Technical Notes on Hardware Compatibility

Some of the wireless adapters that you use with CommView for WiFi have functional limitations and/or special software requirements. The purpose of this document is to describe such limitations and requirements in detail.

Please remember that the list of officially supported adapters includes dozens of adapter models, most of which are fully functional and have no limitations; so if you currently are using an adapter with limited functionality and the limitations listed for your adapter are critical to you, you always can purchase a different, fully-functional adapter supported by CommView for WiFi.

On the list of officially supported adapters, the adapters that have limitations are marked with a red asterisk. Fully-functional adapters are shown with no asterisk.

Intel 3945, 4965, 5100, 5150, 5300, and 5350 Adapters

• Supported only under Windows Vista, Windows 2008, and Windows 7.
• Make sure that the Intel driver that you are using for your adapter is version 12.4.3.9 or higher. Older driver versions will not work properly in monitor mode. If you're using an older driver version, please visit www.intel.com to download the latest version.
• Packet injection using Packet Generator is not possible.
• When monitoring 802.11n networks with 40 MHz channel bonding, you cannot choose whether the secondary 20 MHz channel is below or above the primary one; the adapter's default settings will be used. Note that Intel's 3945 and 4965 adapters don't support 40 MHz channels in the 2.4 GHz band; whereas Intel's 5100, 5150, 5300, and 5350 models support 40 MHz channels in the 2.4 GHz band as long as the corresponding setting is enabled in the driver properties in Device Manager.
• When monitoring 802.11n networks, the adapter driver reports the packet transmission rate of 802.11n packets incorrectly. For example, a packet with a rate of 270 Mbps might appear with a rate of 1 Mbps or 9 Mbps. This is an issue with the adapter driver that is out of our control.

Broadcom Adapters and Linksys WEC600N

• Supported only under Windows Vista, Windows 2008, and Windows 7.
• Make sure that the Broadcom driver that you are using for your adapter is version 5 or higher. Older driver versions might not work properly in monitor mode.
• Packet injection using Packet Generator is not possible.
• When monitoring 802.11n networks with 40 MHz channel bonding, you cannot choose whether the secondary 20 MHz channel is below or above the primary one; the adapter's default settings will be used.
• When monitoring 802.11n networks, the adapter driver reports the packet transmission rate of 802.11n packets incorrectly. For example, a packet with a rate of 270 Mbps might appear with a rate of 1 Mbps or 9 Mbps. This is an issue with the adapter driver that is out of our control.

Dell 1390, 1395, 1397, 1505, 1510, and 1515 Adapters

• Supported only under Windows Vista, Windows 2008, and Windows 7.
• Please update your driver to the latest version. The latest versions can be downloaded at http://support.dell.com/.
• Packet injection using Packet Generator is not possible.
• When using Dell's 1505 or 1510 adapter to monitor 802.11n networks with 40 MHz channel bonding, you cannot choose whether the secondary 20 MHz channel is below or above the primary one; the adapter's default settings will be used. This limitation doesn't apply to Dell's 1515 model.
• When using Dell's 1505, 1510, or 1515 adapter to monitor 802.11n networks, the adapter driver reports the packet transmission rate of 802.11n packets incorrectly. For example, a packet with a rate of 270 Mbps might appear with a rate of 1 Mbps or 9 Mbps. This is an issue with the adapter driver that is out of our control.

Linksys WUSB600N and Realtek RTL8192E Adapters

• Supported only under Windows Vista, Windows 2008, and Windows 7.
• The adapter driver reports an incorrect signal level (the same level for all packets) and incorrect data rate.
• Packet injection using Packet Generator is not possible.
• When monitoring 802.11n networks with 40 MHz channel bonding, you cannot choose whether the secondary 20 MHz channel is below or above the primary one; the adapter's default settings will be used.
• These adapters don't indicate packets with an incorrect FCS.
• These limitations, especially the last one, make these adapters usable only for very basic network monitoring and analysis. We do not recommend using these adapters for any serious monitoring purposes.

D-Link Wireless 108G DWA-120 USB Adapter

• Supported only under Windows Vista, Windows 2008, and Windows 7.
• Your driver version must be 2.2.0.11 or higher.
• Packet injection using Packet Generator is not possible.
• The adapter might sometimes fail to switch to a new channel when using the scanner.
• We do not recommend using this adapter for any serious monitoring purposes.

D-Link AirPlus Xtreme G DWL-G650 Wireless Cardbus Adapter

There are several hardware versions of this card: A1, B1/B2/B3/B4/B5, and C1/C2/C3/C4. CommView for WiFi DOES NOT support version A1. It DOES support versions B1/B2/B3/B4/B5 and C1/C2/C3/C4. To identify your card, please visit the D-Link site.

CACE Technologies AirPcap Ex and Nx USB Adapters

No custom driver installation is needed when using these adapters; use the driver supplied by the vendor. The AirPcap driver that you use must be version 4.0 or higher. This adapter cannot be used in dual (monitoring + connectivity) mode; it is a monitoring-only adapter.