The primary use of this tool is by Wi-Fi administrators looking to detect and diagnose issues within Wi-Fi networks. The tool is available under a freemium model, where some functionality is available for free but the full tool requires a subscription. InSSIDer is a Wi-Fi scanner for Microsoft Windows and macOS platforms.

Like Kismet, KisMac performs passive network monitoring and can attempt to crack WEP and WPA keys using brute force password guessing or exploiting known flaws in legacy protocols. KisMac, as its name suggests, is designed to be a Kismet clone available on macOS. It passively collects packets to identify both broadcasting and hidden wireless networks. Kismet is available on all operating systems and can run using any Wi-Fi card that supports radio frequency monitoring mode (RFMON). It is a network sniffer capable of monitoring 802.11 wireless traffic as well as other wireless protocols, such as Bluetooth and Zigbee. Kismet is one of the most famous Wi-Fi hacking tools available.

A few different tools provide network discovery functionality to help with identifying wireless networks and extracting useful traffic for use in an attack.

Before attacking a wireless network, it is necessary to know that it exists.