I recently bought a laptop that came with an RTL8852BE network controller. After installing Debian, I faced an issue with the wireless connection: it wouldn't disconnect or show any errors, but traffic would stop moving. So I went online, looking for a solution.

Photo by Jakub Zerdzicki

As a test engineer, I often need to see what requests applications are making and what responses they are receiving. While browsers offer developer tools that include network monitoring, I find them inconvenient. Additionally, you can't use them with mobile and desktop software.

Recently, I discovered Burp Suite, a tool for security assessment and penetration testing that comes with many useful features. Although the professional edition is quite expensive, the free community edition is sufficient for regular testing activities.

Key functionality

• A proxy server to intercept traffic.
• A convenient user interface to analyze network activity.
• The ability to modify and repeat requests.
• The option to store individual requests for future use; however, the history is erased in the community edition when you close the program.
• A text decoder that automatically translates strings like "%7B%22key%22:%22value%22%7D" to {"key":"value"}.