodes. Am I a geek? Naw... my girlfriend is a geek:

            She can't solder, she can't program. She *can* however, rip apart spinach to a molecular level, maintaining

            • you are both geeks.
              My point is that many of the "Geeks" are not. Geekdom IMHO is an in depth understanding of one's field that can only be gotten with a love for that field.
              If you're doing "a job" you are not a geek. If you are getting paid to play with whatever you love then you are a geek.
              -nB
        • You can easily find your pigeonhole by ranking your social and technical skills on a simple "3K" scale:

          You are an "ubergeek" - as long as your esoteric projects sometimes work. If you're an informed, though noncreative, expert, you're just a (default) "geek". If they never work, then you're a "nerd". If you never turn to machines for alternative to your social dysfunctions, but rather other humans with your limitations, you're a "dork". If you work out your antisocial tendencies with others, in sports, you

      • The modern geek is pretty clueless how the hardware he uses works. Most would not know what to do with a soldering iron, even given an unlimited supply of logic ICs, circuit boards, etc.

        I think "geek" is now more of a term that encompasses all the "geeky" specialties. There's very few general geeks anymore.

        I know basically how all my computers work because I read the schematics of all my hardware in technotes. I know when I open any of them what all the ICs are because of reading those schematics. Do

    • Re:Geeks do not solder (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Bullshit.
      Nerds don't know how to solder, as they never like to deal with physical reality.
      However, being a geek is a hands on job, not distancing yourself from technology. What could be more geeky than building your own computer?

      Also, you can have carpentry geeks, hi-fi geeks who build their own equipment from tubes and transformers.....
      Geeks are good at what they do, and like to take things apart. Nerds watch from the sidelines and read about it on /.
    • Geeks do not solder

      Yeah, if you're stephen hawking...
      humm, i don't have karma to burn.
    • You mispelled Dork :) Seriously, if all you are is a consumer (of video games, anime, pornography) then you are not a geek. Geeks are people who have an internal desire to take things apart and know how they work. That may be electronics or software or chemistry or physics or pure math or any number of things. I know those emo kids have tried to coopt the word geek to simply mean not part of the in crowd (and I have no problem with them) but that is not what it means.
    • Geeks never did go to radio shack. Geeks were always at home reading comic books fantasizing about one day meeting a woman with super powers.

      NERDS on the other hand, have long been handy with a soldering iron, and any other tool on your basic electronics work bench.

      I am a Nerd, I am a systems administrator, I have a fully populated electronics workbench at home though I have no formal tranining in the field. Currently I am working with PIC microcontrollers. Its a nice blend of coding, computer interfac
      • Here here! I like to make the differentiation between geek and nerd, because quite frankly there are lots of people who get grouped with people like myself who I do NOT want to be associated with. Since the term "geek" originaly comes from "circus geeks" I choose to be a nerd. And a nerd is the kind of person who makes things -- be it hardware, software, or even wetware; whether created from scratch or modified (hacked) from something else.

        Geeks are just socialy backward people who do weird things, like

    • Soldering is a "dirty" skill, on the level with being a carpenter or plumber...it's unworthy of a geek, and it's something you hire someone to do.

      There's dozens of articles [slashdot.org] just from the last couple of months that disagree with this view. Geeks solder, weld, work with liquid nitrogen, regularly cannibalize and hack cameras and gaming consoles, harness power from hamsters... Perhaps you're just not paying sufficient attention to the hardware hacking articles.

      Ask around at the next anime conventi

    • I like the correct term of Hacker. Not the abused term of Hacker as a phreaker, script kidde, or cracker. A hacker in the old way of someone that write a nice piece of code or modifies a piece of hardware. Along the same lines as the old Hot Roders and Hams.
      And yes we do solder.
    • You must be a software weenie :-)

      All the geeks I know solder. The *real* geeks solder surface mount ICs with hot air guns and toaster ovens, and design their own multilayer PCBs using ExpressPCB's excellent services. They get their SMD parts from Digikey, which has done very well catering to those Radio Shack can't be bothered with any more.

      Disclaimer - I'm not financially interested in the above companies, except in a negative sense...they seem to take a lot of my money!

  • Microwave radiation? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by pen ( 7191 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @09:35AM (#10575150)
    So, what are microwave radiation levels being emitted from a setup like this?

  • That's nice, but (Score:5, Funny)

    by Minwee ( 522556 ) <dcr@neverwhen.org> on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @09:36AM (#10575162) Homepage
    Where does the "Type R" sticker go? What part of the Bluetooth adapter gets the "VTEK" logo? Does it use a giant aluminum wing to get extra range?

    Who cares about soldering? These are the details that we need to know.

  • pishaw... (Score:3, Funny)

    by di0s ( 582680 ) <cabbot917NO@SPAMgmail.com> on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @09:41AM (#10575204) Homepage Journal
    Real geeks don't need instructions...

  • another slashvertisement (Score:3, Informative)

    by JUSTONEMORELATTE ( 584508 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @09:41AM (#10575206) Homepage
    What really cracks me up is that Carbolic even links to his previous submission [slashdot.org] even though another reader had already outed him there [slashdot.org]
    Dude, if you're going to post a story that's entirely within your online store, at least say so! You're making nifty stuff, geeks are likely to want it, but don't do this kind of astroturfing crap.

  • Did anybody read this as (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @09:54AM (#10575306)
    but come on - you can't be a true geek without learning to soldier

    I thought WTF happened to the once calm, collected, slashdot geeks, ones who only goe to war if it is a Flame War.

