Pureh@tes newest creation

[pureh@te]

Here is my newest creation. I call it "EvilAP". I started this project initially because we needed wifi in a building at work that didn't have any cat5 wiring and the run was over 100 ft. It started with a linksys wrt54g v5. The firmware on this one did not allow for much " modding" so I embarked on a firmware upgrade quest. I found out that the v5 has half the memory of the earlier versions and does not take aftermarket firmware well. Thanks to a thread on here though I found there was a way to flash it with dd-wrt firmware. Instead of being a onestep process like normal I actually had to flash it 4 times with different firmware to get to the build of dd-wrt I wanted which was v24. I was only interested in the wireless repeater mode at this point.

Now in the proccess of doing this I tried to mod the antennas and ended up breaking of one of the tnc connectors on the unit. At this point at work my boss said "hey just order the damn stuff new and quit messing around". So I ordered a coople routers and rootenna's (thanks streaker69) for work. Well at this point I was into my project so I pursued a personal one at the same time. I ordered my own linksys wrt54gL which is the newest linux running version. It is a simple one time flash to gat the newest v 24 firmware from dd-wrt. Thats what I did at my work and connected two rootennas and its been working great since.

Now for my project I did some research on the dd-wrt forums and came across a script which can be placed in the routers memeorey itself and set to run at startup when the router is pluged in. If your interested you can read about all the stuff the script can be set to do here. Anyway the main thing it does is auto connect to the AP with the strongest signal and rebroadcasts it. Just a side note , the reason this is not a step by step tutorial is because there is way to much potential for abuse. If you can figure it out like I did then so be it.
The script can also be set up with a list of wep keys or wpa phrases with which it will try on each AP. This is a interesting set up for me because as many people know I am in live sound. Normally when our tour goes to a venue they provide wireless internet as its on my ryder always. Sometimes its to far and with this set up I can boost the signal considerably.

The potential for abuse here is that if I lived in a apartment complex I could set this to cycle every 20 mins and auto connect to the strongest AP and I could even enter keys that I had cracked. Pretty nasty HUH. The Ap also runs off a different subnet as the main AP its connected too so that on the main AP network there is only one new thing connected no matter how many machines I have connected to my AP.

The next order of businesses was to get some 9 db replacement antennas for "EvilAP" in order to boost the range. I also jacked up the xmit power from the default of 24 to 100. The max is 251 but I could not find any posts from any one that was clocking over 100 so I did not go over that.

The last thing I did was used the old wrt54g v5 that I started the project with ( and broke the tnc lead, remember) and turned of dhcp and glued and linked it to the new router. This was also something for work but I tried it at home first. So instead of tossing the old router (which was crappy any way) I turned it into a few more ports. So now there are 6 ports instead of four.

I will be doing some more advanced stuff to the router soon like running a sniffer inside or airsnarf or something but for now this is what I got. A super highgain dd-wrt wireless repeater. I hope this was of interest to someone.

PS-I looked into buying a cisco product of the same calliber and the price would have been 600 -1000 dollars US.

PSS-If any one has any cool ideas for this type of thing i'd love to hear it.
Here are some pics
Back of router

Front of router

Close up back

[The_Denv]

This is an excellent setup man. Your basically acting that AP as an extension to the selected network thats running off the wire/dsl etc? I read your post fully and the pics are nice aswell. This is seriously going to help me in a few months time when I move house. Im setting up my lab outside my new house, first I have to build the office ...it will be like a barn only air-tight . It will be 1/2 an acre in distance from my new house so I will need to use this tutorial for that project.

Thanks pureh@te, I was going to do this myself when I moved but now that you have already done it its going to save me a lot of time figuring it out

Thanks a million man

EDIT: A section of my office is going to be underground. Ive never actually thought about it until now...I wonder if WiFi can be broadcasted from a steal container thats 6 foot underground. Hmmm...Im off to Google this one

EDIT2: Found a PDF on Cisco WiFi broadcasting in underground conditions. It was made up mainly for the mining industry, here is the link incase anyone is interested: Cisco WiFi-Going Underground // Mining Industry

[duwey96]

Thanks for the information. This is a kinda project that I have been thinking about doing, along with setting up a something like the Upside-Down-Ternet: http://www.ex-parrot.com/pete/upside-down-ternet.html

Thanks again for sharing this information

[Re@lity]

Originally Posted by The_Denv

......EDIT: A section of my office is going to be underground. Ive never actually thought about it until now...I wonder if WiFi can be broadcasted from a steal container thats 6 foot underground. Hmmm...Im off to Google this one ....

You might also find it interesting to look up info on the "faraday cage" principle

[The_Denv]

Originally Posted by Re@lity

You might also find it interesting to look up info on the "faraday cage" principle

The Faraday cage is a really sweet design. The first time I seen it was in a film called 'Enemy of the State', Gene Hackman lived in one! It's similar to what I am going to build when I move house...it's excellent for also preventing my wee 40'ft steel container being hit by lightening

[Andy90]

So in a sense is this a custom made, massively customisable repeater? Like the netgear stuff but better ?

[pureh@te]

Originally Posted by Andy90

So in a sense is this a custom made, massively customisable repeater? Like the netgear stuff but better ?

Yes thats exactly what it is except I spent $120.00 instead of $600 - $1000 for a commercial device. I know its not super cool but I learned something, it works and it was fun to make so its a success as far as I'm concerned and I just thought I'd share it.

[OpFor]

Thanks pureh@te, read this the other day and have not stop playing yet.

[cyberconsole]

Sounds like a nice setup man. Especially for the price

[Andy90]

Originally Posted by pureh@te

Yes thats exactly what it is except I spent $120.00 instead of $600 - $1000 for a commercial device. I know its not super cool but I learned something, it works and it was fun to make so its a success as far as I'm concerned and I just thought I'd share it.

Sorry mate didnt mean that to come accross in a derogatory way, just trying to get my head around it