I wanted to play with this for a long time, since i was looking for a good packet-injecting wireless adapter (mine can’t do that). It is probably the most recommended usb adapter for doing fun wireless stuff. Now, i finally got it! Ok, not me personally, but the school got it, but it’s almost the same for me. They got it from here , if you were wondering.
Some specs:
Adapter:
Transfer rate: 150 MBytes/s
IEEE 802.11b/g/n:
Transmit power: 2000 W
Frequency band: 2.4 GHz
Chipset: RTL8188RU
Antenna:
Frequency band: 2.4 GHz
Plug (male): RP-SMA
Antenna gain: 5 dBi
Voltage: 5 V
Output
802.11b: 32 dBm
802.11n (HT20): 32 dBm
802.11n (HT40): 33 dBm
Sensitivity
11b: -92dBm; -76dBm
11n: -73 dBm @ HT20; -70dBm @ HT40
Here’s what dmesg tells me when i plugged in:
[ 9013.188139] usb 1-4: new high-speed USB device number 4 using ehci_hcd
[ 9013.956147] cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
[ 9014.211122] rtl8192cu: MAC address: 00:c0:ca:66:0d:9a
[ 9014.211129] rtl8192cu: Board Type 1
[ 9014.308757] rtlwifi: rx_max_size 15360, rx_urb_num 8, in_ep 1
[ 9014.308771] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2412 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.308781] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.308787] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2417 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.308794] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.308800] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2422 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.308807] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.308812] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2427 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.308819] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.308825] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2432 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.308832] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.308837] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2437 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.308844] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.308849] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2442 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.308856] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.308862] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2447 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.308869] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.308874] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2452 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.308881] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.308887] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2457 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.308894] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.308899] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2462 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.308906] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.308912] cfg80211: Disabling freq 2467 MHz as custom regd has no rule that fits a 20 MHz wide channel
[ 9014.308918] cfg80211: Disabling freq 2472 MHz as custom regd has no rule that fits a 20 MHz wide channel
[ 9014.308923] cfg80211: Disabling freq 2484 MHz as custom regd has no rule that fits a 20 MHz wide channel
[ 9014.308938] cfg80211: Pending regulatory request, waiting for it to be processed…
[ 9014.309053] cfg80211: Ignoring regulatory request Set by core since the driver uses its own custom regulatory domain
[ 9014.310060] ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm ‘rtl_rc’
[ 9014.313829] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8192cu
[ 9014.404409] cfg80211: Ignoring regulatory request Set by core since the driver uses its own custom regulatory domain
[ 9014.404419] cfg80211: World regulatory domain updated:
[ 9014.404424] cfg80211: (start_freq – end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp)
[ 9014.404432] cfg80211: (2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.404440] cfg80211: (2457000 KHz – 2482000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.404447] cfg80211: (2474000 KHz – 2494000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.404453] cfg80211: (5170000 KHz – 5250000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.404460] cfg80211: (5735000 KHz – 5835000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.404481] cfg80211: Calling CRDA for country: US
[ 9014.460268] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2412 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.460272] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2700 mBm)
[ 9014.460275] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2417 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.460278] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2700 mBm)
[ 9014.460280] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2422 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.460282] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2700 mBm)
[ 9014.460284] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2427 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.460286] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2700 mBm)
[ 9014.460288] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2432 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.460290] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2700 mBm)
[ 9014.460292] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2437 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.460295] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2700 mBm)
[ 9014.460296] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2442 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.460299] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2700 mBm)
[ 9014.460301] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2447 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.460303] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2700 mBm)
[ 9014.460305] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2452 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.460307] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2700 mBm)
[ 9014.460309] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2457 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.460311] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2700 mBm)
[ 9014.460313] cfg80211: Updating information on frequency 2462 MHz for a 20 MHz width channel with regulatory rule:
[ 9014.460315] cfg80211: 2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2700 mBm)
[ 9014.460317] cfg80211: Disabling freq 2467 MHz
[ 9014.460319] cfg80211: Disabling freq 2472 MHz
[ 9014.460320] cfg80211: Disabling freq 2484 MHz
[ 9014.460323] cfg80211: Regulatory domain changed to country: US
[ 9014.460325] cfg80211: (start_freq – end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp)
[ 9014.460327] cfg80211: (2402000 KHz – 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2700 mBm)
[ 9014.460329] cfg80211: (5170000 KHz – 5250000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 1700 mBm)
[ 9014.460331] cfg80211: (5250000 KHz – 5330000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.460333] cfg80211: (5490000 KHz – 5600000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.460335] cfg80211: (5650000 KHz – 5710000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 9014.460338] cfg80211: (5735000 KHz – 5835000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 3000 mBm)
[ 9014.733290] udevd[5598]: renamed network interface wlan0 to wlan2
[ 9014.774170] rtl8192cu: MAC auto ON okay!
[ 9014.822599] rtl8192cu: Tx queue select: 0x05
[ 9014.823617] rtl8192c_common: Loading firmware file rtlwifi/rtl8192cufw.bin
Strange thing – when i phisically disable my wireless (pushing the wireless button on my laptop), i get both my built-in adapter disabled (as it should) and my external one, the Alfa Adapter.
I tried some stuff with it, but i wasn’t that succesfull so far. I’ll be back with an update or another blogpost on a wardriving scheme i want to try with it.