Wi-Fi Shootout in the Desert

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () dandin com>
Date: August 3, 2004 12:15:26 PM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Wi-Fi Shootout in the Desert
Reply-To: dewayne () warpspeed com

Wi-Fi Shootout in the Desert

By Kim Zetter
Story location: <http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,64440,00.html>

02:00 AM Aug. 03, 2004 PT

LAS VEGAS -- Mobile warriors having trouble making a wireless 
connection across the hall might want to give some Ohio teens a call. 
This weekend they were able to make a 55-mile Wi-Fi connection.

The teens from Cincinnati got an ovation at the DefCon hacker 
conference here Sunday when organizers announced at the Alexis Park 
Resort that the winners of this year's Wi-Fi shootout might have broken 
a world record for ground distance in establishing a 55.1-mile Wi-Fi 
connection.


DefCon, in its 12th year of gathering hackers, security professionals 
and undercover intelligence agents from various countries, held its 
usual list of extracurricular competitions to accompany talks on 
subjects like hacking with Google and hacking RFID tags.

The Wi-Fi shootout, held for the second time, was among the most 
popular contests. Six teams participated, including two women who won 
an award for the most innovative antenna design, which consisted of an 
assortment of cardboard, duct tape and a car sun visor. That's only 
slightly less conventional than previous contestants, who built 
antennas from Pringles and Hormel Chili cans. The jury-rigged antenna 
achieved a connection at 0.82 miles.

Contestants had to set up a pair of computers, get an 802.11b Wi-Fi 
connection working on each one and then see how far apart they could 
place the computers and still maintain a connection using homebrewed 
and commercial antennas with and without amplifiers.

While one part of the winning team climbed a mountain with equipment, 
another part of the team climbed a second mountain. Then the first 
group shot a signal from one station to the second station with an 
encrypted message provided by the judges. They logged increasing 
distances over two days. (Wired magazine helped sponsor the contest.) 
Contest judges verified the distances using GPS coordinates.

Last year, teams got caught in a two-hour traffic jam before they 
reached the base camp, at 4,650 feet above sea level, then faced rain 
and thundershowers in addition to blistering heat. This year they faced 
only the heat and the absence of bathrooms and fresh beer for miles 
around.

Ben Corrado, Andy Meng, Justin Rigling and a fourth friend, Brandon 
Schamer (who didn't accompany them from Ohio), won the greatest 
distance achieved for an 802.11b network. The teens, two of them 18 
years old and the other 19 years old, achieved 55.1 miles using 
homebrewed antennas on both ends along with amplification, exceeding 
last year's winner by 20 miles. Then, when they established that 
record, they turned off their amplifiers and broke the record for an 
unamplified connection at the same distance. At the announcement on 
Sunday, the crowd rose to its feet.

The Guinness world record for Wi-Fi connection stands at 310 kilometers 
(about 192 miles), achieved in 2002 by Swedish Wi-Fi equipment maker 
Alvarion and the Swedish Space Corporation. But the companies achieved 
the distance by launching the equipment in a Swedish weather balloon, 
which many feel is not the same as a ground measurement, since there 
are fewer obstacles to block a WiFi signal in the stratosphere. The 
Swedish group also used amplification to achieve its record, but the 
DefCon team maintained its 55.1-mile connection even without 
amplification. Guinness World Records could not be reached for comment 
in time for publication to determine whether the DefCon team's efforts 
count as a distinct record.

<snip>


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