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You can use Airtool 2 to capture Wi-Fi traffic on multiple channels simultaneously by using multiple sensors. When using multiple sensors, Airtool 2 generates a single capture file by merging the frames captured on each sensor based on their timestamps.
To ensure the correct merging of Wi-Fi frames from each sensor, Airtool 2 requires all sensors to synchronize their time using NTP.
Airtool 2 uses the PCAP Next Generation (pcapng) Capture File Format. This format allows Airtool 2 to annotate each frame with the sensor and interface name used to capture the frame. You can use this information to filter frames by sensor and interface name in Wireshark.
You can also capture Wi-Fi traffic on multiple channels simultaneously using the same sensor if the sensor supports more than one Wi-Fi adapter. For example, if you have three sensors, and each sensor supports two Wi-Fi adapters, you can capture Wi-Fi traffic on six different channels simultaneously. All Airtool 2 features—including automatic frame slicing, capture size limits, file rotation, and live captures—are fully supported when doing multi-source captures, just as they are with the built-in Wi-Fi adapter.

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Prepare for a multi-source capture

You must first go to the Airtool 2 menu bar extra > Settings > Sensors and add any sensors you would like to use for multi-source captures. You only need to add a sensor the first time you use it. After that, the sensor will always be available for multi-source captures.
Airtool 2 discovers WLAN Pi-based sensors deployed in your local area network automatically.
Also, make sure you plug in at least one compatible Wi-Fi adapter per sensor and know the interface name assigned to it (e.g., wlan0) as you will need it when configuring the sensor for capturing.

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Start a multi-source capture

  1. Choose Multi-Source Capture from the Airtool 2 menu.
  2. Click the + button to add an entry for each sensor you want to use for capturing.
  3. For each entry, configure which sensor, interface name, channel, and channel width you want to use.
  4. Click Start Capture to begin.
Airtool 2 won’t allow you to start the capture if it detects an invalid configuration. For example, you cannot use the same sensor and interface name combination twice.
To reduce the amount of data sent back from a sensor, enable Limit each frame to and enter the desired frame size in bytes.

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See also