802.11 "monitor mode" issues

Adams, Kevin Kevin.Adams at compuware.com
Mon Feb 23 08:41:22 PST 2004


Sam,

Thanks for your reply.

I tried it and did not see ANY debug info this time.  I think that's a good
thing.  But on the 'ifconfig' output, the 'status' field stated that it was
'associated'.  Just an observation.

Also, am I to assume that the 'monitor mode' itself, does not increment thru
the channels, it has to be done via the 'ifconfig' or ioctl in a program?

Thanks,

Kevin

-----Original Message-----
From: Sam Leffler [mailto:sam at errno.com] 
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2004 5:46 PM
To: Adams, Kevin; 'freebsd-mobile at freebsd.org'
Subject: Re: 802.11 "monitor mode" issues

On Friday 20 February 2004 12:38 pm, Adams, Kevin wrote:
> In the man pages of "ifconfig" it states that "monitor"...
> "Put the interface in monitor mode. No packets are transmitted, and 
> received packets are discarded after bpf(4) processing."
>
> Now, using
>     ifconfig ath0 monitor up
>
> does not seem to be doing that.
>

The monitor thing is totally bogus; it should be removed.  You want to do
the
following:

ifconfig ath0 mediaopt monitor <other stuff> up

(where other stuff might be commands to set the channel).  At that point you
can run programs like Ethereal and tcpdump w/o the driver trying to
associate with an AP.

If you get the latest ethereal from CVS it has radiotap support which lets
you look at frames "below the 802.11 layer".  The tcpdump port likewise has
radiotap support; you do

tcpdump -i ath0 -y IEEE802_11_RADIO

(I think, this is from memory).

	Sam



The contents of this e-mail are intended for the named addressee only. It
contains information that may be confidential. Unless you are the named
addressee or an authorized designee, you may not copy or use it, or disclose
it to anyone else. If you received it in error please notify us immediately
and then destroy it. 



More information about the freebsd-mobile mailing list