Hello Is anyone aware of any USB to Ethernet adapters whose chipset/Windows drivers can operate in promiscuous mode? I need to replace my aging brick of a laptop and my workplace has given me a choice between a cheap laptop with a screen resolution worse than my old one (old is 1280x1024 and new would be 1366x768) or a Microsoft Surface Pro. The Surface Pro has the highest screen res and is the most portable so I'd like to give that a go unfortunately it also has no ethernet port. Is promiscuous mode even that necessary for packet sniffing? A basic question I know but I've never had problems capturing what I've needed using whatever computer I've had to hand at the time. Thanks asked 04 Nov '15, 02:02  llamatron |
One Answer:
I'm using these, and they work fine for me in promiscuous mode: I have to say I'm not owning a Surface Pro, but with my Win8.1 Ultrabook (which has no Ethernet ports) they work without a problem. answered 04 Nov '15, 02:05  Jasper ♦♦ edited 04 Nov '15, 02:07 |
Well that's interesting. I was originally looking at this device which is also by Anker:
http://www.ianker.com/product/68ANHUB-U3E1A
It uses Realtek's RTL8153 chipset. I got in touch with Realtek and asked the question and they replied saying no, it's not capable of running in promiscuous mode. I guess the device you've linked to uses a different ethernet chipset.
Thanks
Very interesting - I have that exact USB3 hub, too, and just tested it - it works fine in promiscuous mode on my HP Switch SPAN port. Saw lots of traffic (with all protocol bindings disabled), so I'd say it works (using Wireshark 2.0.0rc2).
dumpcap -Dalso lists the adapter.I now also tested the other Anker adapter (with the aluminum body) - this one DOES NOT work!
http://www.amazon.com/Anker-Unibody-Aluminum-Ethernet-Supporting/dp/B00PC0H9IE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1446725700&sr=8-2&keywords=usb3+anker+ethernet
This one works for me:
I uses an Asix AX88179 chipset