WEP is dead, how's the reception?

[Alfred Qeada]

So WEP is dead, and the following are known:
1. you can drive around a city and sniff data (one ref)
2. folks can point a pair of dishes at each other and do 10 miles w/out
extra ampl. (many refs)

I'm curious: what range can you intercept 802.11 data with reasonable
S:N
assuming that the source is *not* cooperating as in 2. above.

Lets try to answer this.
A 2-m dish could give 30 db? (Damn, used to know that function of
wavelength...) How many times the default range does 30 db give? (Damn,
30 dB is probably a power figure? 30 db is 1,000 times... range would be

a square of radiated power.. sqrt 1000 is 30 something.. range of 802.11

is probably 100 m? so 3 Km, 1.5 mi with a man-sized fixed dish... too
directional
to drive with...