Wireless Hacks

hanksdc writes "With the proliferation of wireless networking over the past year, it has become easier and easier for even the most budget-minded geeks to afford wireless gear for their homes, offices, and neighborhoods. Rob Flickenger's latest, Wireless Hacks expands upon his previous book on the topic, Building Wireless Community Networks , and takes its reader by the hand on a fast-paced run through a large assortment of hacks related to wireless networking." Read on for the rest of hanksdc's review. Wireless Hacks author Rob Flickenger pages 286 publisher O'Reilly rating 8 reviewer hanksdc ISBN 0596005598 summary Tips and Tricks for getting the most out of your wireless network

From the back cover we find that the book is targeted towards the intermediate to advanced wireless user, and I found that definitely to be the case. Some of the hacks use a lot of technical jargon, and assume a fair amount of background knowledge from the reader. You should probably already know how to get a wireless link up and running to really benefit from the book. But don't let that be a deterrent if you're a newbie. It's still a fun read, and provides a lot of ideas for the inquisitive and creative mind.

The book is very readable, (all the Hacks series books I have read would, like their venerable ancestor, UNIX Power Tools , make for great bathroom books). Each hack is self-contained, and can be read in just a few minutes. You can read the book straight through, or browse around, find what interests you and go from there. Most hacks have references to other hacks in the book, so reading it can be like browsing a web page sometimes. Many hacks also have references to further sources of information on the topic covered.

There are hacks here for UNIX/Linux platforms mainly, but all you Ti/Al-Powerbook zealots will find plenty to lick your lips over as well, with several of the hacks devoted to wireless networking with OS X. There are even some for the Windows users as well. Many of the hacks (since they deal with hardware) could be utilized on any platform. Well, ok, you might have a bit of a hurdle to get your Pirouette cantenna hooked up to your vintage Apple ][c, but this book makes a good breeding-ground of ideas for those so inclined.

The book is divided into several chapters, each devoted to a particular topic. Each chapter contains a number of hacks related to that topic:

• Chapter 1, "The Standards," covers the alphabet soup of current wireless protocols, with a brief introduction to each.
• Chapter 2, "Bluetooth and Mobile Data," covers Bluetooth technology (need to use your Bluetooth-enabled cell phone to act as a modem for your laptop in a pinch? If only those phones weren't so pricey...*sigh*)
• Chapter 3, "Network Monitoring," is all about finding out what's going on on the local network, including various ways to sniff traffic, broadcast network services, perform network discovery, and analyze traffic.
• Chapter 4, "Hardware Hacks," gets down to the metal, discussing topics ranging from boosting signal strength to building your own access point from micro form-factor hardware to cabling and antenna guides.
• Chapter 5, "Do-it-Yourself Antennas," describes various ways to build your own antennas all the way from Pringles cans to milled aluminum wave guides (Don't forget to use ventilation when soldering ;-).
• Chapter 6, "Long distance Links," offers tips on setting up, well, long distance wireless links.
• Chapter 7, "Wireless Security," dispels the vendor-propagated myths of WEP 'security,' and gives practical advice on how you can avoid the guy next door from sniffing your private traffic (not that you'd have anything to hide, of course...).

The book's website has a full table of contents, listing each hack, if you're interested.

Throughout the book there is a lot of information repeated from Building Wireless Community Networks, as well as a few hacks copied over from Linux Server Hacks [Slashdot review here], but all together it makes a very useful collection, and a nice addition to O'Reilly's Hacks series.

So what's my take on it? If you're doing just about anything with an 802.11x network, you'll likely find something fun or useful here. If you're brand new to wireless networking, you may want to come up to speed with something a bit more tutorial-oriented. Perhaps one drawback to the book is its recipe-style format. There's not a lot of background information offered with each hack, but rather a lot "do this, then this, and you get this." If you're not used to hacking and experimenting with things, you might find yourself a bit lost. It certainly isn't a college textbook, which can be both good and bad, depending on what you're looking for.

