Is it possible to read a Network Adapter similar to a Serial Port? I know that Serial Ports can be read with CreateFile WINAPI Function. Is there a similar way to read raw bytes from a Network Adapter?
I am aware of the WiFi/Network Functions but the WiFi Examples are fairly sparse.
If you want to capture raw packets you need a support driver like WinPCAP to do that.
You can pass the SOCK_RAW flag when you create the socket using WSASocket() (or socket(), as your tastes run). This is described in further detail under TCP/IP Raw Sockets on MSDN.
From that page --
Once an application creates a socket of type SOCK_RAW, this socket may be used to send and receive data. All packets sent or received on a socket of type SOCK_RAW are treated as datagrams on an unconnected socket.
Of note, Microsoft crippled their raw sockets implementation after Windows XP SP2; the details are described on the MSDN page in the section Limitations on Raw Sockets:
- TCP data cannot be sent over raw sockets.
- UDP datagrams with an invalid source address cannot be sent over raw sockets.
- A call to the bind function with a raw socket is not allowed.
If these limitations are too restrictive, you can fall back to the previously recommended winpcap library.