BLE 4.2 sniffer

[lbehhhh]

I am hoping to get solid verification that nordic offers a solution for sniffing BLE 4.2 packets.

The application I need to sniff is maxing out the MTU (250B payload) so I need support for long packets.

The blogs and googling haven't provided me with a solid answer.

Thanks

[Phil Beeson]

It's a real shame Nordic haven't updated their sniffer for nRF52, trying to work with BLE 4.2 data length extensions, or even recent versions of Wireshark just isn't supported. It's just frustrating as they are normally really good at supporting developers, but I feel they've really dropped the ball on this.

However, I've been searching for a solution that doesn't cost the same as a small car and came across the USB-KW41Z from NXP. NXP support tell me that it will sniff BLE4.2 with long packets (community.nxp.com/.../453948) complete with wireshark screen capture. It's a relatively cheap device at around £70.

However, It's only fair to say, that so far I can't even follow BLE 4.1 unencrypted connections with it. Other people seem to be having some success (see NXP screenshot) but I'm not, so I can't wholeheartedly recommend it, but if you feel lucky, it might be worth a try.

Sorry Nordic, I wouldn't normally highlight competitor's offerings, but while you were developing the glowing thingy on my desk in front of me, others were developing tools that people in the devloper zone are actually asking for.

[endnode]

I do agree Phil, missing radio sniffer FW support with BT LE 4.2 and 5 features is probably one of the biggest lack in Nordic support portfolio today. Hopefully they will invest into this again (soon).