EH-Net

Hello everyone, I'm looking at buying a new laptop and I'm hoping to get a network adapter were it's possible to do packet injection. The problem is that this feature is rarely, if ever, written in the laptop specification. I know I could buy an external network adapter but I'd rather have a working on directly in the laptop. Can you guys guide me where I can find more information ?

Thank you

Hello exeglitch,

I would highly recommend the Alfa AWUS036H (http://www.amazon.com/Alfa-AWUS036H-802-11b-Wireless-Original/dp/B002BFMZR8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1324654882&sr=8-3) card. I have been using it for a couple years now and it's great. It is also one of the cards the Offensive Security WiFu (http://www.offensive-security.com/wifu-recommended-hardware/) recommends.

I agree I have that card and used it for OSWP and works fine.

Sometimes a laptop listing will show the wireless card installed in the laptop.  If not, you'll need to use your search engine of choice to find the wireless card, chipset, and driver used in a potential laptop you find.  After that, you can use the link below to determine the chipset/driver's capabilities (e.g. monitor, injection):

http://www.aircrack-ng.org/doku.php?id=compatibility_drivers&DokuWiki=77cc9f280179327f574dd55342e13fc2#compatibility

I know you said you'd rather have an internal card with the capabilities, but I'd reconsider xXxKrisxXx and Jamie.R's recommendations on using an Alfa card.  It's rather easy to setup using BackTrack.  I haven't used the card outside of BackTrack though, so I can't speak to that.

Thank you all for your prompt responses, I'll probably go with this Alfa card. I presume it will also work with my workstation, which is always a plus. The downside is that it's a little cumbersome if I carry it around with my laptop but I guess I can live with it.

Thank you =)

You could get a internal wifi card however the ones that work seem to be only G that's the problem I had when I was looking. I dont know if this still the case.

alfa makes a newer that can use 802.11N and has an atheros chipset the advantage the atheros chipset has is that it can go into master mode for EAP attacks the problem with the rtl8187 chipset is it can not go into mastermode to be used as a soft ap on modern linux kernels (regardless of the outdated label on the box it comes in) and it also can not use 802.11N so while yes you should use a alfa card use the AWUS036NHA not the U one both work out of the box with backtrack btw however for softap with the NHA you need hostapd from this repo http://ppa.launchpad.net/hermansson-per/ppa/ubuntu karmic and the proper config file not the hostapd in the lucid/backtrack 5 repos will not work

M new to networking and hacking field, i want wireles n/w adapter for packet injecting, pls tell me platform on which m wrking is compatible with BT5 and if so then pls suggest me wireless packet injector.

OS -> WIN7 home
My connection->  ADSL

http://www.aircrack-ng.org/doku.php?id=compatibility_drivers&DokuWiki=8bd546a5c894de8c3e189f340593bb1f#compatibility

I user an alfa card AWUS036NHA i think that the model number should work with backtrack out the box

You can run BT5 on Windows 7 home in a virtual environment such as VMware or VirtualBox.

Setting up BT5 in VirtualBox:

http://www.backtrack-linux.org/wiki/index.php/VirtualBox_Install
http://www.backtrack-linux.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-41023.html

I'd go with the AWUS036NHA too, but here are some other cards that are supported according to the BackTrack wiki:

http://www.backtrack-linux.org/wiki/index.php/Wireless_Drivers#Tested_and_working_cards

Yah I use my in vm at the moment and it works fine I think lot peeps use the alfa card too.

yep, the alpha is certainly the way to go.  USB and you can use different antennas.  Works well with Ekahau heatmapper too.

be sure to get the alfa card with the atheros chipset as atheros is the gold standard for wifi hacking it has the best compatibility with linux

Yeah I currently use a Alfa AWUS036H it works great. Here's a website that I purchased mine from <http://hakshop.myshopify.com/> when I got mine they had a cd compilation that came with the adapter for wifi hacks and all that.

the  Alfa AWUS036H has the shitty reltek chipset and can not do 802.11N so go for the  Alfa AWUS036NHA and the hakshop no longer sells the  Alfa AWUS036H they sell the NHA so regardless of what vivek will tell you it is shit go for the NHA

Alfas are good cards but they are not the only game in town. check out this TP-Link card that Pwnie Express sells. http://pwnieexpress.com/products/tp-link-tl-wn722n-usb-adapter $29.00 802.11n does monitor, master and injection and has an external antenna connector. The best part is it's a stick so I don't have to get all funky with the wire ties or velcro to strap an Alfa to my tablet when I'm warwalking.

i haven't tested these cards but it seems those cards are compatible:
www.raymond.cc/blog/best-compatible-usb-wireless-adapter-for-backtrack-5-and-aircrack-ng/.

Having used both internal and external cards, I tend to recommend the external ones. They tend to get better range over the internals. Mostly due to antenna. I could take my laptop apart and run some cable to make a bigger antenna but that's more work than I want to do.

While Jinwald12 doesn't seem to like the AWUS036H, I have had no problem with mine. It was the standard for a long time for wireless hacking, since it could do the packet injection.

If you're looking for a laptop and you're checking them out at the store, take a copy of BackTrack with you, reboot and try airmon's injection test see if it works or not.

You'd be surprised at how fast people working at the store want to help you out when you say you're a security professional and want to see if the hardware will work with your hacking tools.

++1  (only, instead of without, he meant 'with you')

Don't get the H it does not support 802.11N or many advanced features that is why the Hakshop no longer sells it they now sell the NHA which is far superior DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT GET the H

N is backward compatible with B/G, which the H will support. you won't get the range. Yes you're better off getting something new, that has made a compatablity list, but the older stuff could be cheaper, and for learning / lab use that would be fine.

 Real world. get the new shiny if it going to do what you want it to do. That said, I'm still using the IBM (yes says ibm not lenovo) T60 I bought in 2007 (granted i've done a cpu swap and upgraded the memory). 32bit processor works nice.

Nice catch. I was typing quick at work. :)