Phy802.11 Scanning-mode Sources

Scanning mode

Properly capturing packets in Wi-Fi requires monitor mode and either a local Wi-Fi device or a high bandwidth connection. Scanning mode allows devices without special drivers to report networks to Kismet, but with some severe limitations:

  • Clients will not be visible.
  • The scanning mode device may transmit probe requests while scanning.
  • Enhanced information from the beacon such as max speed, etc, will often not be available.
  • Actual packet data will not be available.

Scanning mode is really only appropriate for specific configurations, such as:

  • Mobile devices like Android or IOS reporting scan results to a central Kismet server
  • Embedded devices such as the ESP8266 or ESP32

Scanning mode datasources

Scanning mode datasources are created dynamically by Kismet when reports are submitted; there is no need to define a specific scanning mode datasource prior to sending a report.

A scanning mode report must include:

  1. A datasource UUID. This ID must be unique within Kismet, and consistent between all reports from this scanning source. Scanning software should cache this UUID for consistency.

  2. A human-readable name. This will be assigned as the name of the datasource, and will be updated if it changes. Scanning software should cache this name for consistency.

Cache/burst mode reporting

Scanning mode assumes that the device doing scanning is not able to maintain a constant connection to the Kismet server.

Reports can be cached and send in groups using the report endpoint; each report can contain a timestamp, GPS location, and signal information, and multiple reports over time can be sent for a single AP.

Scanning mode report

A scanning mode report consists of a command dictionary holding an array of reports. Virtual datasources for each new report are automatically created.

  • API added \ 2020-06

  • URL \ /phy/phy80211/scan/scan_report.cmd

  • Methods \ POST

  • POST parameters \ A command dictionary containing:

    Key Description
    reports Array containing multiple report objects
    source_name A unique, consistent source name for the virtual datasource reporting this scan.
    source_uuid A unique, consistent source UUID for the virtual datasource reporting this scan.

    A report object should contain:

    Key Description
    timestamp (Optional) Unix timestamp at second precision. If no timestamp is provided, the time of this message is used. Due to general lack of precision of scanning mode, timestamp is second only.
    ssid (Optional) SSID
    bssid BSSID
    capabilities (Optional) An Android or Wigle style string of encryption options, such as [WPS], [WPA-PSK-TKIP+CCMP], [WEP], and so on.
    channel (Optional) Quoted string channel, such as "6", "42HT40P"
    freqkhz (Optional) Frequency of AP, in KHz
    signal Signal, in dBm
    lat (Optional) GPS latitude
    lon (Optional) GPS longitude
    alt (Optional) GPS altitude
    speed (Optional) GPS speed

  • Results \ HTTP 200 on success HTTP error on failure

Updated: