{David's IT Blog}

As some may have already noticed I have published my Kismet package in the extras-devel Repository a few days.

Kismet is an 802.11 layer2 wireless network detector, sniffer, and intrusion detection system.

If you had already tried using Kismet on your N900 you will have noticed that Maemo Fremantle isn't using gpsd anymore. As a result the internal GPS is not available within Kismet. My package fixes that issue with experimental support for liblocation, the GPS library provided by Nokia for accessing the internal GPS unit.

Although the Kismet package is already available I have to note that the default kernel driver (wl12xx) available on the N900 has a broken monitor mode. It is working in general, so it may look like it is working. As already 406 Not Accceptable has posted, the reality is that in monitor mode the card always stays on channel 6. This also applies to PR1.1.1. So if you only want to scan channel 6 you may already be happy 😉

For all others I am currently working on a patched driver. I have already finished a workaround for channel switching, as there is a firmware bug for channel switching. Some tests showed the workaround is working and wardriving is really possible with the N900. Moreover I have to say it is working quite well for such a device, however it is not working as well as on Atheros cards.

So stay tuned, I am going to release this driver soon.

PS: For all awaiting package injection support for the N900 I have to say it may be possible sometime, but as the firmware doesn't like it very well I have decided to use the safer workaround for my patched driver.

For all German readers, Jake has already posted something on his blog about Kismet on the N900.