Overall, if you're the forward-thinking, range-extending, hardware-tinkering, soldering-iron wielding, average slashdot reader, you'll probably find it a fun read with lots of good ideas to offer.

You can purchase Wireless Hacks from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

Comments

Hacker's challenge 2

[Sir Haxalot]

is also a useful book on the subject, covering 'a few scenarios involving wireless access that each manage to point out a different facet of wireless security.'

www. no cat . net

[fluor2]

We use nocat ( www.nocat.net ) at work. Its free, its open source, and it is highly customizeable.

Speaking of wireless

[Anonymous Coward]

I live pretty close to a Starbucks with wireless. Has anyone had any experience using their service from home? Can you do it? Is it worth it? Do they leave wireless on when the store is closed?

Re:Speaking of wireless

[LinuxOnHal]

You probably are resolving name lookups, but I'll bet what you are seeing one of two things:

1. They set a wildcard in their DNS server, so every query returns the same IP address, probably of their authentication server.

or

2. They have an HTTP proxy server that intercepts everybody who is not authorized for access, and then the DNS could still function normally.

The problem with number two is then in theory, if DNS queries still work right, then SSH, POP3, IMAP, etc probably works fine, and that would defeat the purpose. One #1, they could even assign a dummy IP address that doesn't route or translate to give internet access.

What about the rest of us...

[GillBates0]

Overall, if you're the forward-thinking, range-extending, hardware-tinkering, soldering-iron wielding, average slashdot reader, you'll probably find it a fun read with lots of good ideas to offer.

...woman-fearing, microsoft hating, RIAA loathing, SCO bashing, tinfoil hat-wearing, troll-posting, penguin-loving, overlord-welcoming, beowulf-clustering, and russia-sovieting slashdot readers? Will we find it a good read too?

Why Wireless?

[Eberlin]

I'm questioning the purpose of wireless technology. I understand that it's more convenient than a wired network but is there anything else?

Unless you've got an office full of notebooks, the best solution still seems to be a mixture of both wireless and wired...with wireless locked down as much as possible (even to the point of having to VPN through to the internal network).

It's fairly scary that one of the main reasons people go wireless if for convenience (and supposed simplicity for home users) -- and it's these same home users that will probably not take the time and effort to learn how to secure their network.

Coolest Hack I've seen in awhile

[Matey-O]

The Linksys WRT54g basestation/firewall/router/toaster is a MIPS box with 16mb of ram and linux...

This guy's got snort running on it:http://www.batbox.org/wrt54g.html (with a remote nfsmount for logs)

and these guys have info on hackin 'em:
http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/Lin ksysWr t54g

(I'm lazy, look out for the spaces)

Re:Wireless still = Dangerous

[lanswitch]

In the Netherlands there is an experiment going on with WIFI, www.wirelessleiden.nl

Right now I can use the 'net all around the center of the city I live in, Leiden (of Pilgrims fame). In a few months a commercial ISP will provide internet access through the wifi-network. Quite how they want to make profit, I don't know. Still, it's cool to walk with my Ipaq (opie linux) in my hand and see all the networks around me. Most people just think I'm playing with some pda or gameboy.

Dispelling the Myth of Wireless Security

[Slashdolt]

I read this article awhile ago. Given that so many people are setting up wireless networks in their homes/apartments, it really makes me wonder how many of them are being hacked, and allowing their neighbors to get free Internet access.

On the other hand, it could be a good defense if you actually wanted to give your neighbor free access. ;-)

--
Slash

Re:Dispelling the Myth of Wireless Security

[peter_gzowski]

A guy I do computer work for actually accidentally hacked his neighbours wireless network. His wireless network that I set up for him (with a WEP key, for what it's worth...) went down because somebody reset the box, but his laptop upstairs just picked up another network and started using it. He wouldn't have even noticed except the signal strength was poor, so his interent was slow.