Tx power awus036nh

Hi,

I think I have the same problem of thousand people who can't modify the tx power of this alfa. I'm using bt4.2. Without installing any kind of driver for this device, using the one's installed by default on bt, I'm trying to change the tx power from 8db to a higher level. But it seems to be impossible. The driver that bt loads when i plug in the devices is rt2800usb. With the sudo's rights when I digit iwconfig wlanX txpower 9, bt gives an error like;

Error for wireless request "Set Tx Power" (8B26) :
SET failed on device wlan1 ; Invalid argument.

I tryed to set the crda to BO (iw set reg BO), but the result doesn't change. I've also tryed to modify the script "boost" posted by Jano, changing rtl8187 with rt2800usb but without success. I've read a lot of 3ds without finding a solution. I can agree with the idea of Jano to not extend the txpower to 2W, but now my txpower is very poor.
I think also that if alfa network makes this kind of cards, and many people bought them, it's correct thinking to use all of his power when needed. Otherwise it's a waste of money.

I've also tryed to install compat-wireless-driver but at the end, bt didn't recognize the device at all.

For alfa 36H everything goes well with the default driver.

wishing in a solution...

NickFee.

Hope I'm not responding too late for you.

Try these commands:

iw reg set BO
iwconfig wlan0 txpower 30dBm

Use at your own risk.

I suggest before you follow the advice you read what these commands do, also you can search the forum maybe you can find something that could help you:
http://www.backtrack-linux.org/forum...ay-adjust.html
http://www.backtrack-linux.org/forum...wer-alert.html

On the 2.6.36.3 stable kernel (not the one in BT4r2) and with current compat-wireless (compat-wireless-2011-01-17.tar.bz2) the TXpower can finally go up to 20 and makes a significant difference in the amount of ap's that are seen. I tried all the iw reg set BO etc.., read through the aircrack-ng forums on the issue and only saw one mention of someone getting the TXpower any higher than 8 (can't remember what kernel he was on) so I gave up wasting time and installed a new kernel and compat-wireless yesterday and there you have it.

Usual standard disclaimer: Modifying/upgrading your kernel can/maybe/possibly break things down the road. You won't get any support here doing by doing so, but if you aren't *nix challenged, give it a whirl

Quote:

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Originally Posted by skinnypuppy

On the 2.6.36.3 stable kernel (not the one in BT4r2) and with current compat-wireless (compat-wireless-2011-01-17.tar.bz2) the TXpower can finally go up to 20 and makes a significant difference in the amount of ap's that are seen. I tried all the iw reg set BO etc.., read through the aircrack-ng forums on the issue and only saw one mention of someone getting the TXpower any higher than 8 (can't remember what kernel he was on) so I gave up wasting time and installed a new kernel and compat-wireless yesterday and there you have it.

Usual standard disclaimer: Modifying/upgrading your kernel can/maybe/possibly break things down the road. You won't get any support here doing by doing so, but if you aren't *nix challenged, give it a whirl

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i hope i'm not a pain in the *** but i post a request for a how to or tut before to increase tx power for 036nh and for the simple reason that pointing out the tools needed is great but for a beginner changes to fail or break things are high.
so don't spoonfed but part.. explained would be awesome.
every expert started as a beginner i think
thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bakru

i hope i'm not a pain in the *** but i post a request for a how to or tut before to increase tx power for 036nh and for the simple reason that pointing out the tools needed is great but for a beginner changes to fail or break things are high.
so don't spoonfed but part.. explained would be awesome.
every expert started as a beginner i think
thanks

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if i understand you correctly, bakru, you are asking for some sort of information on how to do what skinnypuppy recommended (updating the kernel and compat-wireless) that can be understood by a linux beginner (newbie).

if that is really the case, let me save you a world of misery right away; linux newbies should NOT attempt to manually update their kernel...EVER. Its as simple as that. you'll certainly find lots of tutorials on the web that will explain how this can be done, that is true... but don't expect things to work out right until after you have either broken your system a few times or put it in a state that will cause "dependency hell" and compatability issues down the road. i'm talking about the kind of issues that would make you give up and reformat your system anyway.

S.P.'s solution works, true enough... but you might want to seriously think about the learning curve involved before giving it a try.

of course, if you are trying to learn linux by starting with BT in the first place, learning curves apparently don't bother you too much.
:)

just my two cents. good luck with that...

Building a new kernel for the sake of increasing the tx power of your awus can be compared to rebulding a car engine expecting 10bhp more of it, assuming you haven`t got a driving licence. Most likely you`ll end up with a few of them engines scraped until you get one working, but since one cant actually learn stuff without practicing it (you don`t want to know how plastic surgeons become plastic surgeons) your best option is to do a lot of reading and have a go.

P.S. This is the point where people ask themselves " Is it worth the effort for as little as 10 bhp?"

Quote:

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macphail
Re: Tx power awus036nh

if that is really the case, let me save you a world of misery right away; linux newbies should NOT attempt to manually update their kernel...EVER. Its as simple as that. you'll certainly find lots of tutorials on the web that will explain how this can be done, that is true... but don't expect things to work out right until after you have either broken your system a few times or put it in a state that will cause "dependency hell" and compatability issues down the road. i'm talking about the kind of issues that would make you give up and reformat your system anyway.

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@ macphail: Couldn't have stated it any better then that!

@OP, As I posted elsewhere in the forums, you can use the kernel that comes stock with BackTrack 4r2 and and the current compat-wireless from wireless-kernel.org and achieve the same results. There are guides on here as well on the net to do this. But if you have no experience with *nix, I wouldn't go messing around.

i'm sorry guys don't get upset about my questions and the way i look at this topic.
but i came across two totally different ways of increasing tx power on this forum
the skinnypuppy way and the joker way to put it understandable
skinnypuppy is talking about the same kernel as bt4r2 or a new one if you wish with compat-wireless , but joker is talking about new driver install from the alfa website and blacklist the rt 2800usb driver, and both posted screenshots of the results, so i getting confused wich way to go. and with me countless others i guess.

also thanks for all the hints for taking care when starting messing around with things you don't fully understand, but most of the time that's the fastest way to learn

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bakru

also thanks for all the hints for taking care when starting messing around with things you don't fully understand, but most of the time that's the fastest way to learn

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In a way you are correct, the only way you will fully understand linux is by playing with it. If that means borking your entire system and reloading it a hundred times, so be it. Nobody is telling you don't experiment, because there is probably nobody here on the forum that hasn't borked a linux box before while doing experimentation. You learn to accept it; at least this a binary based distro and not source like Gentoo so re-install is quick and painless.

My way as well as joker5bb's way are both valid ways of achieving the end result of getting the absolute most out of the hardware that we purchased. Which way you choose to go (or for that matter, maybe experimenting and finding another route that works for you) is entirely up to you. You just have to realize that if you aren't that familiar with linux, you will have to pick up some books or search the net for answers because this isn't a linux 101 forum. That's what they have ubuntuforum for.

Technically, this thread and the other thread really have really nothing to do with BackTrack per se (other than wireless know-how) and I'm glad the mod's haven't just shut it down. Good luck with all of the info you have received and don't get discouraged. It's the only way you will fully grasp linux!