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AirBud

Introduction

AirBud is the ultimate wireless development and testing platform. The fast Quad Core Intel CPU, ample memory and up-to twelve (12) mini PCIe interfaces make it powerful, modular and flexible. Add radio cards and Open Source Software to make it a kick-ass wireless tool ready to use with a full spectrum of wireless applications like pentesting and monitoring or router and firewall projects. Thanks to the Intel based design it can be used with any x86 compatible OS such as a Linux, BSD or Windows.

The AirBud platform concept is important to us because it introduces a flexible and powerful wireless platform. Whether you are a wireless professional or an enthusiast interested in monitoring your environment, developing and improving your pentesting procedures or creating new router and firewall applications, AirBud lets you do this quickly and easier with a configurable design package.

We have created AirBud to fill a gap in the wireless application development and testing communities. We are hoping it will be adopted as the platform of choice for multi-radio Open Source projects.

Contact us for more information about AirBud including volume orders and custom build  options.

Where to Buy

AirBud-X9 Model Features
  • High quality extruded aluminum case enclosure
  • 200mm x 400mm x 60mm (L x W x H) without antennas
  • Provision for x18 N-style and x18 SMA-style antennas
  • Intel Celeron N2930 quad core 2.16GHz
  • Up-to 8GB DDR3 memory
  • Up-to 512TB on-board mSATA SSD storage
  • VGA video and RS-232 interfaces
  • x4 1Gb/s Ethernet port
  • x1 Super-Speed USB 3.0 interface
  • x1 High-Speed USB 2.0 interface
  • x8 full-length mini PCIe slots
  • x1 full-length mini PCIe slot with SIM cards slot
  • Provision for on-board SATA III storage (only limited by 2.5" disk capacity)

Availability

Assembled and tested baseline AirBud-X9 model is available for order RETIRED.

All our appliances are assembled and tested by local staff (Ottawa, Canada).

ALLOW UP TO 4 (FOUR) WEEKS FOR DELIVERY

Contact us us for volume price and custom build options information (such as additional radio card for 9th mini PCIe slot, GPS, LTE/4G/HSPA modem, SATA III data retention storage, custom radio cards choices etc.).

Documentation & Support

Coming soon...

AirBud Story and Use Cases

Why Are We Doing This?

As IT security professionals, we need easy access to high quality tools. Without the right tools, helping our clients is difficult. This problem is more common in the wireless domain, where security experts and hardware and software developers have limited high quality and high power monitoring and testing hardware available to them. There is nothing that allows them to rapidly switch among functions such as testing radio cards, simultaneous scanning on multiple frequencies, and monitoring wireless data in dynamic environments. At ALFTEL, one of the things we have learned is that sometimes you have to do things yourself if you want to get things done right. Out of the need for a flexible, robust and reliable tool, we created AirBud.

What Are The Problems With Wireless Testing?

We did our research. Here is what we know about the WiFi pentesting and development environment:

  1. There are many powerful open source applications for WiFi testing and monitoring (like Aircrack-ng and Kismet) that are usually bundled into Linux distributions like Kali and Parrot Security OS or other custom crafted Linux installations.
     
  2. Most people tend to use single-radio USB WiFi dongles because it is easy. There are challenges with this approach:

    • There are very few chipsets compatible with Aircrack-ng and Kismet (monitor and injection mode support).
    • You are limited to the frequency bands available on the single radio implementation.
    • The only Airckack-ng and Kismet friendly USB dongle with 802.11a coverage (Ralink chipset) is no longer being produced and will soon be unavailable.
    • USB 2.0 has limited bandwidth for high speed 802.11ac/n in dual/triple chain modes.
    • Linux USB device drivers are generally not as robust as PCIe device drivers.
    • Many new USB 3.0 wireless dongles have “old USB 2.0” on the inside, having unknown compatibility with pentesting tools, have limited range, and use low power internal ceramic chip antennas.
    • Using multiple USB WiFi dongles to cover more channels and frequencies leads to bulky construction with multi-port hubs.
    • USB can only support low power radio cards (2.5W) without clumsy external power supplies.
    • Multiple USB dongles with external antennas become difficult to manage and generally use lower quality/power antennas.

What Are The Solutions To These Problems?

Unable to find a suitable device in the market, we undertook to improve the current state of technology in the wireless domain. Our end goals were to develop a solution that:

  • Provides the WiFi pentesting and open source development communities with a powerful and flexible tool for testing and monitoring, that would allow simultaneous use of multiple radio cards.
  • Is compact, self-contained, adaptable to future technology and easy to use; a small device that is low in cost, high in performance, and flexible across multiple operating systems and tools.
  • Creates the type of robust and flexible hardware that will support our own IT Security services

Applications - What Are AirBud Use Cases?

  • Pentesting Platform
  • Monitoring or Sniffing Platform
  • Wireless Router or Firewall Platform
  • Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (WIPS)
  • Wireless Intrusion Detection System (WIDS)
  • Wireless Spectrum Analysis Appliance
  • Test Platform for PCIe mini and M.2 cards
  • Any business case where you need PC-like functionality and multiple PCIe mini or M.2 cards
  • Any other wireless application - just use your imagination