From the airport, to the coffee shop, to the library, to your next door neighbor, wireless networks are all around us; therefore, wireless security is a serious concern.There are historical weaknesses in security protocols, because intruders no longer need to be inside a building to attack an internal network.
A wireless network is still a network, however, and with a few exceptions maps well to the Ethernet and OSI models.
Hardware Requirements
While most Ethernet cards are capable of packet sniffing in promiscuous mode, many wireless chipsets cannot use monitor mode, which is the wireless equivalent of promiscuous mode. Complicating the situation is that wireless card manufacturers do not generally list the chipset that they use in a readily available form.Also, chipsets can vary within model families. It is best to select the software you want to use, and then identify which chipsets and specific manufacturer’s model numbers work best with the specific drivers necessary for the software to function.
Here are some general guidelines on chipset compatibility:
Atheros
This chipset is compatible with most software and widely available in a number of adapters.
Prism2
This chipset is one of the most capable used with the Host AP drivers. Not only is it supported by most software, it can also run in an AP mode.
Orinoco
One of the first chipsets that supported monitor mode. Supported by most software. Cannot receive 802.11g traffic.
Broadcom
There is no native support in Linux for this chipset. With included drivers, tools such as Kismet do not function with it.You may be able to use Windows drivers through a Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS) compatibility wrapper such as the commercial DriverLoader, which can be downloaded from www.linuxant.com/driverloader.