    Maybe, Bill has pissed them off one too many times. Now that the assualt weapons ban has lapsed - THEY ARE TAKING UP ARMS NOW.

  • it seems as though this is the year for long distance wireless. Finally Wi-Max is almost here and blue tooth has been modded to have a distance of 1 mile...count me in

  • WLAN jammer (Score:4, Informative)

    by Blittzed ( 657028 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @10:03AM (#10575402)
    Fantastic. You've just invented a brilliant 802.11b and g jamming device. This thing should prevent the use of WLANs within a fairly significant radius. Although it uses FHSS, it will appear as all band noise to a DSSS system like the 802.11 2.4GHz devices. Why do you think there are already workplaces with "No Bluetooth Allowed"? And thats just for the short range bluetooth devices. Boosting the power on one of those things just aint clever.

    • Antenna (Score:2)

      by N8F8 ( 4562 )
      I read the article in the magazine and they just soldered an antenna to a bluetooth adapter. How could putting a bigger antenna on a receiver cause interference?
      • >I read the article in the magazine and they just soldered an antenna to a bluetooth adapter. How could putting a bigger antenna on a receiver cause interference?

        It would cause interference because it's both a transmitter and a receiver.

    • Re:WLAN jammer (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Eric Giguere ( 42863 )
      Indeed. Try even putting a regular Bluetooth adapter next to your Wi-Fi router and see what happens. I wrote about this before http://www.mobilizedsoftware.com/showArticle.jhtml ?articleId=17501803 [mobilizedsoftware.com]. That's the price you pay for the convenience of unlicensed spectrum. It's made me hold off from getting a 2.4GHz cordless phone to replace the crappy 900MHz phone I already have -- just one more thing to interfere with the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi networks. (The microwave, at least, doesn't run that often...)

      Eric
      • You're right about the 2.4GHz phone - I bought one and returned it a couple days later. I got a 5.6Ghz DSS model though and it doesn't seem to interfere at all with my 802.11g network. My microwave, cordless phone, wireless LAN and Bluetooth all seem to play very nicely together.
  • I've seen TV ads for a pocket, battery powered soldering tool that heats/cools in a second or two. Does that thing work? Any reason not to use it? BTW, I have no interest in the tool or its vendor, other than to solder like a soldier :).
    • Its only for heavy guage soldering, not good for PCB work.
    • I've heard that it does what it says it does, but a wired soldering iron is better for soldering.

    • They don't work (Score:3, Interesting)

      by John Miles ( 108215 )
      They are essentially worthless (at $20, I couldn't resist the chance to
      try one). They are unable to put enough current through an object to
      heat it to solder-melting temperature, unless the object is very small
      and delicate (read: a solid-state component that would be easy to damage
      by using a soldering iron that deliberately passes current through the
      connection being made). It is tough to solder anything larger than or
      equal to the size of a 1/8-watt resistor lead with this iron, and you
      can forget doing ante
      • The point about current leakage from the tip of an iron (either intentionally or just due to shitty design) isn't something to be lightly considered when screwing around with IC's. Simply put, they don't tolerate it well. So that iron (I've seen the ad, too) is more than a joke. It's downright dangerous when it comes to IC work. One company I worked for (we made pacemakers) only used ESD-safe butane irons for rework. Completely eliminated the chance of an electric iron doing damage.

        As for Radio shack, the

  • Can't say that I do... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Quarters ( 18322 ) on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @10:14AM (#10575529)
    "Remember the Bluetooth records where we 'modded an adapter' and connected to a cell phone first from 1 kilometer, then from 1 mile away?"

    Nope. Not at all. I have this thing called a "life".

  • This really isn't that big of a mod. 1. Remove antenna 2. Add bigger antenna 3. Hack friends bluetooth phone/computer Cool would be adding a high gain amp to the antenna mounted on a roof, and get line-of-sight distances.

  • Cantenna (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Stonent1 ( 594886 ) <stonent AT stone ... intclark DOT net> on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @10:24AM (#10575651) Journal
    Bluetooth uses the ISM band just like 802.11B/G so a Cantenna would work. (Haven't read the article yet)
  • It's called "ricing." And I don't see any neon stripes or spinning mags, so I don't think either designation applies.

    /now I want spinning mags on my USB ports.

  • They took a similar tack here with this iTrip amplifier [binaryelysium.com].

    Makes me wanna mod my iTrip so bad. If anything just for the larger antenna.. the amp is nice but I think it introduces an unneccesary level of complexity. Or maybe the mod is useless without the amp??
  • I've been paying attention to this hack for a while now. What I am curious about is, how long until you can use this in reverse and go into a PC that has Bluetooth on?
  • I love any hack/mod that requires a "prying tool".

    I used a "prying tool" last night on my old iBook battery to get in to replace the cells.

  • anyone know of a site that can illustrate doing this to a wifi card? actually, what i want is to add an external antenna to a card that doesn't have one.

  • "you can't be a true geek without learning to solder."

    sigh... you can't be a true geek without
    regularly alienating 99% of the population.
    (tho this comment gets up to 99.5 for excluding
    non-hardware true geeks)
  • Ok for someone to steal the phone book from my Nokia from a mile away, my Nokia needs to be modded also, right? To send the data over a mile away. Or am I missing something? I watched that TechTV stunt where they connected to a cell phone using a modded linksys dongle but they did not mention modding the Nokia. If they did not, how did the Nokia transmit more than a mile? Thanks for any helpful response.

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