802.11 Recommended USB Wireless Cards for Kali Linux
NEW UPDATED PAGE
Best WiFi Adapters for Kali Linux
This post lists some of the best performing, supported and recommended USB Wireless Cards for Kali Linux.
There isn’t a “best” card. There is whatever is right for YOU.
Following recommended USB Wireless cards appears to be working for Kali Linux (i.e. monitor, injection etc.)
*Note* These are not in any type of order *Note*
A common problem in pentest distro such as Kali or BackTrack Linux is when users trying to use a card which is not supported or there just isn’t a supported driver. Most of the following cards are priced below $50USD and they take care of a massive headache and saves time to troubleshoot driver issues rather than investing time to actually do something. With each update these makeshift fixes seems to break old drivers and you end up doing the whole thing again and again.
A good card will allow you to crack Wifi on the fly or at least make it easier. Some examples are:
- Cracking WPA WPA2 with Hashcat on Kali Linux (BruteForce MASK based attack on Wifi passwords)
- Cracking MD5, phpBB, MySQL and SHA1 passwords with Hashcat, cudaHashcat, oclHashcat on Kali Linux
- Cracking Wifi WPA/WPA2 passwords using pyrit cowpatty on Kali Linux
This whole drama goes away when you get one of the recommended usb wireless cards. Then again, I got few different Wifi cards and I managed to make all of them work with Kali Linux including injection and monitor mode etc. It really depends on the user and type of card. This guide will possibly help someone who just got an unsupported card and/or tired of wasting time troubleshooting existing card and would rather spend some $$ to have this problem go away once and for all. This post is again adapted from none other than g0tmi1k’s post in Kali forums.
POST UPDATED:
28/03/2014 – Added Linksys WUSB54GC v1 Compact Wireless-G USB Adapter to recommended list.
12/01/2015 – Added Alfa RangeBooster Antenna’s and classic AWUS036H adapters (1000mW and 2000mW) to recommended list. See List of Nethunter supported devices here.
23/04/2015 – Added a poll. Please vote (you don’t need to register) so that readers can find the best card quickly.
[poll id=”2″]
2.4GHz Adapters
Rokland N3
~ https://store.rokland.com/products/th…b-for-macs-pcs
- Ralink RT3070 ~ https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Rokland_n3
- 700 mW
- Detachable antenna (RP-SMA)
- IEEE 802.11b/g/n
- 150Mbps
- WEP, WPA/WPA2, WPS
- USB 2.0
Alfa AWUS036NHA
~ https://www.alfa.com.tw/products_show.php?pc=34&ps=20
- Atheros AR9271 ~ https://wikidevi.com/wiki/ALFA_Network_AWUS036NHA
- ~800 mW (29dBm)
- Detachable antenna (RP-SMA)
- IEEE 802.11b/g/n
- 150Mbps
- WEP, WPA/WPA2, WPS
- USB 2.0
Alfa AWUS036H High power 1000mW 1W 802.11b/g and Alfa AWUS036NH 2000mW 2W 802.11g/n
~ https://www.alfa.com.tw/products_show.php?pc=34&ps=20
1000mW is priced at 39.99$ at Amazon
2000mW is priced at 39.99$ at Amazon
- Atheros AR9271 ~ https://wikidevi.com/wiki/ALFA_Network_AWUS036NHA
- ~800 mW (29dBm)
- Detachable antenna (RP-SMA)
- IEEE 802.11b/g/n
- 150Mbps
- WEP, WPA/WPA2, WPS
- USB 2.0
TP-Link WN722N
~ https://uk.tp-link.com/products/detai…TL-WN722N#spec
- Atheros AR9002U ~ https://wikidevi.com/wiki/TP-LINK_TL-WN722N
- 500 mW ?
