Kismet vs WiFiman

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.

WiFiman is a network utility for finding UniFi devices, checking wireless performance and remotely reaching a UniFi network. Its mobile app tests upload and download speeds over Wi-Fi or cellular connections. With a UniFi Gateway, it can also show signal strength, throughput, latency and roaming between access points. On LiDAR-equipped mobile devices, Floorplan Mapper records signal strength across areas to help visualize coverage and device roaming. The Discovery tab displays IP addresses and other identifying information for devices on the connected Wi-Fi network. Teleport provides remote access through a zero-configuration VPN, but requires a compatible UniFi gateway. It uses WireGuard to encrypt traffic; Ubiquiti says Teleport does not store user data. Invitations expire after 24 hours and are usable by one device at a time. Desktop editions support UniFi Device Discovery and Teleport VPN, while the other listed features are mobile-only. WiFiman is free, with Android, iOS, Windows, macOS and Linux support. Desktop installers are listed for Windows x86-64 and ARM64, macOS Intel and Apple Silicon, and Linux AMD64.