Kismet vs Network Scanner

Kismet is a free, open-source wireless sniffer, intrusion detection system, wardriving tool, and packet capture tool. Depending on hardware and driver support, it can capture Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Bluetooth LE, Zigbee, wireless sensor, airplane beacon, and power meter data. It runs headless as a standalone capture and wireless intrusion detection system, or with a web interface. Linux and macOS are supported directly; Windows use is through WSL. Remote capture forwards capture types over TCP sockets or websockets for centralized collection. Kismet’s kismetdb logfile combines packets, device records, location, and runtime data in an SQLite3-based file. A REST-like API offers JSON records, streaming pcap-ng, and websocket publish-subscribe endpoints. WIDS alerts can be connected through REST APIs, syslog, and some SIEM tools. The project says stationary use is most effective for WIDS; mobile or channel-hopping operation can reduce accuracy and coverage. Its macOS adapter support is limited, and WSL cannot access local hardware interfaces for packet capture, though remote capture is supported. The downloads page lists 2025-09-R1 as the latest stable release.

Network Scanner has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.