JimGeier
11-11-2002, 01:08 PM
Of course we're all aware of "wardriving," which is where you drive around in your call and pick up siganls from access points located througout your community. Has anyone heard of someone doing this via an aircraft?
FAA rules forbid the use of cell phones at all times while the aircraft is in operation, but I understand that it's acceptable (according to the FAA) to utilize other radio devices (e.g., WLANs) if the aircraft is not being used for commercial purposes or under an instrument flight plan. I think that this makes it legal (I'm checking further on this) to fly an aircraft over an area with a WLAN sniffing tool, high gain antenna, etc., and do some "war flying."
I'm a private pilot and have been thinking of testing this by flying over my home, which has several access points. It's safe enough to fly over at about 1,000 feet, which should be enough to capture the siganls. Of course the roof of the house will offer a unique attentuation to the signals, so I was wondering if anyone else has seen applicable test results.
FAA rules forbid the use of cell phones at all times while the aircraft is in operation, but I understand that it's acceptable (according to the FAA) to utilize other radio devices (e.g., WLANs) if the aircraft is not being used for commercial purposes or under an instrument flight plan. I think that this makes it legal (I'm checking further on this) to fly an aircraft over an area with a WLAN sniffing tool, high gain antenna, etc., and do some "war flying."
I'm a private pilot and have been thinking of testing this by flying over my home, which has several access points. It's safe enough to fly over at about 1,000 feet, which should be enough to capture the siganls. Of course the roof of the house will offer a unique attentuation to the signals, so I was wondering if anyone else has seen applicable test results.