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Free wifi hotspots - what's the point of scanner software?

F

Fallingwater

Member
I'm trying to find free hotspots in my area with the help of a repurposed satellite dish. I read up before I start doing that, and I'm supposed to use Kismet or SWScanner, or another such program that'll tell me what networks are available at any given moment (Windows users would know the same thing as NetStumbler).

My question is: what benefit would this give me over opening the network manager and repeatedly hitting the refresh button as I moved the antenna around? Is it just for the hassle of the clicking?

I mean, I get it that scanners give all sorts of information about signal strength and noise and all that, but what use are all those to me? All I need to know is if the network is unprotected, and if it is if I can see it strongly enough to connect.
 
Those scanner programs are much more accurate than the information that windows or linux will give you natively. Also, they will show networks that are hidden.

Some scanner software will also interface with a GPS device and plot a heatmap on a map.
 
It is like.

Why we need so many types of restaurants? We can all just eat Burgers.:colbert:

If you get what you need from whatever you are using, there is No law that you "suppose" to use other things.


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jackMDS that was just about as useless as information can get

i would suspect, in what op is looking for specifically, that scanner software will be much faster at detecting networks compared to windows. if that matters or not is up to op. not sure why you would want to find hidden networks, they are hidden to keep you away.
 
wirednuts said:
jackMDS that was just about as useless as information can get

i would suspect, in what op is looking for specifically, that scanner software will be much faster at detecting networks compared to windows. if that matters or not is up to op. not sure why you would want to find hidden networks, they are hidden to keep you away.
Click to expand...

If you have an Interest in the topic, ask a specific question, and I'll give you an answer according to the specific question.

I think that my answer in this thread follows the spirit of the Original Question.


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