Alfa vs Ubiquiti: Best USB / PCI Wireless Device?

[seanothan]

First, I'd like to say it's great to be back (haven't been around since BT2 days). BT4 is very impressive so far, and I'm happy to see the distro continuing to find success!

Anyways, I wanted to address something I've seen quite a few times regarding "the best wireless device." Being somewhat of a gear nerd, I like to buy and play with some higher end gear, so recently I decided to check out some newer wifi adapters. After spending some time searching around (including these forums), it was apparent that Alfa products were mentioned quite often. I believe Muts himself even suggested the AWUS036H model to someone with a Broadcom driver issue. Personally, I have never used an Alfa product, but after doing some research I thought I'd share some of my findings for anyone else who may be in the market to purchase a new wifi toy.

The first site I came across with some comparisons was this one (not my website):
Testing 5 WiFi cards for wireless hacking | Remote Security

Alternatively, by searching these forums and also various sites with user reviews, it quickly became apparent that while Alfa products are often referred to as powerful, they are also often victims of mixed reviews and driver compatibility issues. Many users seem to be experiencing compatibility issues specifically with the Ubuntu not recognizing the chipset of some of the later Alfa products. There are also mixed reviews in terms of signal strength with roughly 1/3 of the reviews being thrilled with their products, another third feeling iffy about it, and another third absolutely disappointed. Again, I personally have never played with any Alfa products, but the reviews and forum posts turned me off a bit.

My experience has revolved around Ubiquiti products (Atheros chipsets). Though I'm by no means an expert when it comes to pen testing (yet), I can say that I have NEVER experience any negative issues using these cards, nor have I found very many negative reviews from other consumers. I have personally owned both the SRC 300mW PCMCIA and PC-EXPRESS card models, and as of last night the SR71-USB model.

While I love playing with new "top of the line" products, I like to feel somewhat confident in what I'm about to sink my money into. From my experience and research, if you're looking for reliability and top performance, I would check out Ubiquiti products (ubnt.com). I strongly feel you get what you pay for.

I hope some of you find this post useful, and by all means please feel free to speak your mind if you've had positive (or negative) experiences with either of these product lines!

[halfdone]

Well I have ALFA AWUS036H 1000mw. It seems to be working, I can use it to crack my WLAN modems WEP and WPA passphrase, It is really good, I can find with my internal Atheros chipset 2 wlans and with my ALFA 15wlans.

The only thing with ALFA AWUS036H is that Im not sore weather it supports the newest WLAN standard.

[Snayler]

Well I have ALFA AWUS036H 1000mw. It seems to be working, I can use it to crack my WLAN modems WEP and WPA passphrase, It is really good, I can find with my internal Atheros chipset 2 wlans and with my ALFA 15wlans.

The only thing with ALFA AWUS036H is that Im not sore weather it supports the newest WLAN standard.

No, for that we have AWUS050NH, if memory serves me. AWUS036H will only support B/G standards.

[RoadwarriorsLive]

I have personally owned both the SRC 300mW PCMCIA and PC-EXPRESS card models, and as of last night the SR71-USB model.

Just curious if you were able to get the SR71-USB to work with backtrack?