WiFi Packet Capture Solutions

Wireshark Enhancements: AirPcap

Wireless packet capture solution for Wireshark and Cascade Pilot

The AirPcap family is an open, affordable and easy-to-deploy wireless packet capture solution for MS Windows environments. AirPcap captures full 802.11 data, management and control frames that can be viewed in Wireshark and Cascade Pilot, providing in-depth protocol dissection and analysis capabilities. AirPcap is available in three models: AirPcap Classic, AirPcap Tx and AirPcap Nx

"Out with the old, in with the 11n USB AirPcap Nx! Whether diagnosing enterprise wireless issues or picking a channel for my Grandma’s wifi, this adapter is my favorite. It looks cool, it’s light as a feather and (since it’s integrated with WinPcap) it works seamlessly with Wireshark."
—Larry Averitt, Intel Corporation, Mobility Group

Model	AirPcap Classic	AirPcap Tx	AirPcap Nx
Full 802.11 Capture	Yes	Yes	Yes
Wireshark Integration	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multi-channel Monitoring (requires 2+ adapters)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Packet Transmission	No	Yes	Yes
External Antenna Connector	No	No	Yes
Form Factor	USB	USB	USB
Frequency Bands	b/g	b/g	a/b/g/n

AirPcap adapters offer an easy way to capture and analyze 802.11 wireless traffic as well as full integration with the popular Wireshark and Cascade Pilot network analysis tools. Three AirPcap models are available:

AirPcap Classic captures and analyzes low-level 802.11b/g wireless traffic, including control, management and data frames on a Windows workstation or laptop. Per packet information is also available, such as power, hardware timestamps and receive rate.
AirPcap Tx delivers all of the functionality of AirPcap Classic and, additionally, supports packet injection.
AirPcap Nx is a dual-band solution supporting packet capture and injection for 802.11n, 802.11a/b/g legacy modes, and the 4.9 GHz US public safety channels. It features 2 x 2 MIMO with two internal antennas, plus two integrated MC-Card connectors for optional external antennas to enhance performance in the most demanding environments.

All AirPcap adapters operate in a completely passive mode to capture all frames (data, control and management) that are transferred on a channel, not just frames that are addressed to them. When more than one BSS shares the same channel, the AirPcap adapter will capture frames from all BSSs that are sharing the channel within range of the AirPcap adapter. AirPcap adapters capture traffic on a single channel at a time; however, the channel setting can be easily changed to any valid 802.11 channel for packet capture. When used with Cascade Pilot, AirPcap can perform channel scans or lock onto multiple channels if 2 or more adapters are used.

TurboCap

(Gigabit Ethernet simultaneous packet capture and injection)
Full-rate 1GbE multi-port traffic capture and aggregation