To perform a wireless penetration test, it is important to follow a defined methodology. Simply firing up the airbase or airodump command and hoping for the best will not satisfy the goals of a test. When working as a penetration tester, you must ensure that you adhere to the standards of the organization you're working for, and if they don't have any, then you should hold yourself to the highest standards.
Broadly, we can break up a wireless penetration testing exercise into the following phases:
Planning phase.
Discovery phase.
Attack phase.
Reporting phase.
We will now look at each of these phases separately.