Question

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.

Answer 1

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.