Deluxe Net Hugger

Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2012 3:21 am

I have been using an Alfa AWUS036NH wifi networking card for wardriving for the past 6 months or so with satisfactory results, however I became curious about how it stacks up against Alfa's other products, and since they are not prohibitively expensive, I also purchased an AWUS036H and an AWUS036NHR to run some tests & hopefully improve my wardriving results. I did not purchase an AWUS036NHA because the site where I purchase my cards seemed wary of its Linux support. (*REVISION*: I have since acquired an NHA. Test results are in a post below dated March 17, 2013.) I drove all three cards over the same route. Unfortunately, I could not control for passing wifi-enabled smartphones. Hopefully, someone will find the results informative.
My rig: ASUS EeePC running Kismet on BackTrack Linux R3 with FAB corp. mag-mount antenna and BU-353 GPS dongle. I left the built-in card on the EeePC running also, but since it's down in the body of the car, I don't think it will effect the results very much.
The results (in the order I ran them):
AWUS036NH: 977 networks seen
AWUS036H: 1017 networks seen
AWUS036NHR: 244 networks seen
Just for kicks I then ran the AWUS036NH and AWUS036H at the same time using a cheap antenna on the AWUS036NH: 1112 networks seen.
Obviously, the results for the NHR were disapointing, especially since the buzz on the net seems to be that it's a better card than the H. I figured that the Linux drivers for the NHR weren't working, and that the results were only those APs seen by the EeePC's built in card. I spent some time trying to compile the drivers, without success. Apparently the sources available are for kernels older than the 3.2 version in BT5R3. I may get around to trying again.
So I dug out my Windows laptop and installed the drivers supplied by Alfa and the BU-353 drivers. I installed Netstumbler. The GPS refused to work on the Windows machine (it was plug and play on Linux, which is FREE). After switching the BU-353 from SiRF to NMEA mode, I got it to work. Netstumbler STILL refused to recognize the Alfa card or the GPS. Hmmm, it seems Netstumbler hasn't been updated since 2005. Install InSSIDer. InSSIDer recognizes the Alfa card, but not the GPS. Dear Google, what is going on? It seems that the BU-353's own test software, which I used to verify that it was working, 'locks up' the GPS and won't share the results with other programs. Restart. InSSIDer now recognizes the Alfa card and the GPS. Woohoo! I drive the same route as before, substituting only the Windows laptop and InSSIDer for the BT5R3 EeePc and Kismet.
Results? 302 networks seen.
I have sent an e-mail to Alfa asking them to check whether my AWUS036NHR is counterfeit.

Last edited by bigstape on Mon Mar 18, 2013 2:03 am, edited 2 times in total.

I've been outside the box. There's a bigger box.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and eventually you will run out of fish.