Node

The Node column in the WLAN view displays detected nodes in a nested hierarchy of stations (STA) under BSSIDs, under ESSIDs.

ESSID

The ESSID for this node. When ESSIDs are in use, access points (or equivalents) will announce their ESSID in Beacon packets and/or Probe Response packets.

Type

The type of node. This is either the identifying string of an extended service set (ESSID), an access point (AP), an ordinary station temporarily acting as the base station for an ad hoc group (Ad Hoc), or a Station (STA). Broadcast and multicast destination addresses which cannot be identified as belonging to a particular node are identified by the Admin label. Unknown node types will show a blank in this field.

Channel

The channel on which Omnipeek was listening when the most recent packet for this node was captured. During a channel scan, this value may appear anomalous, as the same node may be detected on multiple channels but only the most recent will show in this column.

 

Important: The channel shown for Nodes identified as an access point (AP) will be the channel on which that AP is broadcasting, as identified in the AP’s Beacon packets and Probe Responses.

Frequency

The frequency in MHz of the traffic captured on a specific channel.

Band

The identifying band of the traffic captured on a specific channel such as a/b/g/n.

Association Strength

The WLAN view ranges each STA under the AP (or equivalent) with which it most recently communicated. The Association Strength parameter allows you to distinguish between nodes that are simply probing (searching for an AP with which to associate) and those that are truly associated (those that have completed the association process with a particular AP). Nodes that are truly associated with their AP show an Association Strength of Strong. Those that are not associated, but have merely communicated (typically with a probe packet) show an Association Strength of Weak.

Authentication

Shows the most recently seen form of authentication used by this node to connect with its BSSID. Example values include EAPTLS, LEAP, and PEAP. Note that Omnipeek does not monitor the authentication state of all nodes, but only registers the most recent authentication. Also, some authentication methods are encrypted in a way that prevents identification of the authentication method.

Encryption

Shows the most recently seen form of encryption used by this node to communicate with its BSSID. Example values include CKIP, TKIP, WEP and CCMP. Note that Omnipeek does not monitor the encryption state of all connections, but only registers the most recent method seen from each node.

Trust

Shows the user-assigned trust setting from the Name Table for this BSSID or STA. Right-click any node to change this property. See Trusted, known, and unknown nodes.

Signal Strength columns

Columns showing statistics related to signal strength reported with each packet, expressed either as a percentage or in decibel milliWatts (dBm).

 

Cur. = Most recently reported signal strength on the channel.

 

Min. = Minimum signal strength reported on this channel from the time the statistics count was created until the most recent update.

 

Max. = Maximum signal strength reported on this channel from the time the statistics count was created until the most recent update.

Noise columns

Columns showing statistics related to noise reported with each packet, expressed either as a percentage or in decibel milliWatts (dBm).

 

Cur. = Most recently reported noise reading on the channel.

 

Min. = Minimum noise reading reported on this channel from the time the statistics count was created until the most recent update.

 

Max. = Maximum noise reading reported on this channel from the time the statistics count was created until the most recent update.

Bytes Sent

Bytes sent by this node.

Bytes Received

Bytes received by this node.

Total Bytes

Total bytes, both sent and received, for this node.

Packets Sent

Packets sent by this node.

Packets Received

Packets received by this node.

Total Packets

Total packets, both sent and received, for this node.

Retry Packets

Retry packets sent by this node.

Protected Packets

Number of encrypted packets sent by this node (Protected Frame bit set to 1).

WEP ICV Errors

Number of WEP ICV errors encountered in attempting to apply WEP keys to packets from this node.

WEP Key

Name of the user-defined WEP key currently in use to decrypt traffic from this node.

Beacon Packets

Number of beacon packets sent by this node.

Broadcast ESSID

Number of broadcast ESSID packets sent by this node.

Power Save

The power save state most recently reported by this node. Values are awake or sleep.

Roam Time

For STAs moving between APs, shows the time between last successful data transmission (for example, with previous AP) and successful association with new AP. For APs, shows average value for associated STAs entering the BSS during the capture session.

Data Rate columns

Columns show the number of Packets (or Bytes) sent at the data rate named in the column header. You can show columns for any and all data rates supported by the current adapter.

Broadcast Packets

Total broadcast packets sent by this node.

Broadcast Bytes

Total broadcast bytes sent by this node.

Multicast Packets

Total multicast packets sent by this node.

Multicast Bytes

Total multicast bytes sent by this node.

Min. Size Sent

The size of the smallest packet sent by this node.

Max. Size Sent

The size of the largest packet sent by this node.

Avg. Size Sent

The average size of the packets sent by this node.

Min. Size Received

The size of the smallest packet received by this node.

Max. Size Received

The size of the largest packet received by this node.

Avg. Size Received

The average size of the packets received by this node.

First Time Sent

Time stamp of the first packet sent by this node.

Last Time Sent

Time stamp of the most recent packet sent by this node.

First Time Received

Time stamp of the first packet received by this node.

Last Time Received

Time stamp of the most recent packet received by this node.

Duration

The difference between the time stamp of the earliest sent or received packet and that of the most recent sent or received packet.

Privacy

Shows True or False, and indicates whether the Privacy bit in the capabilities sections of Management packets (Beacon, Probe, and so forth) recently sent by this node was set to 1 (True) or 0 (False). This tells potential peers that the sending node will use encryption (True) or will not (False).