GPS & Wardriving

Wardriving is the practice of moving through an area, on foot or in a vehicle, while recording the wireless environment along the way. AirLeak Pro is built for exactly this: its two radios listen constantly while its on-board GPS stamps every observation with a location and time.

How it works#

1. Get a GPS fix

   Power on and let the GPS lock on, this needs a clear view of the sky and takes a minute or two from cold. Once fixed, new observations carry real coordinates.

2. Start scanning and moving

   Begin a scan and set off along your route. Both radios keep hearing access points, client devices and Bluetooth devices; each is tagged with where you were when the signal was strongest.

3. Cover the area

   Drive or walk the streets or floors you want to survey. AirLeak Pro re-hears devices as you pass and keeps the best location for each, so the map fills in as you go.

4. Save and map

   With logging enabled, the whole route is written to the memory card in a mapping-ready file. Pull the card afterwards and import it into a mapping tool to see everything plotted on a map. See Logging.

What a survey gives you#

The result is a location map of the wireless world along your route: which networks are where, how they are secured, which Bluetooth devices and trackers are present, and how strong each was. It is the difference between a list of names and an actual picture of an area.