Wireshark ‘no interfaces found’ error explained

Configurare noua (How To)

Situatie

When you start up Wireshark to capture network packets, the tool has to go through a series of initialization routines. Towards the end of its startup procedures, Wireshark scans the host computer for network connections. On the initial scan, if the program cannot find any networks attached to the computer on which it is running, it will show the message “No interfaces found.”

The error message appears in the area of the application window where you would expect to see a list of available networks. To capture network traffic packets, you first need to select one of these networks. So, if Wireshark can’t find any networks at all, you can’t progress to the packet capture phase.

Solutie

Pasi de urmat

When Wireshark reports that it cannot find any “interfaces”, it means that it could not detect any networks. There are many possible reasons for this problem.

“No interfaces found” on Windows 10

Surprisingly, in Windows, you do not need to run Wireshark with administrator network privileges to give the program access to network functions. This is because as far as the network procedures of your computer are concerned, Wireshark is only acting the way any other program that connects to the network would behave ‒ the Wireshark system only needs access to the network, which is available to all regular users, not just the administrator.

One element of the Wireshark suite of programs does need administrator network privileges. This is WinPcap, which is the underlying service that assists in capturing packets. The setup process of Wireshark will install WinPcap for you. The installation process sets WinPcap to run on system startup and also writes it to the register so that it can run with admin rights level. It is this installation phase that requires you to restart your computer.

Firewall errors

Your firewall shouldn’t be blocking Wireshark’s access to the network because firewalls generally work to prevent external processes from getting onto your computer not to prevent processes on your computer getting to the network. However, just in case the problem lies with your computer’s firewall software try the following test.

Close down Wireshark and turn off your firewall. Open Wireshark again to get it to look for networks. If it now manages to find the network, the problem lies with your firewall. Set Wireshark as an exception in your firewall rules and turn the firewall back on again.

Network card errors

If none of the above tests on the software running on your computer solve the problem, you will need to test your network card.

If you only have access to wifi and you have wifi turned off or you have your network setting in airplane mode, Wireshark should still be able to see the network adapter. Having wifi turned off or blocked will not invoke the “no interfaces found” error. Wireshark is just one of many network-enabled applications on your computer. There is no reason why your network interface should block Wireshark and allow all other applications to get access to the network. So, if Wireshark is not getting through to the network, nothing should be getting through.

Try any other network-active application on your computer to see if it can get access to the network. If anything can get onto the network, the problem doesn’t lie with the physical network card or the network adapter software. If nothing can get onto the internet, you have identified the problem and you should call in a support specialist to get your network access problems fixed.

Wireshark 'no interfaces found' error explained

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