Patent ID: 8437263

Claim:
A method of tracing an access point in a wireless network, the method comprising: setting a source internet protocol (IP) address field of an IP packet to a wireless IP address of a detector associated with the access point through the wireless network, wherein the detector and the access point are connected through a private wired network; setting a destination IP address field of the IP packet to a wired IP address of the detector; sending the IP packet from the detector to the access point through the wireless network, routing the IP packet from the access point back to the detector through a switch in the private wired network; receiving the routed IP packet at the detector; and determining whether a source IP address is the wireless IP address of the detector from the received IP packet; identifying a port on the switch used to route the IP packet back to the detector by analyzing a source IP address field from the received IP packet, if the source IP address is the wireless IP address of the detector.