Dual-Band Wi-Fi

Dual-band Wi-Fi is what makes the Pro a "Pro". It sweeps both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands and builds a clean, de-duplicated inventory of every access point and client it hears.

What it hears

As you survey, the Pro hops across the Wi-Fi channels on both bands and records each network it detects. It reads the network's identity and capabilities straight from the air, no association, no probing of protected traffic.

For each access point you get name, MAC, band, channel, signal, security, Wi-Fi generation, and flags for hidden/WPS/PMF, see What It Captures for the full field list.

Reading a Wi-Fi capture

A few things the band and capability data make easy to spot:

• The 5 GHz picture, the networks a 2.4-GHz-only scanner would never see, typically the fastest, newest gear.
• Security posture at a glance, open and WEP networks stand out; WPA3 and OWE mark modern deployments; enterprise vs. personal is distinguished.
• Hidden networks, cloaked SSIDs are flagged even without a name, so you know they're there.
• Wi-Fi generation spread, how much of the area is Wi-Fi 4/5/6/6E/7, a quick read on how current the infrastructure is.
• Channel usage, which channels are crowded.

Clients and probes

The Pro also catches client devices that are actively searching for networks. When a device probes for a remembered network by name, you see the client's address (marked randomized or real) and the network name it's looking for.

This is what reveals a device's remembered-network history and helps you understand who's around and what they've connected to before. Modern devices randomize their MAC to resist this, and the Pro marks exactly which ones do.

Mapping it

On a Wardrive, each network is tagged with the location where it was heard strongest, using your phone's GPS, and plotted on the app's Drive map. Export the run as WiGLE-compatible CSV to map it anywhere.