We’ve managed to test up to 8 wireless network adapters (6 USB + 2 internal) on BackTrack 5 to determine the signal strength of each device using the command “airodump-ng mon0” after putting the adapter in monitor mode. Obviously the adapter that detects the most access points with lowest signal level (PWR) deserves to be crowned as the best compatible USB wireless adapter for BackTrack 5. You’ll find that Alfa AWUS036H is the most recommended USB wireless network adapter because it is very stable and works right out of the box for BackTrack 5. If you don’t mind paying the extra premium price for an adapter with no support for 802.11n wireless standard, then it is quite a good choice. Because Alfa AWUS036H is so popular, there are counterfeit versions being sold online.
We recommend you directly if you’re looking for an authorized local distributor. The AWUS036NHR is currently the most powerful wireless adapter by Alfa with very good signal strength. It may seem to be plug and play in BackTrack 5 because you can put it in monitor mode and passes the injection test, but unfortunately it is very unstable because the chipset is not recognized in BackTrack 5 R3. TL-WN722N is a cheaper alternative to the Alfa AWUS036NHA which uses the Atheros AR9271 chipset. It is claimed to be high gain and comes with a 4dBi detachable antenna where you can upgrade to a more powerful antenna to achieve better signal. Although this product was released back in 2009, it is still listed in TP-LINK’s official website and can be easily purchased from many sources on the Internet.
There is another very similar model which is the TL-WN722NC. It is exactly the same as TL-WN722N except it comes with an additional cradle. ASUS USB-N53 uses Ralink RT3572 chipset and is fully compatible with BackTrack 5 but is not recommended due to the poor performance. This USB wireless network adapter uses the same chipset as ASUS USB-N53 which is Ralink RT3572 and has been discontinued. If you check the results at the end of this post, you’d notice that the performance of this adapter with the USB-N53 is very similar.
This adapter is the oldest in the list and it is no surprise that it performed badly on the test. Comparing with the best adapter, DWA-110 merely detected 3 out of 9 access points. DELL 1510 Although it seems to have better performance that some of the external USB wireless adapters, only monitor mode works but not injection due to the Broadcom chipset. Intel 5100 Interestingly the Intel 5100 did quite well and the performance is comparable to the TL-WN722N. However do note that the TL-WN722N uses a 4dBi antenna in this test which can be upgraded to a better one to achieve better signal strength. Both monitor mode and packet injection works perfectly.
Results and Summary The result table below shows the number of access points the adapters can detect and also the lowest signal level. Summary: Although AWUS036NHR is the successor of the popular AWUS036H which has better signal strength, unfortunately it is currently not supported on BackTrack 5. Alfa AWUS036H is still the best choice, followed by TP-LINK TL-WN722N especially if you can get a higher dBi antenna. There is no harm trying out your internal card to see if it works on BackTrack 5 but take note that internal cards will only work on Live CD/USB but not on virtual machine such as VirtualBox/VMware.
With the imminent arrival of Kali 2.0, hopefully compatibility will increase a little. My ALFA AWUS036NEH has drifted into and out of compatibility when customising transmit power to Bolivian Regulatory Domain (30dBm 1000mW).
That doesn’t mean it’s a bad WiFi Adapter, it just means that support on the OS level might not nessisarily be 100% for that particular model adapter. Everything else still works fine like; Internet Connectivity, Packet Injection & Promiscuous Mode. Hopefully my woes are sorted out on August 11th! (Kali 2.0 Release Date). First, I have a small factual correction to make for this article — the RT3070 chipset is made by Ralink, not Realtek. And it’s a very good chipset.
I have the RT3070 chipset in my Alfa UBDo external wifi adapter and it works excellent with 2000 mW power and covers the N protocol as well. But the UBDo is an omni-directional antenna and my attempts to get into my local city’s public wifi system were marginal (sometimes yes, for a little while, and sometimes no).
