Bluetooth Sniffer: Basics, Operation, and Vendors

This page provides an overview of Bluetooth sniffers, including their basic operation and a list of vendors and manufacturers.

A Bluetooth sniffer captures and analyzes Bluetooth packets transmitted over the air by nearby Bluetooth devices. The sniffer consists of both hardware and a software application designed to display useful information about the Bluetooth PHY, MAC, and upper layers. To effectively use a sniffer, it’s helpful to understand the Bluetooth protocol stack and the operation of both classic Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technologies. You can refer to BLE tutorials and resources that highlight the differences between BLE and Bluetooth.

Bluetooth Packet Sniffer Application

Figure 1 depicts the nRF Bluetooth® Smart Sniffer from Nordic Semiconductor. As shown, it includes both hardware and a software application that captures Bluetooth packets transmitted between two connected and communicating devices. This works even when the link is encrypted. This Bluetooth Low Energy Sniffer provides the following parameters:

• Nearby BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) device addresses
• Address type
• Complete or short name
• RSSI

Nordic Semiconductor supplies two Bluetooth sniffer hardware modules:

• Evaluation Kit (Part No: PCA10001)
• Development kit dongle (Part No: PCA10000)

The company provides nRFgo Studio, which is compatible with Windows 7 and later versions of the operating system. Refer to the Bluetooth sniffer user manual for effective operation.

Bluetooth Sniffer Vendors and Manufacturers

The following table lists vendors and manufacturers that offer Bluetooth sniffer software and hardware: