Home > Features > Wardriving

Wardriving

Wardriving maps wireless networks and devices to geographic locations using GPS. Drive, walk, or bike around an area while Biscuit scans, and the app plots everything on an interactive map in real time.

Wardrive Modes

When starting a wardrive session, choose the mode that fits your objective:

  • WiFi Only – Map WiFi access points across 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Records SSID, BSSID, channel, signal strength, encryption type, and GPS coordinates for each network.

  • Bluetooth Only – Map BLE devices with their GPS locations. Each device is logged with its name, MAC address, signal strength, and coordinates.

  • Flock Only – Map Flock Safety ALPR (automated license plate reader) surveillance cameras exclusively.

  • Bluetooth + Flock – Combined BLE device and Flock camera mapping in a single session.

  • All – WiFi, Bluetooth, and Flock combined for maximum data collection in one pass. This mode requires a dual-chip device (Pro or Ultra) since it scans WiFi and BLE simultaneously.

  • Anti-Surveillance – A focused mode for detecting tracking devices and surveillance infrastructure. See the Anti-Surveillance page for full details.

Note: WiFi Only and Flock modes work on all device variants. Bluetooth Only and BT+Flock work on all variants. The All mode requires a dual-chip device (Biscuit Pro or Ultra) because it scans WiFi and BLE at the same time.

Map Features

The wardriving map provides a live view of your session as it progresses:

  • Real-time position tracking – Your current location is shown on the map as you move
  • Clustered markers – Nearby devices are grouped into clusters that expand as you zoom in, keeping the map readable even with thousands of results. Large cluster counts on the Android map are shown rounded (for example, 523 displays as “500”); tap the cluster to see the exact device list
  • Color-coded markers – Pins and clusters are colored by what’s inside them so you can read the map at a glance:
    • Green – both WiFi and Bluetooth devices are present
    • Blue – Bluetooth devices only
    • Purple – WiFi networks only

    Flock cameras keep their own teardrop pin on the map and aren’t mixed into these clusters.

  • Heatmap visualization – Toggle a heatmap overlay to see network density across the area
  • Tap for details – Tap any marker or cluster to view device details including name, MAC address, signal strength, channel, and encryption
  • Live statistics – A stats bar shows running totals: access points found, BLE devices found, cameras found, unique device count, and session duration

Session Management

Wardrive sessions are saved automatically so you never lose data:

  • Sessions auto-save with a timestamp as you scan
  • Resume a previous session to continue mapping where you left off – open a past session from your history and tap Resume to keep adding data to it
  • Rename sessions from your wardriving history for easier identification
  • Browse your wardriving history to review past sessions
  • Filter history by session type (WiFi, Bluetooth, Flock, All, Anti-Surveillance)
  • Delete sessions you no longer need with a swipe gesture
  • Merge two or more sessions into a single combined session – useful when a wardrive was interrupted or you want to consolidate runs over the same area. Tap Merge at the top of the history view, pick the sessions you want, and confirm. Selected sessions must share the same upload status – either none of them uploaded yet, or all of them uploaded to the same services. The combined session keeps that shared upload state, so anywhere it hasn’t been uploaded yet is still available for upload

Note: Sessions you import from a CSV file (for example, a download from WiGLE) can’t be merged and can’t be uploaded back to the community platforms. Only sessions captured on the device can be merged or uploaded.

Post-Wardrive Report

When you finish and save a session, Biscuit automatically opens a report that breaks down everything you captured. A loading spinner appears while the report is prepared – you can back out at any time and pull the report back up later from your wardriving history (tap the report button on any past session).

At the top is an overall summary: total access points seen, unique networks, Bluetooth and Flock counts, channels covered, open networks, distance travelled, and how long the drive took. Below that, the report is split into WiFi, BLE, and Flock tabs – a tab only appears if that kind of device was actually found during the drive.

WiFi tab

  • Node performance – when you wardrive with satellite Nodes, see how much each WiFi Node (and your main device) contributed, the share of the total each captured, and the exact channels each one picked up, plus each Node’s name, role, and battery level
  • Charts – channel distribution (filterable to a single Node), security mix, and signal-strength breakdown, plus a Top Vendors list of the most common hardware makers
  • Unique networks (BSSID vs SSID) – see why your unique count is based on BSSID (each individual radio) rather than SSID (the network name), and which network names are actually made up of many access points
  • All networks – browse every network found, with search and filters for band, security type, capturing Node, and signal strength, plus sorting

BLE tab

  • Node performance for your BLE Nodes, the same way as WiFi
  • Breakdowns – signal-strength spread, a Top Vendors list of identifiable hardware makers (devices using private/rotating addresses can’t be identified, so they’re left off the list), and how many devices broadcast a name vs. none
  • All BLE devices – the full list with search and filters for Node, signal strength, and named/unnamed

Flock tab – any surveillance cameras detected during the drive, grouped by how confident the detection is.

Nodes only appear on the tab they were scanning for – a BLE-only Node won’t show up under WiFi, and vice-versa.

You can turn the automatic report off under Wardriving Settings -> Show report after wardrive if you’d rather open it only from your history.

Node Mesh Wardrive

Expand your scanning coverage by using BiscuitNode satellite devices alongside your Biscuit Pro or Ultra.

