WarDriving & Tethering

WiFi WarDriving

2019-04-20

No, it's not about "war games" (and also not about tanks – unless they are designed as WiFi APs). Wikipedia defines the term "Wardrive" as follows:

Wardriving is the act of searching for Wi-Fi wireless networks by a person in a moving vehicle, using a portable computer, smartphone or personal digital assistant (PDA).
Wardriving originated from wardialing, a method popularized by a character played by Matthew Broderick in the film WarGames, and named after that film. War dialing consists of dialing every phone number in a specific sequence in search of modems.

There are also indications for a backronym being involved: Wireless Access Revolution, to take away the martial touch from the term. In short: goal of the game is to collect APNs of a given area on a map.

So the goal is to show found networks on a map, or provide this data to projects like openbmap.org or Mozilla Location Service. Comparable apps for cell towers can be found in Monitoring & Mapping.

OpenWLANMini (4.7@20) 8 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2016-01-04 / OpenWLANMap (4.2@74) 11 $Contains no known trackers \o/$
Mozilla Stumbler (4.4@1,072) 10 Github; Vorstellung 3/2014; Data gathering for Mozilla Location Service
4G WiFi Maps & Speed Test. Find Signal & Data Now. (4.2@373,562) Ǥ 12 Intro 1/2013; Video Demo 2/2013; Testbericht 6/2013; Wikipedia
WiGLE WiFi Wardriving (4.2@3,277) Ǥ 19 Github; Vorstellung 1/2013; Detailled Intro 11/2013; Howto 11/2013; Wikipedia EN
G-MoN (4.1@4,511) Ǥ 12 Video Demo 6/2012; WarDriving Wiki: G-MoN
SWardriving. Wi-Fi Wireless. (4@61) 9 LastUpdate: 2017-08-03
WifiMapper - Free Wifi Map (3.9@7,126) Ǥ 17 Intro 7/2015; Kurzvorstellung 7/2015
WiFi Tracker (3.9@1,181) Ǥ 12 Video Demo 6/2013
WiFi Track (3.8@107) Ǥ 10 LastUpdate: 2013-06-25
Wifi Location Logger (0@0) 7 LastUpdate: 2015-03-19
RadioBeacon (0@0) 11 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2016-09-15 Github; Wiki; Map wireless networks and cell towers for the radiocells.org database (formerly OpenBmap)

Tethering

WiFi Tethering

2019-04-20

Starting with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), this comes as a stock-feature, and no longer requires additional apps. Unless your manufacturer removed the feature …

FoxFi (WiFi Tether w/o Root) (3.9@59,096) 10 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ / FoxFi AddOn (3.6@22) 2 LastUpdate: 2012-10-02 / FoxFi Key (supports PdaNet) (3.8@13,399; ~EUR 8.50) Ǥ 2 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Video Review 3/2012 | 8/2012; Review 5/2013
NetShare - no-root-tethering (3.9@5,305) Ǥ 11 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ can act as WiFi repeater
Wifi Hotspot Tethering (3.9@2,293) 4 LastUpdate: 2015-11-10
Portable WiFi Hotspot FREE (3.5@155) 4 LastUpdate: 2016-06-30
Tetherfy(WiFi Tether w/o Root) (3.4@3,406) 5 LastUpdate: 2016-08-02
TetherSetting | free tethering (3.4@745) 4 LastUpdate: 2015-04-29 no root required

Bluetooth Tethering

2019-04-20

PdaNet+ (4.3@74,957) 12 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Video Comparison with FoxFi 7/2013
Easy Tether Lite (No root) (4.2@23,099) 6 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ / EasyTether Full (4.4@9,164; ~EUR 9.00) 5 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ / EasyTether Pro (4.3@2,124; ~EUR 10.75) 5 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Video Review 3/2011; Video Howto 4/2011; Vorstellung 8/2013
FoxFi (WiFi Tether w/o Root) (3.9@59,096) 10 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ / FoxFi AddOn (3.6@22) 2 LastUpdate: 2012-10-02 / FoxFi Key (supports PdaNet) (3.8@13,399; ~EUR 8.50) Ǥ 2 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Video Review 3/2012 | 8/2012; Review 5/2013

USB Tethering

2019-04-20

ClockworkMod Tether (no root) (4.4@33,988) Ǥ 13 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2016-10-03 Howto 1/2012
Easy Tether Lite (No root) (4.2@23,099) 6 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ / EasyTether Full (4.4@9,164; ~EUR 9.00) 5 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ / EasyTether Pro (4.3@2,124; ~EUR 10.75) 5 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Video Review 3/2011; Video Howto 4/2011; Vorstellung 8/2013
FoxFi (WiFi Tether w/o Root) (3.9@59,096) 10 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ / FoxFi AddOn (3.6@22) 2 LastUpdate: 2012-10-02 / FoxFi Key (supports PdaNet) (3.8@13,399; ~EUR 8.50) Ǥ 2 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Video Review 3/2012 | 8/2012; Review 5/2013
USB Tethering Pro (3.9@1,882) 5 LastUpdate: 2017-01-15
Free USB Tethering (3.9@514) Ǥ 6
USB Tethering (3.8@3,349) 2 LastUpdate: 2017-01-15 / USB Tether (3.9@108) 2 LastUpdate: 2017-03-26
Quick USB Tethering Wifi (3.7@773) 3
USB Tethering /Tether (3.5@2,601) Ǥ 7
SimpleRT (0@0) 1 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2017-03-21 Github

USB Reverse Tethering

2019-04-20

Reverse Tethering NoRoot Free (4@841) Ǥ 10
USB Reverse Tethering (3.2@1,513) 5 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2013-11-28
Reverse Tether [Trial] (2.9@698) 7 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2014-12-29 / Reverse Tether (2.9@92; ~EUR 3.00) Ǥ 8 LastUpdate: 2014-12-29 Intro 5/2012

Also see: How to Use PC Internet Connection with Your Android Phone (1/2012)

WiFi Tether Toggler (Android 2.2+)

2019-04-20

Locale Wifi Hotspot Plug-in (3.7@755) 3 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2015-05-02

Further Readings:

Top Android Tethering Apps (5/2014)
Top 10 Android Tethering Apps to Connect All Your Devices (12/2013)
Top 5 Android Tethering Apps To Bring You Quick Online (8/2013)
How to Tether Android and Turn Your Phone into a Mobile Wifi Hotspot (5/2013)

2019-04-20

IzzyOnDroid