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I recently found that Windows provide support for monitor mode in NDIS(Network Driver Interface Specifications) but our wifi chipset manufacturer does not implement it in their drivers. So even if NDIS supports it but as long as client adapter's driver are not implemented with it, monitor mode will not work.

See Information Source : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monitor_mode and screenshot:

enter image description here

Is there anyway I can implement monitor support in client wifi adapter's driver by editing it? Or by replacing that driver with any third-party driver which supports monitor mode? I do need monitor mode feature in my wifi chipset but I don't know how.

Pierre.Vriens
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  • [me](https://superuser.com/q/1680280/447380) trying to solve the same problem, from a different path... – Veverke Oct 07 '21 at 20:06

2 Answers2

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Drivers are hardware-specific. That means you cannot use just any driver, it has to be the right one for your hardware. So there’s most likely no third-party driver for your hardware available. Not on Windows, anyway.

Using a Linux driver as reference, you might be able to create a new driver that supports everything. That would however be an incredibly complicated process that is probably nearly impossible if you don’t have experience writing drivers.

If you think all that is beyond you and you really need it, you can also order it from your favorite software company.

A slightly cheaper option would be to just get a WiFi adapter that supports monitor mode on Windows.

tl;dr: No. :D

Daniel B
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The problem is that you cannot edit the driver. It's not a text file – it's a compiled program like .exe files are, and the only two ways to 'edit' it are either by changing the source code and recompiling (which would work on Linux/BSD, but unfortunately most manufacturers do not provide the source code for their Windows drivers), or by patching in some handwritten machine code (which would have worked in MS-DOS, but is likely too difficult at this point).

u1686_grawity
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  • Is there any third-party driver available which can replace that manufacturer driver because if editing is not possible then only option is to replace that driver with the one that supports monitor-mode. –  Jul 29 '16 at 06:07
  • I use wireshark whose monitor mode does not work due to unsupported manufacturer drivers. –  Jul 29 '16 at 06:10
  • Use Wireshark on Linux. – u1686_grawity Jul 29 '16 at 06:45
  • I understand using linux but will my manufacturer provide linux drivers for its wifi chipset? Does linux have pre-installed drivers for my wifi chipset? –  Jul 29 '16 at 07:04
  • I don't know. (Most Wi-Fi adapters do work on Linux though.) What _is_ your wifi chipset, anyway? You haven't mentioned that yet. – u1686_grawity Jul 29 '16 at 07:05
  • Intek(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 –  Jul 29 '16 at 07:09
  • Actually there was a question in my mind which is somewhat related with this discussion. My laptop came with pre-installed Windows 10. So suppose I install linux. Will all those drivers that were came with pre-installed Windows 10 work with linux because I used to think that Bluetooth and wifi will stop working on installing linux. –  Jul 29 '16 at 07:14
  • It's a completely separate OS, and thus will need _its own_ kind of drivers. (Actually, NDIS used to be an exception – many years ago, some people used NdisWrapper to run Windows Wi-Fi drivers on Linux...) Recent Linux versions have good native support for _most_ networking hardware; Intel Wireless 3165 is supported by the built-in [iwlwifi](https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers/iwlwifi) driver. – u1686_grawity Jul 29 '16 at 07:24
  • Also, you could test out e.g. Ubuntu or Fedora Linux by just booting it off a CD/USB, without installation. Use `iw phy` to check if monitor mode is supported, and `iw phy0 interface add mon0 type monitor; ip link set mon0 up` to enable it. – u1686_grawity Jul 29 '16 at 07:27