Wireless Network Protocols¶

Overview¶

Wi-Fi stands for a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family
Each of these standards define unique channels. The channels available may be different by country!
IEEE802.11 works on OSI Layer 1 (Physical Layer)

Ad Hoc Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
- Wireless Display
  - Miracast (Wi-Fi Alliance)
  - Apple Airplay
  - Google Cast
- Apple AirDrop
- HP Printers Wi-Fi Direct
Infrastructure
- Access Point
- Wireless Router
- ...

Access Point: : Liaison between wireless and wired/celluar communication
SSID (Service Set Identifier): human readable name for wireless network, also called network name
BSSID (Basic Service Set Identifier): Unique identifier for a specific access point, same format as a MAC address (commonly set to the MAC address)
ESSID (Extended Service Set Identifier): group of BSSIDs that share the same Layer 2 network and the same SSID
Beacons: Broadcasts that advertise the wireless settings (SSID, encryption method, ...) for a specific BSSID
Associating: an access point and a client have agreed on parameters for communication

Firstly, you need a good antenna. Second, there are two basic ways to sniff:

Promiscuous Mode: captures all packets on a connected network, regardless of the intended destination MAC address. You will see only packet if you are connected to a station and only packets inside the same network.
Monitor Mode: captures all wireless traffic within its range, including packets not addressed to it, allowing analysis of all Wi-Fi communications in the vicinity (including beacons and data form any wireless networks in the area).