So I bought an Alfa AWUS036NHR and an 18 dBi yagi antenna. The NHR model uses the Realtek 8188ru chipset (and the rtl8192cu driver in Linux). The unit functions perfectly good with Windows XP. So I know there’s no physical problem with the unit, and I know that the Windows driver works correctly in normal client usage. But there are lots of problems using this under Linux. Under Linux the monitor mode won’t support channel changing. It’s stuck on channel 1.
So Kismet (my packet sniffer) won’t work correctly. I don’t know about injecting packets since I’ve never tried that.
Even under normal client usage mode it won’t lock up on APs that are fairly strong and steady under Windows. It acts like it’s always on low power or something. The Realtek utility software in Windows has a selection box for three power modes. I haven’t found any commands to access those modes in Linux yet, if the driver even supports power changing. I have searched the net and downloaded the newest drivers with patches that I could find. The latest mod date that I’ve tried is Feb 2013.
And it still doesn’t make any difference. I might have to buy another adapter and keep this one around until someone gets the Realtek 8192cu driver situation figured out for the 8188ru chipset. Yes its an amazing adapter. After looking for it all over India for 3 months or so I finally mailed Alfa’s sales team in Taiwan asking for a dealer in India. That’s how I finally got it from the only dealer in India and that too he said he was selling to an individual for the first time and that he has never got an adapter returned since the first started dealing in them 2 years ago. The ones selling on Ebay are expensive according to me. I got it for INR 1700 (USD 39) inclusive of domestic shipping.
The package had 1) The main adapter 2) 5dBi antenna 3) USB cable 4) Drivers mini CD Many people recommend buying an Alfa 9dBi antenna but I feel the 5dBi antenna is more than sufficient. And yes it works beautifully with Backtrack 5, Windows 7 SP1 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard.
To hack a Wi-Fi network using Kali Linux, you need to support monitor mode and packet injection. Not all wireless cards can do this, so I've rounded up this list of 2018's best wireless network adapters for hacking on Kali Linux to get you started hacking both WEP and WPA Wi-Fi networks. Wi-Fi Hacking for Beginners Kali Linux is by far the best supported hacking distro for beginners, and Wi-Fi hacking on Kali (previously called BackTrack) is where I started my own journey into hacking. In order to hack Wi-Fi, you will quickly learn that a wireless network adapter supporting packet injection and monitor mode is essential. Without one, many attacks are impossible, and the few that work can take days to succeed. Fortunately, there are several good adapters to choose from. Don't Miss.
A Raspberry Pi with a supported network is a powerful, low-cost Kali Linux hacking platform. Image by SADMIN/Null Byte. Don't Miss: What's so great about wireless network adapters?
By swapping out the antenna or adapter type, we can target different kinds of networks. We can even target far-away networks with the addition of special super long-range directional antennas. Chipsets Supported by Kali Linux So how do you pick the best wireless network adapter for hacking? If you're hacking on Kali, certain chipsets (the chip that controls the wireless adapter) will work without much or any configuration needed.
Atheros AR9271 chipset inside the ALFA Network AWUS036NHA. Image by Maintenance script/ Chipsets that work with Kali include:. Atheros AR9271. Ralink RT3070. Ralink RT3572.
Realtek 8187L (Wireless G adapters). Realtek RTL8812AU (newly in 2017). my research also suggests the Ralink RT5370N is compatible In 2017, Kali Linux began supporting drivers for the RTL8812AU wireless chipsets. These drivers are not part of the standard Linux kernel and have been modified to allow for injection. This is a big deal because this chipset is one of the first to support 802.11 AC, bringing injection-related wireless attacks to this standard. Late night meaning.
The AWUS036NEH, relatively compact with extreme range. Image by SADMIN/Null Byte The Panda PAU05 2.4 GHz Sometimes you need a stealthier option that's still powerful enough to pwn networks without making a big fuss about plugging in large, suspicious network adapters. Consider the g/n PAU05, affectionately nicknamed 'El Stubbo' and a personal favorite both for its low profile and its aggressive performance in the short and medium range. Consider this if you need to gather network data without including everything within several blocks. A note on the Panda from one of our readers: The Panda PAUO5 on Amazon won't do packet injection. It seems they now ship with an unsupported chipset (RT5372), so make sure yours has the correct chipset! Compact option from Detroit Electronics.
