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Network detectors or network discovery software [1] are computer programs that facilitate detection of wireless LANs using the 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g WLAN standards. [2] Discovering networks may be done through active as well as passive scanning.
Active scanning is done through sending multiple probe requests and recording the probe responses. The probe response received normally contains BSSID and WLAN SSID. If SSID broadcasting has been turned off, and active scanning is the only type of scanning supported by the software, no networks will show up. An example of an active scanner is NetStumbler.
Passive scanning is not done by active probing, but by mere listening to any data sent out by the AP. Once a legitimate user connects to the AP, the AP will eventually send out a SSID in cleartext. By impersonating this AP by automatic altering of the MAC address, the computer running the network discovery scanner will be given this SSID by legitimate users. Passive scanners include Kismet and essid jack (a program under AirJack).
Notable programs include Network Stumbler, Kismet, Lumeta Corporation, Aerosol, AirMagnet, MacStumbler, Ministumbler, Mognet, NetChaser, perlskan, Wireless Security Auditor, Wlandump, PocketWarrior, pocketWinc, Prismstumbler, Sniff-em, AiroPeek, Airscanner, AP Scanner, AP Radar, Apsniff, BSD-Airtools, dstumbler, gtk-scanner, gWireless, iStumbler, KisMAC, Sniffer Wireless, THC-Scan, THC-Wardrive, WarGlue, WarKizniz, Wellenreiter, Wi-Scan and WiStumbler.
IEEE 802.11 is part of the IEEE 802 set of local area network (LAN) technical standards, and specifies the set of media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) protocols for implementing wireless local area network (WLAN) computer communication. The standard and amendments provide the basis for wireless network products using the Wi-Fi brand and are the world's most widely used wireless computer networking standards. IEEE 802.11 is used in most home and office networks to allow laptops, printers, smartphones, and other devices to communicate with each other and access the Internet without connecting wires. IEEE 802.11 is also a basis for vehicle-based communication networks with IEEE 802.11p.
A wireless LAN (WLAN) is a wireless computer network that links two or more devices using wireless communication to form a local area network (LAN) within a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, campus, or office building. This gives users the ability to move around within the area and remain connected to the network. Through a gateway, a WLAN can also provide a connection to the wider Internet.
Wi-Fi is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves. These are the most widely used computer networks in the world, used globally in home and small office networks to link devices together and to a wireless router to connect them to the Internet, and in wireless access points in public places like coffee shops, hotels, libraries, and airports to provide visitors with Internet connectivity for their mobile devices.
Wardriving is the act of searching for Wi-Fi wireless networks, usually from a moving vehicle, using a laptop or smartphone. Software for wardriving is freely available on the internet.
In computer networking, promiscuous mode is a mode for a wired network interface controller (NIC) or wireless network interface controller (WNIC) that causes the controller to pass all traffic it receives to the central processing unit (CPU) rather than passing only the frames that the controller is specifically programmed to receive. This mode is normally used for packet sniffing that takes place on a router or on a computer connected to a wired network or one being part of a wireless LAN. Interfaces are placed into promiscuous mode by software bridges often used with hardware virtualization.
In IEEE 802.11 wireless local area networking standards, a service set is a group of wireless network devices which share a service set identifier (SSID)—typically the natural language label that users see as a network name. A service set forms a logical network of nodes operating with shared link-layer networking parameters; they form one logical network segment.
iStumbler is a utility for finding wireless networks and devices with AirPort- or Bluetooth-enabled Macintosh computers.
Kismet is a network detector, packet sniffer, and intrusion detection system for 802.11 wireless LANs. Kismet will work with any wireless card which supports raw monitoring mode, and can sniff 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n traffic. The program runs under Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and macOS. The client can also run on Microsoft Windows, although, aside from external drones, there's only one supported wireless hardware available as packet source.
