Hi - in some years-old postings, I've read of success when using a Netgear USB wifi adapter to allow monitor mode packet capture on Windows 10/11. Currently, https://www.netgear.com/home/wifi/ada... shows six adapters. Is it known whether any of these allow monitor mode packet capture for Wireshark?
Thanks
@grahamb's comment lists the possible reasons why an adapter might not support monitor mode at all or support it poorly.
"Use Linux instead" works if the only problem is the driver, as that's the only thing that a switch to Linux will change. If the adapter hardware or firmware is the problem, monitor mode will probably be bad or non-existent on Linux as well.
There are, I think, lists of recommended adapters for Linux monitor mode. If an adapter isn't recommended for Linux, it probably won't work well with any other OS, even if the problem is the driver - it might be better on another open-source OS, but it's unlikely to be better on Windows, as, especially given that Microsoft has little interest in monitor mode support, adapter vendors probably spend little if any effort on monitor mode support in their drivers.
I don't know whether anybody's developed lists of recommended adapters for monitor-mode capture on Windows.
https://github.com/morrownr/USB-WiFi is another good place for suggestions.
Asked: 2026-01-20 15:24:32 +0000
Seen: 245 times
Last updated: Jan 22
In general, monitor mode on Windows is very poorly supported by the adaptors, their firmware and their drivers.
The prevailing view seems to be use Linux instead.