  • Each Node scans independently and sends its results back to your Biscuit Pro in real time
  • The Pro merges all data – its own scans plus all Node data – into one unified session on the map
  • Nodes can be assigned different roles: WiFi scanning, BLE scanning, or both
  • Distribute Nodes across a wider area (for example, mount them on different vehicles) to cover more ground simultaneously
  • Turn on Flock Hunt on any WiFi node to make it a dedicated Flock-camera spotter – it focuses on the three WiFi channels Flock cameras use and still adds any other access points it sees along the way to your session

See Node Management for setup and pairing instructions.

Data Export & Upload

After a session, you can upload your wardriving data to community mapping platforms.

WiGLE

Upload your data to WiGLE.net – the world’s largest crowdsourced wireless network database.

Setup:

  1. Create a free account at wigle.net
  2. In the Biscuit app, go to Settings
  3. Enter your WiGLE API Name and API Token

Features:

  • View your WiGLE stats directly in the app: total networks contributed and your overall rank
  • Upload sessions directly from your wardriving history

Uploading a Session

When you upload a session from your wardriving history, the app will ask you to choose a destination from the wardrive APIs you have configured. Pick one, or use Upload to All to send to every configured destination at once.

Sync everything at once

If you have several unsynced sessions, tap Sync (iOS) or Upload All (Android) at the top of the wardriving history. The app uploads every session that hasn’t been pushed yet to every service that’s configured, working down the list with a live progress modal – a green checkmark appears next to each service as it finishes. The button hides itself when there’s nothing left to sync.

Tip: Uploading more than 10 sessions in one go can hit the community platforms’ rate limits. The app will warn you before starting and suggest merging some sessions in history first; you can still proceed if you want.

Wardriving Settings

Several settings in the app let you customize wardriving behavior. Access them from Settings in the app.

RSSI Re-logging Threshold

Controls how much a device’s signal must change before it is logged again. This reduces duplicate entries and keeps session sizes manageable.

  • WiFi threshold (default: 5 dB) – An AP is re-logged only if its signal has changed by at least this amount since the last log
  • Bluetooth threshold (default: 25 dB) – A BLE device is re-logged only if its signal has changed by at least this amount

Lower thresholds capture more granular data but produce larger sessions. Higher thresholds reduce noise but may miss subtle signal changes.

Blacklists

Filter out networks and devices you do not want in your wardrive results:

  • SSID Blacklist – Enter WiFi network names to exclude (e.g., your home network)
  • BSSID Blacklist – Enter specific AP MAC addresses to exclude
  • Bluetooth MAC Blacklist – Enter BLE device MAC addresses to exclude (e.g., your own wearables)

Blacklisted items are silently ignored during scanning and do not appear in session data or uploads.

Startup Cooldown

Hides your starting location from the public WiGLE upload by ignoring the first few seconds of each wardrive session.

  • Toggle – Off by default. When on, a cooldown window runs at the start of every new wardrive session.
  • Cooldown Duration – How many seconds of capture to exclude from the upload, 10 to 300 seconds (1 minute is a good starting point for walking away from your front door).

While the cooldown is counting down, the wardrive screen shows an orange COOLDOWN – m:ss remaining banner above the live stats, with a progress bar that fills as the timer runs out. The banner disappears the moment the cooldown ends and capture continues normally for the rest of the session.

The counters and the map still update during the cooldown, so you can confirm the device is scanning. Only the WiGLE CSV export filters those early entries out – the rest of your session is uploaded as usual. Changing the toggle or duration during a session does not affect that session; the new value applies to your next one.

Other Settings

  • Cluster size – Controls how close markers must be before they are grouped into a cluster on the map (default: 25m on Android, 100m on iOS)
  • Path update interval – How frequently your GPS trail is updated on the map (default: 2 seconds)
  • Auto-start wardriving – Automatically begin a wardrive session when you connect to your Biscuit device
  • Auto-save sessions – Automatically save session data at regular intervals (recommended)
  • Confirm before stopping – Show a quick confirmation prompt before ending an active wardrive session so a stray tap can’t end your run. On by default; turn it off if you prefer Stop to fire immediately
  • Keep screen on – Prevent the screen from dimming during a wardrive session

Flock Detection Notifications

Get a phone notification the first time a Flock camera shows up during a wardrive. Useful when you have the app in your pocket and want a heads-up the moment something interesting is in range, without staring at the screen.

  • Go to Settings → Notifications, then turn on Flock Detection.
  • The first time you enable it, your phone will ask permission to send notifications – approve to start receiving alerts.
  • During a wardrive, you’ll get one alert the first time each unique Flock camera is seen. The same camera won’t keep re-alerting in the same session.
  • Off by default. Stop and restart the wardrive to reset which cameras have already alerted.
  • More notification types (Axon, Drone, and others) are planned.

Apple Watch Control (iOS)

If you have an Apple Watch paired to the iPhone that runs Biscuit Manager, the companion watch app lets you start and stop wardriving from your wrist and watch live stats as you go.

  • Wardrive page on the watch exposes a mode picker (WiFi, BT + Flock, All), a Start / Stop button, and live counters for APs, stations, BT devices, distance travelled, and elapsed time
  • Commands are relayed through your iPhone over WatchConnectivity – the phone still needs to be nearby and running Biscuit Manager
  • Stats update about once per second while a session is active

See the iOS App page for full details on the watch companion.