DefCon WiFi Shootout Winner Announced

devn2k writes "At the first annual WiFi Shootout at DefCon in Las Vegas, Adversarial Science Lab won the contest to shoot a wireless signal across the Nevada desert, with a distance of 35.2196 miles. The antenna was built from metal poles, window screen mesh, cardboard, duct tape, and aluminum foil! According to the official contest page, the antenna was designed the night before the contest, its component parts were purchased for $98 at Home Depot, and the next day it was built completely from scratch in the desert, on the side of the mountain, in the rain."

Comments

Re:Pretty Damn Impressive...

[sporty]

I'm sure their success is attributed more to knowing what you are doing in a McGyver'ish way than simply hacking.

That special knowledge that is the difference between the guy who buys dirt for a garden versus one who knows what to plant and mix in to make soil healthier.

Yeah, anyone can make a bomb with the proper chemicals, but can YOU do it with bubble gum, a piece of thread and a muffin? :)

homemade vs commercial

[aXis100]

Whilst the homemade winner was pretty good, im a bit suprised by some of the commercial entries.

eg: "Using a Stock Hyperlink 15dBi Omni at the base camp, and a stock Hyperlink 24dBi parabolic grid at the field site, with a confirmed distance of 10.1625 miles"

the WAFreenet (Perth, Western Australia) has several links of 18 to 22km (11.25 to 13.75 miles) - 30mW Clients with home modded 24dBi dishes (galaxy mods), connenecting to a 30mW AP with 14dB Waveguide. These links are about 8 - 10 SNR IIRC.

Our best is a link to the same AP from Rottnest island - 46 km! One connection was using an ipaq + cantenna with 2SNR, and another was with a modded satellite dish (overpowered at about 40dB EIRP), not sure of it's signal performance.

Several groups in the eastern states of Australia have achieved similar resulst.

If I only got 16km with a commercial 24dBi panel, i'd ask for my money back!

Re:What about the FCC regs?

[djeaux]

Not that I'm trying to ruin someones fun but the FCC could issue a NAL (notice of aparent liability) over this.

This would be possible, I suppose, if the FCC had any proof other than the DEFCON account of what happened. Of course, the FCC could have staked out the competition & made busts on the site. But that didn't happen.

My local police can't write me up because I tell someone that I drove 85 mph to the party. They have to catch me.

IANAL (thank God) but I wonder if, in the current "legal" climate, the FCC might bring charges against DEFCON for "conspiracy to commit terrorist acts" or something simply for holding the contest...