The Alfa 500mw wireless USB adapter is known to many war drivers. At 500mw, the Alfa has 20 more Tx/Rx power than the Linksys WPC11 (25mw), 2.5 times more power than the Senao’s 200mw, and 1.67 times more power than the Zcomax 300mW and Ubiquiti 300mW. In addition to its high power, the Alfa contains the RTL8187L Realktek chipset, which is known to be great for capturing and injecting wireless packets via Aircrack.

Alfa 500mw Wireless Adapter at Amazon.com

Here’s a little test I did comparing a Zonet ZEW 2500p USB wireless adapter vs the Alfa 500mw USB wireless adapter. I couldn’t find the power rating on the Zonet, but I’m pretty sure its not more than 50mw. First, here’s a scan using airodump in channel hop mode.

The location was indoors on the first floor close to a backyard window. It didn’t surprise me that the Zonet ZEW2500p didn’t pick up much. Although it can capture and inject packets, this little wireless card just doesn’t have the range.

Up next is the Alfa AWUS036H 500mw USB wireless adapter results. This is with the included 2db antenna with the adapter sitting in the same spot as the Zonet.

Not bad, but not as good as expected. The strength to the unamed AP increased and one other AP was picked up. Let’s see what happens when we use a larger antenna. I had a Fontenna laying around, so I decided to try it out. The Fontenna is a 7db directional atenna made by Fon to pair with their La Fonera. However, the Fontenna uses an RP-SMA connector, so you can just about use the antenna with any other device that has the same connector. I then used double sided adhesive to attach it to the top of my window and connected it to the Alfa via RP-SMA connectors. Here are the results:

As you can see, I picked up a lot more APs than expected. I was even able to fake authenticate and associate with one of the APs that I couldn’t even see with the Zonet ZEW2500p. However, I recommend that you swap the stock 2db antenna with something a little stronger.

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