🍏Wi-Fi Explorer Pro 3 (macOS)
Overview
In this lab we'll install the Intuitbits "WiFi Explorer Pro 3" application on to your Mac. We'll configure it to use the WLAN Pi M4 as an external sensor. This allows us to leverage the 6 GHz capabilities of the WLAN Pi which may be missing from the current capabilities of your Mac.
Using the WLAN Pi as an external sensor also provides opportunities to perform scanning of networks that may be in remote locations. By using a VPN connection between the laptop and WLAN Pi, it's possible to use the scanning capabilities to assist with remote troubleshooting tasks.
What You'll Need For This Lab
To complete this lab, you'll need the following items:
A MacOS laptop (with administrative privileges to install software)
A WLAN Pi M4
WiFi Explorer Pro 3 Installation
For this lab please visit the following web page and download and install a trial copy of "WiFi Explorer Pro 3" on to your Mac if you don't already have a copy:
Note that if you don't already have WiFi Explorer Pro 3 installed, you can download and install it and take advantage of the 7 day trial license that it provides.
You will need "WiFi Explorer Pro 3" to complete this lab. Intuitbits also provide a product called simply "WiFi Explorer": this product does not support the remote sensor capabilities required for this lab.
Once WiFi Explorer Pro 3 is installed, take a few moments to make sure the application launches correctly and familiarise yourself with its user interface. If you've used Wi-Fi scanning packages before, you'll find it quite intuitive to use.
By default, WiFi Explorer Pro 3 uses the internal adapter of your Mac to scan for networks when first launched. Within a few seconds, you should see a summary of Wi-Fi networks detected by the laptop adapter as it scans all Wi-Fi channels. Although this is great information, in this lab we want to investigate how to use the WLAN Pi as an external sensor.
Connectivity
To use the WLAN Pi as a remote sensor, there must be an IP connection between WiFi Explorer Pro 3 and the WLAN Pi.
In this lab, we'll connect using the lab's wireless and wired network connections. Your Mac will be connected to the lab wireless network, and your WLAN Pi M4 will be connected to one of the lab POE switch ports.
Once both devices have their network connection, you can use the IP address shown on the front panel of your WLAN Pi as the target sensor address.
The WLAN Pi M4 does not support OTG connectivity so is not available as an option to establish a connection with a remote sensor.
Sensor Setup
Once you're happy with finding your way around the UI, please review the instructions provided below to set up your WLAN Pi M4 as a remote sensor for WiFi Explorer Pro 3. This will allow you to scan the 2.4 GHz 5 GHz and 6 GHZ (🤓) bands using the wireless adapter of the WLAN Pi.
Please ensure you note the channels being used by our lab networks while completing this lab. This information will be useful later in our wireless frame capture lab.
Some of the information below is taken from the following article, which may be useful for future reference: https://www.intuitibits.com/2019/09/24/wlanpi-as-a-sensor/
Configure Remote Sensor
To add the WLAN Pi as a remote sensor to WiFi Explorer Pro, use these configuration steps:
Open the WiFi Explorer Pro preferences UI option : WiFi Explorer Pro 3 > Preferences
Select the Sensors tab:
Hit the "+" button at the bottom left of the panel and enter the IP address of the WLAN Pi as prompted by the new pop-up. The WLAN Pi address may be found on the front panel of the WLAN Pi:
The new sensor will appear in the sensor list and you may over type the phrase "New Sensor with your own chosen name (e.g. WLAN Pi M4):
Note that you may also select and edit the Address, Interface name and Port fields by clicking on them if any configuration updates are required
Note that if your WLAN Pi and Mac are on the same layer 2 segment, WiFi Explorer Pro may automatically detect and add your WLAN Pi M4 and add it to the sensor list. In the graphic shown above, the sensor "wlanpi-f9e" was added via this method while I was getting the screen grabs for this lab.
Sensor Diagnostics
If you are having issues using the WLAN Pi as a sensor (e.g. no scanning data is shown), you can use the sensor "Diagnostics" feature to verify sensor connectivity. It also checks that the WLAN Pi has all of the correct software packages and an appropriate wireless adapter to allow Wi-Fi Explorer Pro 3 to run correctly.
If the diagnostics output shows failures, depending on the failure, you may need to:
Fix any network connectivity issues
Contact the WLAN Pi team for guidance
Contact Intuitbits support
The sensor diagnostics feature can be accessed via the 3-dots button in the Sensors pane of the Preferences window (shown below):
Use the WLAN Pi as a Remote Sensor
Now that the WLAN Pi has been added a sensor, we can use it to scan for the Wi-Fi networks that it can hear. To use it as a sensor, hit the mode button on the top bar of the WFE UI:
The mode selector will appear. It will include the previously configured WLAN Pi sensor. Select the sensor and scanning via the sensor will begin:
The first time the sensor is used, you will be prompted to enter a username and password. Enter your username and password for the WLAN Pi and then scanning will commence.
Note that each scan takes several seconds to complete. You will also note that the SSIDs on the 6 GHz may take a few scans before they finally appear, so be patient.
Make sure that you can see SSIDs on all 3 Wi-Fi bands. Make a note of the lab SSIDs, channels and channel widths for later reference in our capture labs. Ensure that you can see the 6 GHz band SSIDs in your results: you should see test lab 6 GHz networks displayed. The screen dump below shows how to display SSIDs on the 6 GHz band (your lab will shows more SSIDs than are shown below):
What 6 GHz channel is the AP using? Is it a Preferred Scanning Channel (PSC)?
You can use WLAN Pi CLI tool called wifichannel: wifichannel 37
Congratulations, you've completed the Wi-Fi scanning lab with your Mac.
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