problem with my new alfa nic

[tbrueland]

Hi.

First of all...i am a newbie with both Back Track and Linux. I have just bought a Alfa NIC after a guy at a store recommend it. It of course works great in Vista, but it seems not to work in Back Track 3 final.

As I was told it would work like a charm, and I also know that this Alfa NIC is supported in BT3.

I am running iwconfig but it doesn't seem to find it. The NIC's model is AWUS036H (the powerful one).

Can anyone please help me? And I hope that this is the right section to post in...

-Tommy

[terminal86]

Hi Tommy,
what Version of BT3 are u running?
Posts of your iwconfig , ifconfig would help us to solve your prob.

greez

[tbrueland]

Thanks for your answer,

Ehh...I am not totally sure about the version, but I am pretty sure it was Back Track 3 Final. I downloaded it from the main download page at remote-exploit.org

Here are the screenshots you wanted, and I have enclosed the Kismet error message also.

IWCONFIG

lo no wireless extensions.

wlan0 802.11b/g Mode:Managed Channel=7
Access Point: Not-Associated Bit Rate=11 Mb/s Tx-Power=5 dBm
Retryn Fragment thrff
Encryption keyff
Link Quality=3/100 Signal level=-192 dBm Noise level=-159 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

wifi0 no wireless extensions.

ath0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"" Nickname:""
Mode:Managed Channel:0 Access Point: Not-Associated
Bit Rate:1 Mb/s Tx-Power:17 dBm Sensitivity=1/1
Retryff RTS thrff Fragment thrff
Encryption keyff
Power Managementff
Link Quality=0/70 Signal level=-96 dBm Noise level=-96 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

So from here it looks like wlan0 is working, but from my point of view it doesn't.

IFCONFIG

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

KISMET INFO

Launching kismet_server: /usr/local/bin/kismet_server
Suid priv-dropping disabled. This may not be secure.
No specific sources given to be enabled, all will be enabled.
Non-RFMon VAPs will be destroyed on multi-vap interfaces (ie, madwifi-ng)
Enabling channel hopping.
Enabling channel splitting.
NOTICE: Disabling channel hopping, no enabled sources are able to change channel.
Source 0 (addme): Opening none source interface none...
FATAL: Please configure at least one packet source. Kismet will not function if no packet sources are defined in kismet.conf or on the command line. Please read the README for more information about configuring Kismet.
Kismet exiting.
Done.

Maybe I should take a look into kismet.conf

Well I hope that someone here can give me an answer.

Thanks in advance

-Tommy

[terminal86]

Hey tommy,

Ehh...I am not totally sure about the version, but I am pretty sure it was Back Track 3 Final. I downloaded it from the main download page at remote-exploit.org

Yeah i supposed u use bt3f , my question was about if its the life cd, vmware, or usb.
But for now, that doesn't care.

So from here it looks like wlan0 is working, but from my point of view it doesn't.

What do you mean? The wlan0 interface is running, so whats your problem?
Connect to your network and you will see if its working.

For kismet , you have to do some configuration.
Search for it here on the forums, there are some good threads about it.
Hint: You have to do something like that in the cfg:

source=ipw3945,wlan0,ipw3945

But make sure you are using your drivers.

greez

[imported_=Tron=]

As terminal86 is pointing out, there seems to be no reason to assume that your card isn't working. The source you will need to specify in kismet.conf in order for kismet to work is the following:

source=rt8180,wlan0,ALFA

[stacksmasher]

I was wondering if someone could post a tutorial for the AWUS036H, it seems like a bunch of people are usig this card with BT3 but it is hard to get up and running. Its not like the built in Atherous card that worked out of the box.

Thanks

[tbrueland]

Thanks both terminal86 and =Tron=,

I use the live cd. It also looked to me that the network card has started/is working, but it was the kismet info that made me unsure. But thanks a lot for the info about the configuration of the kismet.conf...I really preciate it. I will check it out later, and thanks again

-Tommy

[tbrueland]

I got it working!! Thanks all...

But I have a couple of questions...Where I am sitting now there are three wireless networks. My own which use WEP, my first neighbour that use WPA2 and the third is my other neighbour that has as open network.

I know it is impossible to attach the WPA network, and the open network is of course attackable. But my own network...I have not connect to it now, and I am using kismet to check them out. How long does it take until kismet finds the essid to a WEP network? All I got until now is the router ip to the open network, and nothing else...and kismet has run now for about 25 minutes

Thanks in advance

-Tommy

[terminal86]

I got it working!! Thanks all...

Nice to hear that. Graz

I know it is impossible to attach the WPA network, and the open network is of course attackable.

In fact, it is not! But it is illegal to connect to someones else AP without his permission!!

How long does it take until kismet finds the essid to a WEP network?
All I got until now is the router ip to the open network, and nothing else...and kismet has run now for about 25 minutes

Well, if the SSID is not hidden, it should be shown as soon as you see the ap.

In fact the SSID is hidden:

Quote from another Thread:

Associating a client with AP will tell hidden ESSID in both airodump-ng & kismet window.some other tools you can use like mdk3.mdk3 will match the response it get from the AP(typically hidden ESSID will tell the ESSID length)and mdk3 matches the ESSID wordlist with the response thus brute forcing the hidden essid. nd also using wireshak,when a client is associating with AP then also you can get hidden essid.

So how can I retrieve my ESSID with no connected or connecting client?

You can't.

[imported_=Tron=]

I was wondering if someone could post a tutorial for the AWUS036H, it seems like a bunch of people are usig this card with BT3 but it is hard to get up and running. Its not like the built in Atherous card that worked out of the box.

Thanks

Well actually it is exactly the same, as it will work just fine out of the box in BT3F without any additional configuration.

How long does it take until kismet finds the essid to a WEP network? All I got until now is the router ip to the open network, and nothing else...and kismet has run now for about 25 minutes

It will not be found by kismet until another client connects to the AP wirelessly using the correct ESSID. Another approach would be to bruteforce the ESSID using MDK3, but this normally a very time consuming approach.