- Detachable antenna (RP-SMA)
- IEEE 802.11b/g/n
- 150Mbps
- WEP, WPA/WPA2, WPS
- USB 2.0
Linksys WUSB54GC v1
~ https://support.linksys.com/en-us/support/adapters/WUSB54GC
- Chipset: Ralink 2573 USB ~ https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Linksys_WUSB54GC_v1
- Driver: rt73usb
- IEEE 802.11b/g
- 150Mbps
- WEP, WPA/WPA2, WPS
- USB 2.0
- Stack: mac80211
- Injection: Yes
- See discussion here:
5GHz (& 2.4GHz) Adapters
Rosewill RNX-N600UBE
~ https://www.rosewill.com/products/182…ifications.htm
Ralink RT3572 ~ https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Rosewill_RNX-N600UBE100 mW ?Detachable antenna (SMA)IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n300MbpsWEP, WPA/WPA2, WPSUSB 2.0Update: Taken from a comment of ‘Proper Gander’ /
I should add that the Rosewill RNX-N600UBEs they’re selling at Amazon come with Ralink 5572s now so someone looking for a plug-and-play option will be disappointed, and frustrated, and praying that someone will see this comment on a half-year old article and give them a little help. Comment: So unless someone else can verify that Ralink RT3572 was replaced by Ralink 5572, I am marking Rosewill RNX-N600UBE incompatible. WiFi Booster Antenna’s
Alfa 9dBi WiFi Booster SMA OMNI-Directional High-Gain Screw-On Swivel Antenna
- 802.11 b /g and “N”, 2000mW of power which is more powerful than ANY other WiFi adapter on the market
- Includes a 4 inch 5 DdBi Screw-On Swivel Rubber Antenna that can be removed and upgrade up to 9dBi
- Very Secure with wireless data encryption with 64/128-bit WEP, WPA, WPA2, TKIP,and AES and is Compatible with IEEE 802.11n
- Supports driver for Windows 2000, XP 32/64, Vista 32/64, Windows 7, Linux (2.4.x/2.6.x),and Mac (10.4.x/10.5.x)
- The Mount designed for easy clinging on Notebook, Netbook and Window.
Alfa 9dBi WiFi Booster SMA OMNI-Directional High-Gain Screw-On Swivel Antenna With magnetic base
- This Antenna is original Alfa brand – the most trusted nome in network range
- Fits all routers access points VOIP devices and PCI cards with an RP-SMA connection
- No aiming required – Omni-directional with +9 dB gain
- Replaces Factory Standard Antenna and Boosts the Range of your Router as much as 4x
- RP-SMA male connector 90 degree joining near base Length: 14.75-inches (approximate)
- WUS036H, WUS036H1W, APA05, WUS036NH, WUS036NEH, WUS048NH, WUS036EW, WUS051NH
Other useful links
- https://www.aircrack-ng.org/doku.php?id=install_drivers
- https://aircrack-ng.blogspot.co.uk/20…tbook-for.html
If you have a different card feel free to share here which will probably help another user someday.
“No responsibility is taken for the correctness of this information.” == Double check before purchasing.
Conclusion
While these are the tested adapters and comes most recommended, manufacturers always change chipsets and it is simply impossible for to me keep this list up-to-date (on top of running this site alone). I strongly suggest you read the chipset info before purchasing.
Read the comments section below for more users experience and if you have any suggestions/recommendations, let me know. I can’t promise I will add everything, but at least the next user/reader will have some useful info to read and make an informed and better decision. Comments doesn’t require registration or validity, so feel free.
Followings guides will surely keep you busy for few days. I suggest looking around in Kali forums and generally Google/DuckDuckGo for more interesting stuffs.
Cracking Wifi WPA/WPA2 passwords
- Cracking Wifi WPA/WPA2 passwords using pyrit cowpatty
- Cracking Wireless WPA2 WPA passwords with Hashcat
- Cracking Wifi WPA/WPA2 passwords using Reaver-WPS
Cracking password hashes
DOS/DDOS attacks
Metasploit related
SQLMap and Google Dorks
Discover more from blackMORE Ops
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65 comments
To be fair to people new to Linux :- half the crap on Linux won’t work for you and it IS completely normal – this is a little secret that the open source community doesn’t want you to spead around because it hurts their cause. If you’re close to shooting your computer than stay away from anything Linuxy.
Hi blackMORE Ops,
I bought CNet Wireless-N PicoUSB Dongle CQU-906. I see it also uses Realtek 802.11n NIC. I was trying to perform airodump but keeps on giving me these error:
n180211 not found.
Interface mon0
ioctl(SIOCGIFINDEX) failed: No such device
can you help and advice if there is something I missed? the info of usb wireless is here: https://www.cnet.com/products/wireless-n-picousb-dongle-cqu-906-network-adapter/
Does all of these can Do Inject and monitor?
I want that can do Inject and monitor along that must be using b/g/n too??
Help me finding capable one.
