The Internet Was Meant To Be Free (Not really But That's The Way I Want It To Be)

In a world of the commercialization of the Internet the initial romantic idea of a free internet available to all is once again appearing out from the spaces of the technological overlay that covers the conceptual existence of the 'Net. New technological advances are causing the Internet to grow out into a freer, more communal entity which will hopefully break free from the access restrictions set upon it by the financial necessity to make a profit in order to afford all the wires and servers that keep the damn thing running. This is an article in progress on the development, deliberate and accidental, of free access to the Net.

Article In Progress:

"Accessing the Internet Through 802.11 Wi-Fi Technology"

Before you can start you should decide on what tools to use in your search of an "open" AP. The AP detection software which you'll be using will depend on your OS. Windows users will be using NetStumbler, Macintosh users will be using MacStumbler, and Linux users will be using Kismet. Having experience with only IBM-compatible laptops I will only comment on NetStumbler and Kismet. MacStumbler, at the moment, is out of my expertise.

NetStumbler and Kismet seem to be similar to the ignorant eye but in reality they are as different from each other as night is different from day. NetStumbler works by sending out requests to APs asking them if they're willing to share their SSIDs. This method of discovering APs is noisy, messy, and will most likely end up with a lot of APs, whose default settings have been changed to not answer random shout-outs from people who don't know the AP's SSID, from responding to you. In an area with 50 APs you will probably pick up 15 with NetStumbler for in the part of stealth it stumbles. It's more of a neighbor greeting software. Like knocking on all your neighbors' doors while announcing yourself as somebody who just moved, temporarily, into the area.

Kismet, on the other hand, is the stealthy ninja of the AP infiltration family. Unlike its drunken boorish uncle, NetStumbler, Kismet does not announce itself to others. It doesn't even go around from AP to AP instead it does what all great ninjas do. It just sits there and listens. As 802.11 packets float past it in the air Kismet snatches them with an iron fist and reads them in order to derive from them the occult secret of an AP's SSID. Thus Kismet detects pretty much all active APs as long as it sees the network packets. Thus in an area with 50 active APs Kismet will see them all.

So now you're probably wondering why I'm dissing NetStumbler. I'm not. NetStumbler is what it is and nothing more. Kismet, on the other hand, is built for greater functionality. The only problem is that NetStumbler is for Windows systems while Kismet is for Linux systems. So let's say that you want to use Kismet but do not want or can't or just won't install Linux then download one of the Linux Live distributions. They boot from your cd-rom drive and run off your cd-rom drive. No install needed. This setup will allow you to run Linux on your Windows PC and will therefore allow you to use Kismet.

One more point to address: Is there any reason to use NetStumbler? Yes. If your wi-fi card is not supported by Kismet it may be supported by NetStumbler. Hey, folks, something is usually better than nothing.

The Money Shot:

Okay, so you've got your system set-up now what? Well now you should detect some APs in your area. What you should do now is find some APs with WEP turned off and one that allows net access. Connect and enjoy!