Hey everyone quick question.
I was wondering if dell laptops preferably "inspiron" werent compatible with "aircrack"? So i was reading a port on another forum and they were saying that alot of dell standerd wifi cards are "broadcom" and are not compatible. Is this true? And if so do i have to buy one? Because you suppose to get this message when you type (airodump)

"usage: airodump <nic index> <nic type> <channel(s)> <output prefix> [ivs only flag]

 Known network adapters:

 14  NETGEAR WG511T 54 Mbps Wireless PC Card
 22  NETGEAR WAG511 802.11a/b/g Dual Band Wireless PC Card

 Network interface index number  ->"

I dont get that message i just get the standerd message which is

"Airodump-ng 1.0 beta2 - (C) 2006,2007,2008 Thomas d'Otreppe
Original work: Christophe Devine
http://www.aircrack-ng.org

usage: airodump-ng <options> <interface>[,<interface>,...]

Options:
    --ivs               : Save only captured IVs
    --gpsd              : Use GPSd
    --write    <prefix> : Dump file prefix
    -w                  : same as --write
    --beacons           : Record all beacons in dump file
    --update     <secs> : Display update delay in seconds
    --showack           : Prints ack/cts/rts statistics
    -h                  : Hides known stations for --showack
    -f          <msecs> : Time in ms between hopping channels
    --berlin     <secs> : Time before removing the AP/client
                          from the screen when no more packets
                          are received (Default: 120 seconds).
    -r           <file> : Read packets from that file

Filter options:
    --encrypt   <suite> : Filter APs by cipher suite
    --netmask <netmask> : Filter APs by mask
    --bssid     <bssid> : Filter APs by BSSID
    -a                  : Filter unassociated clients

By default, airodump-ng hop on 2.4Ghz channels.
You can make it capture on other/specific channel(s) by using:
    --channel <channels>: Capture on specific channels
    --band <abg>        : Band on which airodump-ng should hop
    --cswitch  <method> : Set channel switching method
                  0     : FIFO (default)
                  1     : Round Robin
                  2     : Hop on last
    -s                  : same as --cswitch

    --help              : Displays this usage screen"


does this mean my card isnt compatible?

Yes you are correct and your on board wifi is not compatible. Thats been my experience with the Inspiron laptops. Interestingly the Acer laptops with the atheros chip works fine. But that doesnt really matter because unless you are very near the router you are trying to crack, onboard wifi usually doesn't have the range that you need. You might be able to collect IVs but you will find you cant inject unless you are  very near. You need to get a card that can connect to an antenna so you can do your wifi audit  in the same manner as a hacker-cracker, which might be from a car in the parking lot,etc.. Usually I will audit from inside and outside the facility just to have a complete picture for the client.