TamoSoft: Network Analysis Tools & Security Software
Contents

WLAN Analyzer and Protocol Decoder - CommView for WiFi


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Introduction
About CommView for WiFi
What's New
Using the Program
Driver Installation
Overview
Scanner
Nodes
Channels
Latest IP Connections
Packets
Logging
Viewing Logs
Rules
Advanced Rules
Alarms
WEP/WPA Keys
Reconstructing TCP Sessions
Statistics and Reports
Using Aliases
Packet Generator
Visual Packet Builder
NIC Vendor Identifier
Scheduler
Node Reassociation
Using Remote Agent for WiFi
Setting Options
Frequently Asked Questions
VoIP Analysis
Introduction
Working with VoIP Analyzer
SIP and H.323 Sessions
RTP Streams
Registrations
Endpoints
Errors
Call Logging
Reports
Call Playback
Viewing VoIP Logs
Working with Lists in VoIP Analyzer
NVF Files
Advanced Topics
Understanding CRC and ICV Errors
Understanding WPA Decryption
Understanding Signal Strength
Monitoring 802.11n Networks
Capturing High Volume Traffic
Running CommView for WiFi in Invisible Mode
Command Line Parameters
Exchanging Data with Your Application
Custom Decoding
CommView Log Files Format
Information
How to Purchase CommView for WiFi
Contacting Us
Other Products
Exchanging Data with Your Application


CommView provides a simple TCP/IP interface that allows you to process packets captured by CommView using your own application in real time. Starting with version 5.0 you may also use this interface for sending packets (similar to the Packet Generator function in CommView).


How It Works
CommView should be launched with a special command-line argument, "MIRROR", that tells the program to mirror captured packets to an IP address and TCP port of your choice.

Examples:
CV.EXE mirror:127.0.0.1:5555 // mirrors packets to the loopback address, TCP port 5555
CV.EXE mirror:192.169.0.2:10200 // mirrors packets to 192.169.0.2, TCP port 10200

When CommView is launched with a switch like this, it tries to establish a TCP session by connecting to the specified IP address and port number. It means that you should already have your application running and listening on the specified port. If CommView fails to establish a connection, it will keep on trying to connect every 15 seconds. The same happens if the connection is broken: CommView will try to re-establish it every 15 seconds. If the connection is successfully established, CommView sends the packets it captures to the specified IP address as they arrive, in real time.

Data Format

The data is transmitted in NCF format. Please refer to the CommView Log Files Format
chapter for the format description.

Sending Packets

Packets may not only be received by your application, but also sent as if you were using Packet Generator. Data can be sent to CommView using the same TCP connection over which you are receiving the data. The data format is simple: You should send the packet length (a two-byte unsigned integer in the standard little-endian byte order) followed by the packet itself. If the adapter is not opened or it does not support packet injection, the packet is silently discarded.

Sample Projects
Two simple demo applications that listen for inbound connections, extract packets from the stream, and display raw data are available.

·http://www.tamos.com/products/commview/samp_mirr_c5.zip. This is a Visual Studio project with C++ source code.  
·http://www.tamos.com/products/commview/samp_mirr_d5.zip. This is a Delphi project with Pascal source code. If you want to compile the project, you'll need the popular ICS components suite by Francois Piette, available at http://www.overbyte.be.  

Bandwidth
When mirroring data to a remote computer, make sure that the link between CommView and the computer to which the data is being mirrored is fast enough to transfer all the data being captured. If CommView captures 500 Kbytes/sec, and your link can handle only 50 Kbytes/sec, you'd inevitably have "traffic jams," which might result in various problems (e.g., Winsock may just stop sending data under some Windows versions).