thinQmaster Virtual testing partner Adaptive practice exams that find your weak spots and drill them. Every answer explained. From $69
Enroll

thinQmaster

Find your exam

Five questions free, before you decide.

Step 1 · choose a vendor

In one of our camps? Your practice exams come with the tuition — they are on your study page already.

Wireless & Mobility · Advanced

Null Data Frame

A data frame with no body, used by clients to signal power-save state changes to the AP.

Definition

Clients send null data frames with the power management bit set before going off-channel to scan or sleep, prompting the AP to buffer frames. They are also used as keep-alives. Many null frames in a capture often indicate client scanning.

Exam tip

A burst of null data frames with PM=1 often precedes an off-channel scan.

Related terms