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I use my laptop as Access point for all other devices around me. Is there any way that i can monitor the data/browsing that other people are through my system's access point. As I can think all the traffic is going through my system so i can have a check and balance on others

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ntop.org - ntop - does show the connections and runs windows and linux – Andrew Smith Aug 12 '12 at 19:08
what do you say about wireshark, am read about that on my forums but that seems bit low level and technical, right? – Haseeb Asif Aug 12 '12 at 19:09
Yes it is OK as well. Ntop does nice high view for traffic stats 24/7 while wireshark run is very limited to it's memory. – Andrew Smith Aug 12 '12 at 19:56
Haseeb - be aware that ntop and wireshark perform very different functions! – Rory Alsop♦ Aug 12 '12 at 20:03
Also, if you control the access point, this isn't a wifi question at all - edited. – Rory Alsop♦ Aug 12 '12 at 20:05

1 Answer

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If you are running your laptop as a proxy, you can log everything your users do, as long it isn't encrypted.

If they are wanting to connect to https sites, you will need to act as a man-in-the-middle - there is a fair amount of discussion on this site tagged

  • Ntop will not show you what data people are browsing. It is for monitoring connections - very useful as a performance tool.
  • Wireshark is a bit more technical, but is the de-facto tool of choice for penetration testers for looking at what data is being passed, however it too will not show you encrypted communications unless you can get it to act as a man-in-the-middle.
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