Out-of-the-box test of Multiple USB WLAN adapters

[DonJoe]

OS:
- BT4 final and BT4 R1 (on bootable USB)
- all drivers out-of-the-box, no extra drivers installed

Tools:
- Wepbuster
- Grim WEPA 1.10 alpha 6 (installed)

AP/Router:
- Topcom webracer 1004
- Linksys WAG325N

Encryption: WEP 64bit

Attack methods
- arp-replay
- chop-chop
- fragmentation
- cafe-latte
- p0841


(can't seem to find a decent way to insert a table, so I'll attach an image) Rightclick "view image" for full size

Hope that helps anyone looking for an adapter.

EDIT:
20/9: added both TP-Link version nrs, layout changes
22/9: added adapter Netgear WG111v2 (just got in) and what a contender!
20/11: added Asus WL-167G and TP-link WN312G adapter, totalling 12 now. Moved to a scale for the support.

[lupin]

Nice work.

A slightly bigger picture might be nice... that one is unreadable for me, even when I save it to disk and use a picture viewing app to zoom in.

[nicmav]

cant read nothing .!

[DonJoe]

A slightly bigger picture might be nice... that one is unreadable for me, even when I save it to disk and use a picture viewing app to zoom in.

Weird... the original image was a 1000x400 pixels GIF, but when uploading the system made it into a tiny JPG.
This time, I converted the GIF to a JPG before uploading, and that seems to work better.

[Archangel-Amael]

Yeah the forums picture rule may be tough, but it keeps the overall size down.
You can also link to larger ones from a picture hosting service. Many are free.
This can give others the chance also to download if the so wanted and or change the size.

[Snayler]

Nice work! Just some things you should change:

- AWUS036H has a RTL8187L chipset, instead of RTL8187B;
- Linksys WUSB300N has a TOPDOG chipset, from Marvell (Info taken from here);
- There are two versions of TP-Link WN422G, the v.1 which has a ZD1211B chipset and the v.2 with the Atheros AR9271;
- Google says that the TP-Link WN722N also has a Atheros AR9271.

Thanks for sharing.

[DonJoe]

I tried to determine the chipset with these (off the top of my head): dmesg, iwconfig, airmon-ng and lsusb. One of them gave me a result which I wrote down.
I just didn't want to copy someone else's findings (wouldn't add anything right?), I only wanted to state what I found.
Maybe I'm not using the right commands, happy to receive any other recommendations though.

Nice work! Just some things you should change:

- AWUS036H has a RTL8187L chipset, instead of RTL8187B;

Expected RTL8187L (because I looked it up before I bought it, wanted one with this chipset) but I couldn't verify this - got this string back, don't remember from which command though.

- Linksys WUSB300N has a TOPDOG chipset, from Marvell (Info taken from here);

Actually I cannot check this one, as it is out on a loaner now. I'll come back to this one once I get my stuff back

- There are two versions of TP-Link WN422G, the v.1 which has a ZD1211B chipset and the v.2 with the Atheros AR9271;

Any idea how I can tell them apart (visually)? I cannot see any marking of a version on the device anywhere.... Softwarewise, I just got "Atheros"

- Google says that the TP-Link WN722N also has a Atheros AR9271.

lsusb (I think) just gave me "Atheros" and since it is not supported, the other commands didn't give me anything.

Thanks for the input! If you could give me some hints on which command to use to determine the chipset better (especially for the non-supported ones), I could improve the table further.

Yeah the forums picture rule may be tough, but it keeps the overall size down.
You can also link to larger ones from a picture hosting service. Many are free.
This can give others the chance also to download if the so wanted and or change the size.

Is the picture not clear enough now? If not, I'll check out what you suggested and host it externally.

You can also link to larger ones from a picture hosting service. Many are free.
This can give others the chance also to download if the so wanted and or change the size.

Done!

Since it is resized by the forum, thought that it would make it "clickable" to see the full-res, but no. So if you want to see the full-res (just 20KB GIF): rightclick and "view image" (or equivalent, this is the option in Firefox).

[Snayler]

Any idea how I can tell them apart (visually)? I cannot see any marking of a version on the device anywhere.... Softwarewise, I just got "Atheros"

The only way is to open the device. There's a sticker inside, on the black part. Mine says:

MODEL:TL-WN422G  VER:1.2
MO:0####9

Thanks for the input! If you could give me some hints on which command to use to determine the chipset better (especially for the non-supported ones), I could improve the table further.

IMHO, the best way to determine the chipset is to crack the device open and see the inscription on the chip. (e.g. My TL-WN422G says Atheros AR2524 [a.k.a. AR5007UG, AR5524 and ZD1211B])

[DonJoe]

The only way is to open the device. There's a sticker inside, on the black part. Mine says:

MODEL:TL-WN422G  VER:1.2
MO:0####9

Found out in the meantime (waiting for the mod's to process my message) that the number is also on the sticker on the box. So mine is the v2.4 - I updated the table already now.

IMHO, the best way to determine the chipset is to crack the device open and see the inscription on the chip. (e.g. My TL-WN422G says Atheros AR2524 [a.k.a. AR5007UG, AR5524 and ZD1211B])

Ouch, I was hoping for a less invasive - software - solution.....

good job, looks like you had some failures there - I know personally with the alfa AWUS036NH you just have to use the rt2800usb drivers ... u mention it has the best range, but no actual results. obviously this was out-of-the box test, it's pretty easy steps if u did try with rt2x00 drivers from compat-wireless. muts' post has info on howto do it. (yes, that post is for BT4 R1, the compat wireless steps are the same for BT4final tho)

Well, my idea was to test out-of-the-box support. I thought to give some info for people who didn't feel like fiddling with installing extra drivers etc. For me, I use BT4 on a non-persistent USB stick, so I would need then to install the drivers every time. So therefore out-of-the-box support is important for me.

just a thought, wonder what the difference on each adapter's performance as compared between your results on BT4 and BT4 R1?

Definately something on my to-do list: repeat the test for BT4 R1. Not performance-wise (didn't really test it now either) but to see if more adapters are supported (the RT2870 I hope?).

[DonJoe]

Just got another adapter in: the Netgear WG111v2. Found it on eBay, new, for a mere 18 euro's (well 15 GBP actually)

And to the contrary what is said here you don't need to look at the serials to determine the version: it is printed very clearly on the side of the adapter.

But the list is right: a very well supported RTL8187L, which I found so far only on the popular (but expensive) Alfa AWUS036H. Granted, no great reception either (no external antenna), but for that price, you should get one anyway..... arp-replay, fragmentation, chop-chop, .... it all worked right away, and fast.

I found that the device runs quite hot though. Hotter then it's chipset-brother Alfa.

(now if only I could change the title of my post to 10 )