WarDriving & Tethering

WiFi WarDriving

2019-11-21

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 OpenCellId 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 $Contains no known trackers \o/$
OpenSignal - 3G, 4G & 5G Signal & WiFi Speed Test (4.3@383,892) Ǥ 12 Intro 1/2013; Video Demo 2/2013; Testbericht 6/2013; Wikipedia
WiGLE WiFi Wardriving (4.3@3,439) Ǥ 19 Github; Vorstellung 1/2013; Detailled Intro 11/2013; Howto 11/2013; Wikipedia EN
WiFi Tracker (4.1@1,229) Ǥ 12 LastUpdate: 2018-01-15 Video Demo 6/2013
G-MoN (4@4,590) Ǥ 12
Mozilla Stumbler (4@1,188) 10 Github; Vorstellung 3/2014; Data gathering for Mozilla Location Service
Wifi Collector (4@441) 5
WifiMapper - Free Wifi Map (3.9@7,126) Ǥ 17 Intro 7/2015; Kurzvorstellung 7/2015
SWardriving. Wi-Fi Wireless. (3.9@62) 9 LastUpdate: 2017-08-03
WiFi Track (3.8@108) 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

2019-11-21

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

NetShare - no-root-tethering (4.1@7,205) Ǥ 8 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ can act as WiFi repeater
Wifi Hotspot Tethering (3.9@2,293) 4 LastUpdate: 2015-11-10
FoxFi (WiFi Tether w/o Root) (3.6@59,529) 10 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2017-12-18 / FoxFi AddOn (3.6@22) 2 LastUpdate: 2012-10-02 / FoxFi Key (supports PdaNet) (3.5@13,598; ~EUR 8.50) Ǥ 2 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Video Review 3/2012 | 8/2012; Review 5/2013
Portable WiFi Hotspot FREE (3.5@155) 4 LastUpdate: 2016-06-30
TetherSetting | free tethering (2.8@751) 4 LastUpdate: 2015-04-29 no root required
Tetherfy(WiFi Tether w/o Root) (2.7@3,419) 5 LastUpdate: 2016-08-02

Bluetooth Tethering

2019-11-21

PdaNet+ (4.2@76,594) 11 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Video Comparison with FoxFi 7/2013; Review 7/2018
FoxFi (WiFi Tether w/o Root) (3.6@59,529) 10 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2017-12-18 / FoxFi AddOn (3.6@22) 2 LastUpdate: 2012-10-02 / FoxFi Key (supports PdaNet) (3.5@13,598; ~EUR 8.50) Ǥ 2 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Video Review 3/2012 | 8/2012; Review 5/2013
Easy Tether Lite (No root) (3.2@23,110) 6 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ / EasyTether Full (4.3@9,162; ~EUR 9.00) 5 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ / EasyTether Pro (3.9@2,173; ~EUR 10.75) 5 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Vorstellung 8/2013

USB Tethering

2019-11-21

ClockworkMod Tether (no root) (4.3@34,553) Ǥ 13 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2016-10-03 Howto 1/2012
USB Tethering Pro (3.9@1,882) 5 LastUpdate: 2017-01-15
USB Tethering (3.8@3,941) 2 / USB Tether (3.9@108) 2 LastUpdate: 2017-03-26
Free USB Tethering (3.7@548) Ǥ 6
FoxFi (WiFi Tether w/o Root) (3.6@59,529) 10 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2017-12-18 / FoxFi AddOn (3.6@22) 2 LastUpdate: 2012-10-02 / FoxFi Key (supports PdaNet) (3.5@13,598; ~EUR 8.50) Ǥ 2 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Video Review 3/2012 | 8/2012; Review 5/2013
USB Tethering /Tether (3.6@2,564) Ǥ 7 LastUpdate: 2017-12-12
Quick USB Tethering Wifi (3.4@841) 3
Easy Tether Lite (No root) (3.2@23,110) 6 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ / EasyTether Full (4.3@9,162; ~EUR 9.00) 5 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ / EasyTether Pro (3.9@2,173; ~EUR 10.75) 5 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ Vorstellung 8/2013
SimpleRT (0@0) 1 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2017-03-21 Github

USB Reverse Tethering

2019-11-21

Reverse Tethering NoRoot Free (3.5@891) Ǥ 10
USB Reverse Tethering (3.2@1,513) 5 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2013-11-28
Reverse Tether [Trial] (3.1@700) 7 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2014-12-29 / Reverse Tether (2.8@93; ~EUR 3.00) Ǥ 8 LastUpdate: 2014-12-29

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

WiFi Tether Toggler (Android 2.2+)

2019-11-22

Locale Wifi Hotspot Plug-in (3.3@759) 3 $Contains no known trackers \o/$ LastUpdate: 2015-05-02

2019-12-07

IzzyOnDroid