How to Check if Your Wi-Fi Adapter Supports Monitor Mode and Packet Injection

Wi-Fi hacking is one of the most enticing tasks of a so called hacker. When you are just starting out, it can seem like a game changer having to hack your neighbors Wi-fi and enjoy an internet bill free life.

However, as you expand your knowledge, you will find that the use of Wi-fi hacking has nothing to do with using free internet rather than a small section in what is an extensive attack surface.

Nonetheless, it can be a useful skill to have in your career. You can join us and get notified when we release our Wi-Fi hacking series for that.

For you to perform a Wi-Fi hacking attack, you will need a wireless card capable of supporting monitor mode and packet injection. It is good to keep in mind that not all wireless cards support these features. It is therefore good to test these capabilities before making a purchase.

In this tutorial, we will quickly show you how you can test your Wireless card the support for monitor mode and packet injection.

Let’s get started.

What is Monitor Mode?

As usual, let us start with the basics and define what exactly is monitor mode.

We can define monitor mode is a feature of wireless interface cards that allow them to capture and analyze all the wireless traffic within their range. The captured information can include packets that are not addressed by the wireless card itself.

While in monitor mode, the wireless card is capable of acting as a passive receiver allowing it to listen to all radio transmissions on a particular channel or even a set of channels.

NOTE: When the wireless card is in monitor mode, it does not actively participate in the network whether its transmitting or receiving data. Therefore, you cannot connect to Wi-Fi or another Wireless network using the card while its in monitor mode.