NetStumbler + GPS Visualizer = cool
I drove down today with the GPS hooked up to my laptop and NetStumbler running. NetStumbler is a WiFi detector application that runs under Windows. It takes your WiFi card and uses it to detect WiFi access points. If you have a GPS, NetStumbler will record the latitude and longitude of the access points it finds.
Once you’ve scanned the area you’re interested in, you can head over to GPS Visualizer. Upload your NetStumbler log file and GPS Visualizer will generate a SVG file showing all the access points you found. You can even select a mapping service to use for a map background. Once you’ve generated the SVG, GPS Visualizer will give you the option of generating a JPEG from it (see the image included in this post for an example).
In all, pretty sweet. I get a pretty good look at the 592 access points my computer saw along the way from Sacramento all the way down to San Jose. Access points with WEP or WPA encryption show up as red circles, open access points show up as green circles. Circles get larger for access points that have a stronger signal. If I hadn’t scanned such a large area, I could have used one of GPS Visualizer’s street-level map providers, but since I scanned a 140 mile path through California I had to use a less detailed map provider (I’ll probably split my log file up a bit later to generate more detailed maps of certain areas).
Update: I truncated the log file and regenerated the map, this time using one of the hi-res, street-level satellite images. See the shot of highway 50 west of Folsom. You can see one of Intel’s access points show up in the image. I should increase the background opacity, the maps aren’t very bright relative to the access point listings.
August 17th, 2006 at 5:18 am
Is there any way that I can be traced using a GPS reciver thorugh internet, like if am outside and my GPS is working is there any application by which anybody can trace me sitting on computer?
September 29th, 2006 at 5:27 pm
ALK who Produces the CoPilot range of software now has a ‘free’ feature since Version 6: Online tracking - If you have a GPRS or WAP or otherwise internetdata enabled device with you running the software, it will report it back to a website that you can then control access to by issuing a ‘Tracking Invitation’ to other users that are only valid for certain periods of time. They can then logon to the website, view position, track data and current destination, and also send new updates for all that too.
Check out “CoPilot Live” - and no I dont work there - I just use it lots
:)
For a Similar-ish solution for ‘free’ Check out Radio Mobile which has the ability to broadcast positional information from GPS via Multicast and to map that up across multiple Clients.
January 4th, 2007 at 12:10 am
Albert: Of course there is–signal is signal! However, you’re communicating with Satellites; therefore the improbability that someone will have the equipment and knowledge to do so…AND THEN targeting YOU…99.99% improbable. Or in this case, NO AND THEN.
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Albert: No. A GPS receiver by definition just receives signal from satellites, therefore it should not be trackable.