[Help] Packet sniffing with old Android phone? (programming.dev)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by emotional_soup_88@programming.dev to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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Thank you @ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com for telling me about the pcap app! On rooted devices, you can even be running a VPN simultaneously, because then the pcap app doesn't need to take that slot.

Please share any knowledge or experience that you have on packet inspection using smartphones. I would like to sniff at my switch, which is switching between my (two LANs)^[I put "two LANs" within parentheses to denote that the two LANs are not being switched between.] and my ISP. For this, I have mirrored all ports that are in use to a port that is currently not in use. Can I simply buy one of those USB-C to Ethernet dongles and use tcpdump in Termux? Will Android recognize the dongle as a sniffable network interface? The phone is rooted.

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[-] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago

I think there is a pcap package available for android but it might now work if you use a private DNS app or firewall.

[-] emotional_soup_88@programming.dev 1 points 1 month ago

Thanks, I'm going to check that out! I'm doing a fresh reset on the phone with just termux installed, so it shouldn't be a problem.

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 month ago

https://apt.izzysoft.de/packages/com.pcapdroid.mitm and addon, is good. Though i don't know how old your Android is.

this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2026

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