Image via Adapters That Use the Realtek RTL8812AU Chipset (New) The Alfa AWUS036ACH 802.11ac AC1200 Wide-Range USB 3.0 Wireless Adapter with External Antenna Newly supported in 2017, the Alfa AWUS036ACH is a beast, with dual antennas and 2.4 GHz 300 Mbps/5 GHz 867 Mbps – 802.11ac and a, b, g, n compatibility. This is the newest offering I've found that's compatible with Kali, so if you're looking for the fastest and longest range, this would be the adapter to start with. To use this, you may need to first run the following. Apt update apt install realtek-rtl88xxau-dkms This will install the needed drivers, and you should be good to go.
The Alfa AWUS036ACH, ready to hack on 802.11ac. Image via Wireless G Only USB Adapters Using the Realtek 8187L Chipset The following USB adapters use an older chipset that is less useful and will not pick up as many networks. These cards still will work against some networks, so I've included mine that's worked for over five years. The Alfa AWUS036H USB 2.4 GHz The equivalent to an old Honda or Toyota, these adapters just keep kicking. These are great for beginners, and there are a ton around. While they only offer 802.11b/g compatibility, they continue to be useful. By far my oldest network adapter, the AWUS036H has been hacking networks for years and will not go quietly into the night.
Image by SADMIN/Null Byte Others Options During my research, I also came across the following adapters with supported chipsets, but only anecdotal evidence of packet injection and monitor mode. If you're feeling adventurous, you can pick up one of the following supported adapters mention in the comments how it works for you.
The by Hard Kernel uses the supported Ralink RT5572 chipset, which adds 5 GHz capabilities, and also works in 2.4 GHz. An ultra compact option is also the, also by Hard Kernel, based on Ralink RT5370N chipset. Sometimes practical beats theory, I own Netgear N150 WNA1100(Atheros), TP-Link TL-WN822Nv3(Realtek), Alpha AWUS036NHA(Atheros) (recent). I got the Netgear one for free with a router, and it works far better than TP-Link (dual antennas) in range and speed (for Pentesting).
Reading reviews for AWUS036NHA(A), AWUS036ACH(R) and AWUS052NH(R), it was clear what I wanted to get for Pentesting. Conclusion: AtherosRealtek for Pentesting. Why would you think Admin still uses AWUS036NHA?, cuz it works perfectly fine for him. Hi I was wondering if you could help me with something Kali Linux related.
I installed Kali Linux into virtual box on a MacBook Pro and purchased a TP-link WN722N wireless adapter (v2). I plugged it into my Mac and downloaded the necessary driver to Kali and the WiFi won't show up. I believe the problem is that I have to connect the adapter to a USB-USB c adapter since I have the new MacBook. When I'm adding a USB device filter to virtual box only the USB-USB c adapter shows up and not the actual wireless adapter. Anyways I'd really appreciate any help you can give me. I returned my 36ACH for a 36NHA. Initially I tried drivers for the RTL8812AU chipset through Kali's repo, and those did not work well.
Airodump / Kismet showed no networks. Airmon-ng had issues putting into monitor mode, I had to put card into monitor mode via iwconfig. So I then purged those drivers and compiled aircrack's release for the 36ACH via github. That fixed most issues, But could not capture WPAx handshakes.
Injection only worked 1/3 times. I was able to bump to 40dBm on the 36ACH:). The only good thing I have to say at this point, until new drivers are released. SO as of now I am waiting for the good ol' 36NHA.
Ralink Rt3572 Aircrack For Mac
For those having issues with their AWUS036ACH,Kimcoder took aircrack's github repo and fine tuned them so I highly suggest to try his drivers and installing w/ following commands git clone cd rtl8812au make && make install ip link set wlan0 down iwconfig wlan0 mode monitor ip link set wlan0 up airodump-ng -i wlan0 Reply.