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Hey, all. Just got at college and I had a question. I was running Ethereal for the heckuv it and I had a question. I'm sniffing it's capturing packets and all just fine. (It's using the "interface" Wireless-G Adapter, that's my network card.) What I wanted to know was whether or not it's going to be picking up other people's packets as well as my own. (Provided there are other people nearby and broadcasting.) Sorry for the noobish question. :(
Regards,
Xierox
yes, you can sniff other packets, and the wireless network from more than one house may be overlapping, but it shouldnt affect network setup or functionality unless the settings are the same. which is unlikely.
CTO
Assuming your card handles promiscuous capture well, yes, every packet passing by that is B or G wireless will be captured.
Also, if you use a tool like Kismet that does RF monitoring, and look at the dump it makes in ethereal you can see traffic that’s not even on the same SSID as you.
Thanks for the replies, everyone! One more question, how would I tell if my card handles "promiscuous capture"? It's a fairly new card, if that helps. Linksys 54mbps-G
Xierox
Can you give us the exact card number? Is it a WPC54G?
Sorry it took me so long to respond. College life has kept me busy. It's all so new to me. Anyways, yes, it's a WPC54G.
Regards,
Xierox
Then as best as I can tell, yes, it can go into promiscuous mode. See:
http://www.networkactiv.com/PIAFCTMCompatibility.html