To test the basic functionality of what I believe you are looking for in terms of basic password sniffing via ssl, get the Pineapple running with karma, sslstrip and internet connectivity. Use a wireless device to test karma (connectivity). Once successful, use a browser to log into a site via https and watch the sslstrip logs.
There is one basic use case you can use to test a simple set up.
good luck
~phu
edit: this probably belongs in the MKV thread.