Monitor Mode
Definition
An 802.11 radio mode that captures every wireless frame in range, including management and control frames, without associating to an access point. The Wi-Fi equivalent of promiscuous mode; needs a card and driver that support it (Atheros AR9271, MediaTek MT7612U are common in Indian labs).
Related terms
- BPF (Berkeley Packet Filter)
- A kernel-level packet filtering mechanism used by tcpdump, Wireshark, and most capture tools to select which packets are written to disk. BPF...
- BSSID
- Basic Service Set Identifier. The MAC address of a specific access point radio. Used in association logs and packet captures to uniquely...
- JA3 / JA3S
- An MD5 fingerprint of the ordered fields of a TLS Client Hello (JA3) or Server Hello (JA3S). Allows identification of client software...
- MAC Address Randomisation
- A privacy mechanism in modern operating systems that substitutes a randomly generated MAC address for the device's globally unique burned-in address during...
- Network Tap
- A hardware device inserted inline in a network cable path that passively copies the electrical or optical signal to one or more...
- PCAPng
- PCAP Next Generation file format. Block-structured (SHB, IDB, EPB, ISB, DSB), supports multiple interfaces in one file, per-packet comments, name resolution, and...
- Preferred Network List (PNL)
- The list of previously joined Wi-Fi networks stored on a client device. The device automatically probes for networks on the PNL when...
- Probe Request
- An 802.11 management frame broadcast by a client device when actively scanning for Wi-Fi networks. Contains the device MAC address and, in...
- Promiscuous Mode
- A network interface operating mode in which the card passes all received frames to the capture software, not just frames addressed to...
- RSSI
- Received Signal Strength Indicator. A value, typically expressed in dBm, recorded in access-point logs and packet captures that indicates how strongly a...
Explained in these topics
- Live Packet Capture, Traffic Analysis and Deep Packet InspectionAn 802.11 radio mode that captures every wireless frame in range, including management and control frames, without associating to an access point. The Wi-Fi eq...
- Wi-Fi ForensicsA wireless adapter operating mode in which the adapter captures all 802.11 frames on a channel regardless of their source or destination, without joining any n...