Pie vs Pi

The gear needed for wardriving

6 posts • Page 1 of 1

Postby BRC150 » Sun Sep 13, 2020 1:15 pm

Hi guys I was looking at making a backpack what would be better Android phone running WIGLE or a Raspberry Pi running Kismet

If the Pi what GPS unit should I get UBLOX 7 or Globalsat BU-353s4


Thanks in Advance
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Postby arkasha » Mon Sep 14, 2020 4:51 pm

it depends on what you want to do!

you can load a Pi up with a lot of great wifi radios and likely get more data, but the effort and complexity increases, and so does your required (initial and ongoing) input of effort.

Pros:
Swap-able power banks
Cost is whatever you want to spend
As many of powerful radios as you want
As much storage as you care to pay for
Kismet is the gold standard for network detection
The new web UI means you can even keep tabs on it from your smartphone while it sits in your backpack

Cons:
Currently the Kismet export-to-wigle function doesn't upload cellular or bluetooth signals (only a PR away!).
more "moving parts" -> more things that may go wrong (harden your rig! invest in a good case!)
more manual effort to set up and maintain
You need to pick a good GPS (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swCSBFO-w6M for tips!)

if you want a 'fire and forget' setup, an Android device can get you a lot of points without a lot of effort, but you'll have less configuration, less reach

Pros:
It Just Works (generally pretty reliable)
Used Android 8 handsets are cheap
Upload from anywhere, if you add a data plan
Scriptable launch/exit/shut-down/upload has a GUI in Tasker / other cool "intent" suites
We think we wrote an OK stumbling package
Most android phones support multi-constellation GNSS
Bluetooth and cell come standard

Cons:
The radio in the handset you buy is all you have to work with
Ditto the GPS
Ditto storage
In general a lot less control and less detail than Kismet!
Most handsets don't have swappable batteries (but power banks still work)
Probably overall fewer wifi points per run

Postby arkasha » Mon Sep 14, 2020 4:53 pm

PS> one more note (based on your "Subject" line) - sadly, Android Pie (9) is a lost release for stumbling due to some questionable Google policy decisions; we strongly recommend either using Oreo (8) or disabling "Scan Throttling" in "Developer Options" on Android 10 and 11 to get good Android stumbling performance!

Postby BRC150 » Tue Sep 15, 2020 8:31 am

arkasha

Thanks for that information the video was very informative

the referral to Android Pie was not meant to be at just that version but to the android ecosystem
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Postby SkywardLark » Wed Sep 23, 2020 3:47 am

I had good luck backpacking with a VK-162 GPS. For radio, get stuff from the MediaTek MT76 driver family. The most common chipset is the MT7612U. Trust me, own at least one of them. You can pick up a generic MT7612U adapter for about $15:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086L3D3NB/
If you want something brand name the Alfa AWUS036ACM is about $40.

Realtek solutions can be enticing when you look at the price but it's not worth it. The drivers available often behave in mysterious ways.

Don't really backpack though it's annoying. I use an Android 9 handset with the terrible hack I described here:
viewtopic.php?f=6&p=10622#p10616
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Postby zebul666 » Tue Dec 08, 2020 7:27 pm

On the raspberry pi, I could hint at using the software I made that I called ssid-logger without any imagination.

https://github.com/solsticedhiver/ssid-logger

It could be run even on a rpi0 contrary to kismet. You need a wifi card and a gps.
I have not implemented bluetooth sniffing. Yet ?

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