Best WiFi Adapters for Hacking

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   Ever wonder which wireless adapter to purchase when you want to inject packets using your favorite tool?...e.g.Backtrack 5R2, Beini 1.2.3 and so on. I will rate a few adapters on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the best and 1 the worst on an general overall rating based on actual signal reception and on speed of packket injection. Don't expect a detailed professional description as I am NOT technician. Only an ordinary person just to give out my honest opinion of adapters I have purchased and tested using Backtrack 5R2.
I personally have tried a few of them out and have found some pretty interesting facts. One, american made adapters are NOT the best and they tend to have a weak signal reception. Not necessarily american made but, products that are in the american market and that you would find in your local Walmart, Target, Kmart or whichever store you would find electric devices.

  The TL-WN822N from TP LINK High Gain USB Adapter is a 300Mbps wireless client, which allows users to connect a desktop or notebook computer to a wireless network and access a high-speed Internet connection. It is fully interoperable with IEEE 802.11 b/g/n wireless devices, delivering speedy 11n speeds and reliable signal for lag-free online gaming, Internet calls or even HD video streaming.(source) $25U.S.

   In  it you will find the ATHEROS AR7010 and AR9287 (source) This beautiful white adapter has looks and compatibility but, what it has in looks lacks in performance. With it's dual 3 bdi antennas it delivers little power only increasing about 10% at most, it will certainly disappoint you. So, when it comes to trying out packet injectiion you really can't expect much. Certainly the manufacturer gives a beautiful and attractive description. You will not hear or see them describing their product as "the worst", so always do a bit of research on it first.

RATING: 4




So moving on, next on the list is one that I purchased due to it's high power description and eye-catchig device. They too made a claim of it being "the best".Here's their description of it:


   C. Crane US3 Super USB Wifi Antenna 3 his is one of the best home, mobile, or RV WiFi Antennas made. Just plug it into the USB port on your computer for powerful WiFi reception. We have incorporated the newest WiFi wireless "N" technology with a connection rate up to 150Mbps for lightning fast file transfers.
This antenna comes with a special USB split cable that offers two plugs to your computer to increase power. Normally one plug works well for a powerful reception. If you need more powerful reception and you have an extra USB port, then plug both into your computer. $100.00


                          

 Antenna Gain: 4.5 dBi
 Chipset Gain: 25 dBm

It mounts easily to your window with suction cups or to the wall using the supplied lanyard and "hook and loop" material. If you are trying to receive a far away signal from outdoors, then the best place for mounting is above the peak of your roof so that signals can be received from miles in every direction. This antenna is made weatherproof, while bouncing harmful UV rays. A standard 15-foot split USB cable is included but you can purchase an optional 30-foot USB cable to reach the peak of your roof. Outdoor mounting is easy with the included cable-tie to secure the antenna to your plastic pole.

While testing it in the small town of Fortuna, California, we were able to see more than 25 different wireless networks and even connect to one over a mile away! Normally, we could only see about 6 networks within range. In further tests we were able to connect to a small wireless router from over 100 yards away, keeping 80% signal strength through several walls and obstructions. You may be surprised at what the Super USB WiFi Antenna 3 can do for you.

But when it comes down to the real thing, a real opinion, here goes mine. As a signal reception device it does pretty good put signal is not stable. It tends to drop and rise, drop and rise..but when it comes to packet injection..this baby is pretty damm good...Signals that are weak, using this and combination of Backtrack 5R2 will get you cracking in no time...I recommend it only for packet injection. But it will create a dent in your wallet.
RATING: 8



Another WiFi adapter I tested is the Kasens 990WG 60dbi 6000mw..one word I could say about this adapter "CRAP"...Though it claims to be a high power adapter, there is nothing high power about it. It only detected one WiFi signal while my surroundings is infested by WiFi..I was disappointed by the flat panel high gain antenna.. $21

   In it you will find the 3070 chipset from Ralink, not as good as the 8187 but I did something that made the bad be a good, instead of screwing in the flat panel antenna to the adapter I screwed in a regular 5 dbi antenna, so it looked like the one below. Once I did that the signal increased tremendously! It could have been the flat panel antenna part that was defective but with the little alteration I made on it the rating went up.


So bottom line is this: the adapter is good but, the antenna is not..so I will give 2 different ratings, one with the flat panel antenna and the other with the regular antenna.
RATING w/flat panel: 1
RATING w/regular antenna: 7

                                     
Moving on to the next contender, well known ALFA AWUS036H 1000mW Long-Range with Realtek RTL8187L. "The ALFA AWUS036H is by far the best wireless usb device used for hacking and wireless penetration testing. Here at Top-Hat-Sec, it is the only WI-FI USB Adapter worth selling. It is our number one pick! It has the unique ability to be modified, adjusted for signal strength, and accessorized with other antenna's and accessories." according to top-hat-sec.com

7dbi antenna

5dbi antenna

Alfa AWUS036H is one of the best Wi-Fi cards available in the market. There are many cheap solutions but their reliability is always questionable. At $28, it just doesn’t have any competition. It performs way better than the inbuilt Wi-Fi cards in the laptops. It functions nicely with Win98SE/200/ME/XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Linux and Macintosh (OS version 10.4). And the required drivers for ALL of these operating systems ships with the CD-ROM. The drivers are also available at vendor’s site. (This card is one of the best card for Wi-Fi hacking, wardriving and Penetration testing.It comes with a 5 dbi antenna which is detachable. The same manufacturer produces 7 dbi and 9 dbi antenna also. They cost around $8-$10. So if we want increase the range, we can remove the 5 dbi antenna and put the 9 dbi one. This Alfa card has amazing 1000mW output power. We can use Alfa AWUS036H for many purposes. E.g. if we want get a better signal strength at a place where it is difficult to get signals through inbuilt Wi-Fi cards in laptop, we can use it. We can combine it with Alfa r36, and make our own mini hotspot in our house. We can use it for wardriving. Packet injection works fine. Itcan use USB 2.0 as well as USB 1.1. It connects with full 54 Mbps. For security it has WEP, WPA and WPA2 (personal as well as enterprise) My personal opinion, this is the best adapter for war driving, hacking, pentesting or however you wish to call it. No problems injecting packets or associating as a client. Two thumbs up!

RATING: 10

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