This list review the best kali Linux WIFI adapter Depending on the chipset.
People seem to get confused when we talk about kali WIFI adapter and wireless cards, they don’t know what they are, why do we need them and how to select the right one because there is so many brands. The thing is not every WiFi card support Monitor mode, and packet injection, that’s why we created this Kali Linux wifi adapter list .
- The best WiFi adapter for Kali Linux
- Dual band (2.4GHz & 5.0GHz) WIFI adapters
- Single band 2.4GHz WiFi adapters
- Kali Linux compatible Internal WIFI laptop adapters
| IMAGE | NAME | FEATURES | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Alfa AWUS1900 |
| Check Price |
 | Alfa AWUS036ACH |
| Check Price |
 | TRENDnet AC1900 |
| Check Price |
 | TP-Link TL-WN722N |
| Check Price |
 | TP-Link AC1900 Archer T9UH |
| Check Price |
 | Alfa AWUS036NHA |
| Check Price |
The best WiFi adapter for Kali Linux As has been said many times, there is no “Best WiFi adapter” Sometimes you need to work quietly and we need a tiny WiFi adapter, sometimes we work in the “concrete jungle” and we need the most powerful and most sensitive device with large antennas.
Some of us live in areas where there is an abundance of 5.0GHz ac Access Points, but in some places, there are simply no Access Points on 5.0GHz. Someone can easily afford to spend 50 bucks, and someone is looking for cheap adapters in the secondary market.
Our tasks are different, our environment is different and the best usb wifi adapter for kali Linux for us will also be different devices. But there are rules that work well:
- Adapters with large external antennas are usually more sensitive and powerful (this is important)
- alfa wifi adapter are a good choice for most.
Why you need a USB wifi adapter for kali Linux?
A USB wireless adapter is a device that you connect to your computer through a usb port and it allows you to communicate with other devices over wifi so you can use it to connect to wireless networks and communicate with other computers that use wi-fi,
now you may say that your laptop already has this and yes that’s correct most laptops and most phones already have this built-in but there’s two problems with that though
- The first problem is you can’t access built-in wireless adapters through kali if it’s installed as a virtual machine
- The second problem and the most important problem is the fact that these built-in wireless adapters are not good for hacking
so even if you install kali Linux as a main machine and then you’ll have access to your built-in wireless card but still you won’t to be able to use this wireless adapter for hacking because it doesn’t support monitor mode or packet injection.
So, if you want to be able to use it to wifi audit and do all the cool stuff that we can do in kali Linux with aircrack-ng and other tools you need to get a kali Linux usb wifi adapter.
Depending on the selected chipset, there may be nuances. The Realtek chipset has problems (solved) when attacking WPS, and the Atheros chipset seems to be incapable of capturing PMKID.
Wrong: at least Alfa AWUS036NHA (chipset: Atheros AR9271) can catch PMKID (for attacks on Access Points without clients, Learn about these attacks here).
Here is a large list of monitor mode wifi adapter and wireless adapter capable of injection.
With any of these models, you can grab a handshake and perform most of the wireless attacks.
In addition to the monitor mode and wireless injections, in some attacks, the WiFi adapter also requires AP mode and support for virtual wireless interfaces. See the article “ How to determine which WiFi adapter is suitable for Kali Linux ” for details.
If you purchased a dual-band (2.4GHz & 5.0GHz) adapter, you need to install the rtl8812au driver, to do this please follow this tutorial: how to Install rtl8812au Drivers on Kali Linux
RTL8812AU and RTL8814AU
The difference between RTL8812AU and RTL8814AU chipsets in the ability to support a different number of antennas.
- RTL8812AU support up to 2 antennas,
- Realtek RTL8814AU supports up to 4 antennas.
In some cases, depending on the circuit design of the device manufacturer or firmware, one antenna can be used only for transmission, and the other only for reception. Also, some devices work only in one range of choice, others – in two ranges simultaneously. This also needs to be considered when purchasing devices.
Some manufacturers, for example, Alfa AWUS036ACH , Alfa AWUS1900 , TRENDnet TEW-809UB , use additional chips (for example, signal amplifiers) and may have other nice features.
For those who decide to save money and buy products on sites like AliExpress on the above-mentioned chipsets. Antennas can be 2, 4 or even more, but very important for these 2.4/5.0 GHz chipsets is also MIMO, which, when using multiple antennas, increases the chance of capturing a handshake and is also crucial for achieving maximum transmission speeds data under normal use.
But, unfortunately, Chinese manufacturers often multiplex antennas instead of MIMO or simply place non-connected antennas.
So let’s see what’s the best wifi adapter for kali Linux in our monitor mode wifi adapter list and lets start with dual band.