Would this updated version of the TP-Link WN722N (2.4GHz)
Link below work?
https://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Archer-T2UH-Wireless-Supports/dp/B00UZRVY12/ref=dp_ob_title_ce
SIr I have a Dell laptop it has inbuilt wifi modem do we require the above stuff(connectors
)
You could always install and try. There’s no harm doing that. Cheers,
-BMO
i using wn722n. and so hard to get wpa handshake cause poor connection on it.. please help me.. even compared with build wifi card it more than worse.. Sorry for my bad English.. Thanks
TRENDnet presented: The Tiny Wireless USB Adapter (Model TBW-106UB) Wireless Bluetooth equipment for example mobile devices, keyboards as well as headsets. How big a penny, merely put this kind of micro-device in to a available USB slot on the notebook or maybe desktop as well as encounter exceptional Wireless online connectivity.
I realize this is a fairly dated post but pentesting will always be around so I wanted to let people know that I managed to use a netgear wg111v2 usb stick with reaver successfully.
what about the alfa AWUs051NH that can do 5GHz (& 2.4GHz)
hi sir
i have a question ?
is geetek hercules good or not ?
my friend tested it and get cool resault so if it is good why isnt here?
it have packet injection and 2 9dbi antenna ?
Can use asus adpter in kali?
I need to purchase a good wireless network adapter for Kali pen testing but dont know which one to go for. I am using a windows 10 PC, any recommendations?
Can someone confirm that the TP-WN722N is still capable of injection? Want to try that out.
Yup, can confirm :) What makes you wonder if its “still” capable?
TP-LINK WN722N V2 is now only available in the market.It is no longer using atheros chipset.the new version comes with RTL8188EU which doesnot have a proper driver for linux..
I have ordered 10+ TP-Link WN722N wifi adapters over the last ~3 months and ALL are BRAND NEW in the sealed box which ALL of them are “v1.0″….. Four of them were from completely seperate vendors on Amazon (I even removed the plastic housing to read the actual chip to confirm) and the other 6 I bought at my local “Micro-Center” which even if you do not live by a “Micro-Center” just order one from their website which they usually ship 2 day and ALL of the TL-WN722N’s they sell are V1.0 aka “the Atheros AR9271 802.11n monitor mode capable $14.99 brand new” decent wifi dongle for the price… It works PERFECTLY on my Raspberry pi 3, raspberry pi zero, OnePlus One OG first gen 64gb running the newest version of Nethunter, and on my Macbook pro reteina 2015 model running dual boot with Mac OSX Sierra (which antenna I have never cared or tried to use it running any version of OSX) but I have it dual boot with Kali Linux on half of the partitioned EFI hard drive which it works PERFECT!
My ALL TIME FAVORITE WIFI ANTENNA (which is yes some may say OLD as it can only run b/g) is my Alfa AWUS036H… I have EVERY Alfa antenna that has been been since the AWUS036H and besides a Hak5 Pineapple…. the AWUS036H I have it working on ALL THE DEVICES LISTED ABOVE AS OF JULY 2017 without any special drivers or “mods”. I have experimented with pretty much every type of aftermarket antenna on the market along with many DIY “cantenna” type set up’s but honestly the signal strength either decreased or was nearly identical to the strength of using it’s OEM 5 dbi little black antenna. I have noticed MINIMAL power/signal increases from using a powered USB hub or OTG Y-cable charging cord to make sure it is not voltage deprived. Right now I simply can run “wifite” while letting each wifi dongle search for 2 minutes the results are 17 networks (half with signals in the low 30’s dbi or lower) using the TP-LINK and 73 NETWORKS with over half 45-50 dbi while the majority are higher including the strongest nearby network at 82 dbi!!!! Did I mention I live in a somewhat “rural” area? The old trust Alfa even thought it’s b/g speeds captures and cracks like a BOSS!
Moral of the post: Tp-Link is perfect in a urban or very populated area specifically attached to my Oneplus One’s case on the back side held on using industrial strength Velcro while walkng around a mall, store, and especially at the gym as a MITM. The Alfa AWUS036H is great for using a raspberry pi or the best a full blown high performance computer while you set up your “cracking” program(s) to run on autopilot headless or while you are using another computer (or before bed) while letting the NON STOP “cracking”…. I guarantee you will wake up or have MULTIPLE networks breached out of the large selection you choose from….
:) Happy hacking and LOVING BLACKMOREOPS since 2015 when I stumbled upon this site!!!
hi. is this device ALFA AWUS036ACH gonna be compatible kali linux
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TL-WN725N
recommended??