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How Do You Locate That Access Point?
parp asks: "As an IT Manager I'm concerned about unauthorized Access Points being installed, or users who setup wireless computer to computer networks. How do you find the exact location of these devices? I've tried walking around the office with a laptop watching the signal, but the signal monitors that are included with most network drivers are very limited. The signal could be upstairs, downstairs or right around the corner, but I can't find it. Results of web searches I've done just tell you how to find a signal (wardrive), not the source. I'd be interested in any software or hardware device that can locate the device within a few feet."
Here is an idea for people who bring in an off-the-shelf wireless router. If they are dumb enough to leave SSID visible, perhaps they left it at the defaults. See if you can join it and then try a default password. There you can find the MAC address on the WAN side. If you have at least layer 2 managed switches on you network, you can log into them and look at the tables to determine which port it is comming in to. Hopefully you have a current map of your network (i.e. jack #23 in the wiring closet goes to the General Managers office.) The last place I worked for had no such map, I had to make it myself. If someone cries foul that I suggest they "hack" into someones personal property, tough. The culprit is using Company resources and leaving a door open into the network, possibly affecting others. Hope this helps
"Build something idiot proof, and someone will build a better idiot" - Samuel Clemens
Yup. Reflections are going to be a big problem.
I'm a rank amateur when it comes to T-hunting (a sport among ham radio operators that consists of trying to find a hidden transmitter with directional antennas), but after a couple excursions I can guarantee that hunting for a few GHz signal inside an office building is going to be tough. Even with equipment that will let you look at only the offending signal and dedicated df'ing antenna (whether nulling loops or something that chops between multiple antennas and actively compared phase from each), you'll spend a long time chasing reflections.
That's not to say it wouldn't be a fun thing to try, of course.
An alternative might be to attenuate the signal - by replacing the antenna on your wireless card with a badly tuned little stub of wire or sticking it in a metal biscuit tin grounded to the laptop chasis - and then walk the building floors looking for a peak.
Chances are you can cover all the floor space in your building in less time than it will take you to chase reflections around with a directional antenna.
as macgyver did in episode 18, "Ugly Duckling".
Watch it to get a how-to
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