2 replies to this topic

[gsock]

So I want to play around with my wireless network and see how secure it is. From what I understand, you need a certain type of wireless card(prism chipset?) because it needs to be in promiscuous mode. Now I have the following questions:

• What am I looking for the in the wireless card so that it works with kismet, bt4, etc?
• What company would you recommend is best for this(name 3)?
• Any specific cards you can recommend?

I was considering getting the Alfa AWUS036H 1000mW but wanted to hear some opinions. Thanks guys!

Edited by gsock, 04 May 2011 - 07:52 PM.

[PurpleJesus]

So I want to play around with my wireless network and see how secure it is. From what I understand, you need a certain type of wireless card(prism chipset?) because it needs to be in promiscuous mode. Now I have the following questions:

• What am I looking for the in the wireless card so that it works with kismet, bt4, etc?
• What company would you recommend is best for this(name 3)?
• Any specific cards you can recommend?

I was considering getting the Alfa AWUS036H 1000mW but wanted to hear some opinions. Thanks guys!

That alfa card, I have one. It's great. Injected out of the box on Ubuntu 10.4. You'll be happy with it. Kismet, airodump-ng; both work well with it.

[tekio]

The Prism2 chipset was great! Notice, I said was. The manufacturer actually provided third-party developers with documentation to develop drivers for it; beyond the oem versions. However, it is outdated, only supports wireless B, and starting with the Prism 3.0 no more support for 3rd party developers. So in short, scratch the prism 2.5.

I'd go for alfa USB with the realtek RTL8187 chipset (note the 8187 is different from the 8187L and 8187 LE, you want the 8187). Alfa makes a 2.0Mw version with the 8187, and is the most sensitive chipset I've ever used. Great reception! The older PCMCIA and PC Express cards really suck. The MMC and MMCX jacks that host the pigtail for external antennas gets worn, and soon will loose the ability to make a good connection with the pigtail (not to mention the pigtails are usually cheap, and make the RF signal bleed out). Eventually, external is all but useless. The MMC and MMCX adapters were a piss-pore and flawed design. USB uses either type-N, but mostly an SMA jack; a much better and more durable design. Also, the Alfa USB adapters are way cheaper than a PCMCIA or PC Express card.

If you do decide to go with PCMCIA or PC Express, Atheros is the best chipset. That is because a lot of stuff is done on software to lessen the cost of the chipset. Despite being "hardware deficient" this design allows for a developer to do more stuff with the chipset. In the past I've used two Atheros based Ubiqiti cards, one to inject and the other to capture. They injected way fast!