Abstract: A method is provided for controlling a wireless network interface controller (WNIC) to analyze one or more network conditions with little or no interruption to network connectivity or data communication. The WNIC may collect information regarding wireless channels, networks, and/or users. The method uses ideal network time slots and selective data collection to monitor wireless networks with minimal interruptions to normal operation. A system is provided for operating and controlling the WNIC in accordance with the method.

Abstract: A system and methods for monitoring wireless local area networks (WLAN) and reporting essential data is disclosed. The system optimizes and decides fundamentals before monitoring to enhance network monitoring efficiency. The system improves over prior problematic solutions that inefficiently monitor all data communicated over a network before filtering. The system may include instructions storable in memory to be executed by a processor. The system may include analytical engines, such as a resource analysis engine, fundamentals analysis engine, traffic analysis engine, optimization engine, and monitoring engine. The invention monitors subsets of the network traffic fundamentals that can be at least partially identified via metadata. The system may include exploring networks, identifying fundamentals of network traffic, assessing and evaluating the chosen fundamentals, optimizing fundamentals, and using a list of optimized fundamentals for network traffic monitoring.