Client Mode

• One demo box you drive by hand. Switch a single box to Client, connect it to a target access point, and run the generators yourself from its console. This is the path this guide walks.
• A room full of clients. Do not flip boxes one at a time. Leave them in Client mode and drive them centrally from a leader, which runs the same traffic engine from one console. See The Pack.

This guide covers switching the role, reading the Client dashboard, confirming your adapter, and where to go to connect and generate traffic. The hands-on connect-and-generate workflow lives in its own guide because there is a lot to it: see Traffic Console.

The role swap lives on the Settings page, in the Instance Role panel (the first panel on the page).

The panel shows the box's current role at the top:

• Server (AP) with the note "This box broadcasts networks as an access point."
• Client with the note "This box joins a network and generates traffic."

On a Server box the button on the right reads Switch to Client mode. (On a Client box the same button reads Switch to Server mode so you can flip back.) Below the button is a one-line reminder: "Switching installs the other role's dependencies and restarts the service; the console reconnects automatically."

Click Switch to Client mode.

A browser confirmation appears:

Switch this instance to Client mode?

The service installs Client dependencies and restarts. The console disconnects and reloads when it is back; this can take a minute.

Choose OK to proceed (or Cancel to stay put). The button changes to Switching... and a toast reads "Switching to Client mode; the console will reconnect."

What happens next:

• The box installs the Client role's dependencies and restarts the service.
• Your console disconnects, then reloads on its own once the box is back. This can take a minute -- do not refresh frantically or power-cycle the box; let it finish.
• When it returns, the Instance Role panel shows Client, the sidebar changes to the Client navigation, and a new Pack Agent Key panel appears just below Instance Role.

SCREENSHOT NEEDED: The Instance Role panel mid-swap with the button reading "Switching..." and the toast "Switching to Client mode; the console will reconnect" visible.

Judgment: only switch when the box is idle. A Server box that is broadcasting will stop being an access point the moment it swaps, dropping any associated students. Plan the swap between sessions.

Once the box is in Client mode, the Pack Agent Key panel appears under Instance Role on the Settings page.

• The key is the control token a pack leader uses to drive this client remotely.
• Copy key puts it on the clipboard; Regenerate issues a fresh one (which invalidates the old key, so any leader already using it must be re-paired).

Skip this if you are driving the box by hand. You only need the key when you plan to enroll this client into a pack leader. The enrollment workflow is in The Pack.

In Client mode the home page becomes the Dashboard (subtitle "Traffic generation agent status").

This page is read-only status. You do not connect to a network or start traffic here. Everything operational happens on the Traffic Console, reached from the header:

• Guide -- opens the in-app help for this page.
• Open traffic console -- the primary button; takes you to the Traffic Console where you connect and run generators.

The dashboard refreshes its status every few seconds on its own, so you can leave it open as a live readout while traffic runs.

A strip across the top of the dashboard shows four cells at a glance:

• Connection -- Online (green, with a live dot) when associated to a network, Offline (dim) otherwise.
• Network -- the SSID the box is on, or - when not connected.
• IP Address -- the address the network handed out, or -.
• Wireless Adapters -- the count of detected adapters. The number is cyan when one or more are present and yellow when none are, so a yellow zero is your cue that the box has no radio yet.

Below the strip, on the left, the Connection panel lists the live link detail. A dot next to the title is green/active when connected and dim/inactive when offline.

• Status -- Connected or Offline.
• SSID -- the network name, or -.
• Interface -- the wireless interface in use (for example wlan0), or -.
• IP address -- the leased address, or -.
• Gateway -- the network's gateway, or -.
• Captive portal -- the portal state: none (no portal involved), an in-progress state while it works through one, passed (cleared the portal), or failed (could not). If this reads failed, the box associated but could not get out past the splash page; check the portal credentials you supplied on the Traffic Console.

Under the Connection panel, the Traffic Generation panel mirrors the live traffic counters and has a Console shortcut in its header that jumps straight to the Traffic Console.

• Generating -- Active (green, with a live dot) while traffic is running, Idle otherwise.
• Requests -- count of requests issued so far.
• Received -- bytes pulled down, formatted (B / KB / MB / GB).
• Errors -- error count; turns orange when it is nonzero. A climbing error count usually means the link dropped or a target is unreachable.

These are the same counters shown on the Traffic Console's Live Stats panel; the dashboard surfaces them so you can monitor a running client without leaving the home page.

The right column lists every detected adapter under Wireless Interfaces, with a count pill in the header.

Each row shows:

• A green status dot.
• The interface name (for example wlan0), in monospace.
• The manufacturer and device model when known, or the driver name as a fallback.
• A pill on the right: connected when this is the adapter the box is currently associated through, otherwise the chipset (for example mt7921u) when it is known.

A client with no radio cannot join anything, so this panel is the first thing to check before you head to the Traffic Console.

There are two states that block a connection. Resolve them before you try to connect.

No adapter at all. The Wireless Interfaces panel reads:

No wireless adapter detected. Plug in a USB adapter to join a network.

Plug in a supported USB wireless adapter, then wait a few seconds for the dashboard to pick it up (the Wireless Adapters count goes from a yellow 0 to a cyan count).

SCREENSHOT NEEDED: The Client dashboard with the Wireless Interfaces empty state showing "No wireless adapter detected. Plug in a USB adapter to join a network." and the Wireless Adapters strip cell showing a yellow 0.

Adapter present but no driver. A yellow warning banner appears at the top of the dashboard:

Wireless adapter(s) detected without driver support: . Install the driver before it can connect.

The adapter is plugged in but its driver is not installed, so it cannot associate. Install the driver, then return to the dashboard. For supported adapters and driver notes, see Settings.

SCREENSHOT NEEDED: The Client dashboard with the yellow "Wireless adapter(s) detected without driver support... Install the driver before it can connect." banner across the top.

Once the dashboard shows an adapter and you are ready, click Open traffic console in the header (the primary button shown in Step 4).

On the Traffic Console you will:

1. Import a network profile (the .json you exported from a network's detail page on the Server box).
2. Connect to the saved network.
3. Choose which generators to run (web, DNS, ping, downloads, credential logins, domain chatter), set the target scope, and Start traffic.
4. Optionally enable handshake-capture cycling so students can grab a fresh WPA handshake on a schedule.

The dashboard then reflects the live connection and traffic stats from Steps 5 through 7. The complete, field-by-field walkthrough of the console, including the traffic toggles, targets and credentials, and handshake cycling, is in Traffic Console.

To turn the box back into an access point, return to Settings -> Instance Role and click Switch to Server mode. The same confirmation appears, the service reinstalls the Server dependencies and restarts, and the console reloads when it is back. The box stops generating traffic the moment it leaves Client mode, so stop any running generators first if you want a clean handoff.

• Traffic Console -- import a config, connect, choose generators, and drive traffic
• The Pack -- enroll this client into a leader and drive many members from one console
• Settings -- the role swap and the Pack Agent Key
• Settings -- supported USB adapters and driver setup
• Networks -- create the access point and export the client config the console imports