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Can I use Wi-Spy spectrum analyzers as wireless adapters on which to capture traffic?

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I have Metageek's Wi-Spy dbx and Wi-Spy 2.4 adapters with me. Is it possible to use either of them as the wireless adapter to capture packets using Wireshark...?

asked 24 Aug '15, 22:32

adheeshak's gravatar image

adheeshak
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edited 25 Aug '15, 20:44

Guy%20Harris's gravatar image

Guy Harris ♦♦
17.4k335196

Did you read the wiki page regarding WLAN capturing using Wireshark?

https://wiki.wireshark.org/CaptureSetup/WLAN

(25 Aug '15, 07:00) Amato_C

Yes, but that doesn't apply to Wi-Spy spectrum analyzers, because they aren't adapters, they're spectrum analyzers.

(25 Aug '15, 20:43) Guy Harris ♦♦

Yes... but as I stated... if they are not recognized as adapters by WinPCap... they cannot be used by WireShark...

I use AirCap which is identified as a valid adapter. And I see the 802.11 packets as they are captured.

FWIW

(26 Aug '15, 05:55) Walter Benton

3 Answers:

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If WinPCap can discover the adapters under Wireshark's [Capture] -> [Interfaces] or tshark's -D option, you should be able to use them. Cheers,

answered 25 Aug '15, 00:16

Walter%20Benton's gravatar image

Walter Benton
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If WinPCap can discover the adapters under Wireshark's [Capture] -> [Interfaces] or tshark's -D option

It can't, because they're not adapters. See my answer.

(25 Aug '15, 20:43) Guy Harris ♦♦

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Unfortunately, MetaGeek's Web site appears to have been taken over by marketoons who want the Web site to talk about "solutions", rather than "products" - their "products" page doesn't list "what they make", it lists product bundles and prices, so it's hard to find where they describe the Wi-Spy hardware that they offer.

However, with enough digging, I found the Chanalyzer + Wi-Spy User Guide, which says:

Note: Wi-Spy is a spectrum analyzer. It is not capable of reading at the Wi-Fi packet layer. Therefore Wi-Spy will not appear in the Wi-Fi card drop-down list. Due to the way Mac OS X handles Wi-Fi, if you are running Chanalyzer in a VM, you will need an additional USB Wi-Fi adapter to collect network information.

so, no, you cannot use a Wi-Spy as a capture adapter, on any OS. It has a radio and an antenna, just as a Wi-Fi adapter does, but, instead of doing 802.11-style processing on the radio signals to turn them into 802.11 packets to hand to the host, it does spectrum analysis, showing the signal power at different frequencies throughout its frequency range.

answered 25 Aug '15, 15:25

Guy%20Harris's gravatar image

Guy Harris ♦♦
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accept rate: 19%

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At least the original hardware generation of the Wi-Spy was a Bluetooth adapter with a modified firmware. Thus the 1 MHz steps used for scanning the spectrum. And thus not 802.11 (bgn) capable.

answered 25 Aug '15, 23:30

jmayer's gravatar image

jmayer
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