Beacon frame is one of the management frames in IEEE 802.11 based WLANs. It contains all the information about the network. Beacon frames are transmitted periodically, they serve to announce the presence of a wireless LAN and to synchronise the members of the service set. Beacon frames are transmitted by the access point (AP) in an infrastructure basic service set (BSS). In IBSS network beacon generation is distributed among the stations. For the 2.4 GHz spectrum, when having more than 15 SSIDs on non-overlapping channels, beacon frames start to consume significant amount of air time and degrade performance even when most of the networks are idle.
KisMAC is a wireless network discovery tool for Mac OS X. It has a wide range of features, similar to those of Kismet. The program is geared toward network security professionals, and is not as novice-friendly as similar applications. Distributed under the GNU General Public License, KisMAC is free software.
NetStumbler was a tool for Windows that facilitates detection of Wireless LANs using the 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g WLAN standards. It runs on Microsoft Windows operating systems from Windows 2000 to Windows XP. A trimmed-down version called MiniStumbler is available for the handheld Windows CE operating system.
Wireless security is the prevention of unauthorized access or damage to computers or data using wireless networks, which include Wi-Fi networks. The term may also refer to the protection of the wireless network itself from adversaries seeking to damage the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of the network. The most common type is Wi-Fi security, which includes Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA). WEP is an old IEEE 802.11 standard from 1997. It is a notoriously weak security standard: the password it uses can often be cracked in a few minutes with a basic laptop computer and widely available software tools. WEP was superseded in 2003 by WPA, a quick alternative at the time to improve security over WEP. The current standard is WPA2; some hardware cannot support WPA2 without firmware upgrade or replacement. WPA2 uses an encryption device that encrypts the network with a 256-bit key; the longer key length improves security over WEP. Enterprises often enforce security using a certificate-based system to authenticate the connecting device, following the standard 802.11X.
A wireless site survey, sometimes called an RF site survey or wireless survey, is the process of planning and designing a wireless network, to provide a wireless solution that will deliver the required wireless coverage, data rates, network capacity, roaming capability and quality of service (QoS). The survey usually involves a site visit to test for RF interference, and to identify optimum installation locations for access points. This requires analysis of building floor plans, inspection of the facility, and use of site survey tools. Interviews with IT management and the end users of the wireless network are also important to determine the design parameters for the wireless network.
Aircrack-ng is a network software suite consisting of a detector, packet sniffer, WEP and WPA/WPA2-PSK cracker and analysis tool for 802.11 wireless LANs. It works with any wireless network interface controller whose driver supports raw monitoring mode and can sniff 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g traffic. Packages are released for Linux and Windows.
inSSIDer is a Wi-Fi network scanner application for Microsoft Windows and OS X developed by MetaGeek, LLC. It has received awards such as a 2008 Infoworld Bossie Award for "Best of Open Source Software in Networking", but as of inSSIDer 3, it is no longer open-source.
WiFi-Where is a tool that facilitates detecting wireless LANs using the 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g WLAN standards. Versions exist for the operating systems iOS and Palm OS. Originally created in June 2004 for the Palm OS by Jonathan Hays of Hazelware Software, the IP for WiFi-Where was licensed to 3Jacks Software in 2009. An iPhone version of the application was released in January 2010, but was pulled from the App Store by Apple in March 2010. As of 2010, it is available in the Jailbroken Cydia store.
Network cloaking is an attempt to provide wireless security by hiding the network name from being broadcast publicly. Many routers come with this option as a standard feature in the setup menu accessed via a web browser.
NetSpot is a software tool for wireless network assessment, scanning, and surveys, analyzing Wi-Fi coverage and performance. It runs on Mac OS X 10.6+ and Windows 7, 8 and 10. Netspot supports 802.11n, 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g wireless networks and uses the standard Wi-Fi network adapter and its Airport interface to map radio signal strength and other wireless network parameters, and build reports on that. NetSpot was released in August 2011.
WiFi Explorer is a wireless network scanner tool for macOS that can help users identify channel conflicts, overlapping and network configuration issues that may be affecting the connectivity and performance of Wi-Fi networks.
A Wi-Fi deauthentication attack is a type of denial-of-service attack that targets communication between a user and a Wi-Fi wireless access point.