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Good PDA Wi-Fi Signal Strength Locator?

Posted by Cliff on from the tricorders-of-the-21st-century dept.

Tark asks: "I have been tasked with creating a reliable, portable 802.11b signal strength indicator. I have looked over various PDA's, and have narrowed it down to two: the Sharp's Zaurus 5500 Linux PDA, and the HP iPAQ 2215 Pocket PC. I have chosen these due to the fact they both support cf and sd slots. Which of these 2 PDA's will provide a reliable solution for detecting an 802.11b signal, and which wi-fi card should I use with the PDA? Also, is there a CompactFlash wi-fi card that supports a external antenna connection?"

5 of 48 comments (clear)

  1. Card Suggesstion by MonMotha · · Score: 2, Informative

    While not the best card in the world, it does work (And is supported in linux if you want to run that on your PDA) and has an external antenna connection available with little modding. The D-Link DCF-660W has an antenna connector right under the plastic cover.

    It's a CF card, so it will work in your mentioned PDAs. Just pop the plastic off, figure out what the heck that connector is, and hook up your pringles can.

  2. Here's a link or two by orthogonal · · Score: 4, Informative

    All from the Zaurus Software Index

    Google is your friend.

    Wireless LAN Monitor

    Wellenreiter II

    Kismet

    Kismet w/GUI

    Discoverer

    ZNetMeter

    WirelessApplet

    If you's like more research done, let's discuss hourly rates. ;)

    Your comment has too few characters per line (currently 8.9).

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  3. Zaurus wireless applet... by narrowhouse · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://www.killefiz.de/zaurus/showdetail.php?app=3 45

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  4. Re:Why make your own? by hrbrmstr · · Score: 3, Informative

    because the Kensington is a piece of garbage.

    If you're going "headless" then the WFS-1 by Smart ID is the better way. Check out this SecurityFocus article to see why.

    Give me a Linux PDA with kismet, wavemon and a Lucent gold PCMCIA card anyday (for 802.11b anyway).

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  5. Re:Kensington wifi detector? by cheros · · Score: 2, Informative

    There's a much better one: Smart ID makes one that is really accurate and (unlike the Kensington) rejects other sources like mobile phones. And they ship globally from Singapore AFAIK (well, it's always worth visiting Singapore - it's got Sim Lin Square, a sort of expensive version of Pan Tip Plaza in Bangkok ;-).

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