An access point in a wireless network is traced by sending an internet protocol (IP) packet from a detector to the access point through the wireless network. The detector and the access point are connected through a private wired network. The IP packet is sent with the source IP address field and the destination IP address of the IP packet set to the wireless IP address and wired IP address, respectively, of the detector. The IP packet is routed back to the detector through a switch in the private wired network. When the IP packet is received at the detector, a source IP address, which corresponds to the port on the switch used to send the IP packet, is determined from the received IP packet.