Dual Band (2.4GHz & 5.0GHz) WIFI 802.11a/b/g/n/ac USB Adapters
Our Pick
Alfa AWUS1900
Advantages:
- excellent manufacturer
- No locked functions
- interchangeable antennas
- Modern RTL8814AU chip
Disadvantages:
- unfinished driver for Windows
- usb-wire is rather short
Feedback:
The main advantage is the Taiwanese manufacturer Alfa and its usual advantages: nothing is blocked, strong assembly, orientation to the connection, and not design, like that of a fellow on the chip from Asus or D-Link. The RTL8814AU chip is a successful design, with which additional antennas are only a plus. That is, at the hardware level, everything is fine, but at the driver level – under Windows and MacOS, the native one is available, that is, it is not Alfa that provides it, but Realtek itself. And this driver is terrible.
The driver loses the signal, can “forget” about the 5-gigarz channels, disconnects, does not provide stable quality, forgets to switch communication modes, “shits” into the RAM, with loads like torrents it can simply be cut off. If this happens, try resetting the driver in the device manager,
Under MacOS, the driver is much better. And under Linux, several are being developed at once, and nowhere are there any problems with Windows. However, on all OSs, AWUS1900 can decide that it is connected to USB2.0, even if the wire is in USB3.0. According to the site, the adapter should automatically switch modes depending on which port is inserted, and it works every other time. Perhaps in the following revisions this will be fixed.
Alfa AWUS1900 is the best monitor mode WiFi adapter in our list
Our Pick
Alfa AWUS036ACH
- Excellent manufacturer
- No locked functions
- interchangeable antennas
- RTL8812AU chip
- Stable pings
- Frequency Band:
- 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz
Alfa AWUS036ACH (chipset: Realtek RTL8812AU)
Advantages: Well, actually the most important plus is (!!!) Injection (!!!), but it supports it, and in Windows too. Power – you can pile as much as 2.5 watts. This adapter is also supported in CommView WiFi. Stable pings. You can tweak the simultaneous use of multiple access points.
Disadvantages: In terms of functionality, the RTL8812AU chipset does not support the 802.11ac standard a modern high-speed PIMO 4×4 mode, it is clearly inferior in sensitivity to the flagship model from Alfa Network AWUS1900, but still it’s one of the best wifi hacking adapter.
3- Alfa AWUS036AC (chipset: Realtek RTL8812AU) Get AWUS036AC from amazon
Advantages: Speed, signal stability, two ranges, 2 external antennas, docking station, USB 3.0.
Disadvantages: No significant deficiencies.
Comment: The five concrete walls for this whistle are not a hindrance. No problem got on Windows 7 and 8.1. Tested on 4 different devices.
From the merits imply disadvantages – size. When installed in USB on a straight line, bypassing the docking station takes up a lot of space: you will not plug anything into the next port. However, significant problems with portable use due to bulkiness was not observed.
Our Pick
TRENDnet TEW 809U
- WiFi standard: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
- Max. speed: 1300 Mbit/s
- USB 3.0 connection
- interchangeable antennas
- Chipset: Realtek RTL8814AU
- Frequency Band:
- 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz
Trendnet ac1200 dual band wireless usb adapter kali linux
The total bandwidth of the TrendNet TEW-809UB is 1900 Mbps (1300 Mbps in the 5 GHz band and 600 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band).
The presence of four antennas allows you to implement beam forming technology for a more confident connection. The TEW-809UB comes with a USB 3.0 cable length.
5- Panda Wireless PAU09 N600 (chipset: Ralink RT5572) Get PAU09 N600 from amazon
Panda wireless pau09 n600 is capable of switching to monitor mode and making wireless injections,The card supports several Linux distributions, as well as Windows. The wireless card has two 5dBi antennas to enhance the signal. Specifications
- Protocols: 802.11n
- Speed: 300Mpbs
- Chipset Ralink RT5572
- Frequencies: two 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands
- Two detachable 5dBi antennas
6- ASUS USB-AC68 (chipset: Realtek RTL8814AU) Get USB AC68 from amazon
asus usb-ac68 review
- Wireless standard: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, frequency 2.4/5 GHz
- chipsets: asus usb ac68 use RTL8814AU
- Max speed: 1900 Mbps
- Connection interface: USB 3.0
Advantages: Modern characteristics of the adapter, as well as support for all the most popular advanced protocols. ASUS AiRadar beamforming technology. External swivel antenna with adjustable position. Special USB extension stand. Practicality. Design.
Disadvantages: Heating during active use. ~ 40 – 50 ° C is normal.
Comment: INTERNET SPEED Incoming connection 87.02 Mbit / s = 10.88 MB / s Outgoing connection 86.63 Mbit / s = 10.83 MB / s with OnLime 100 MB / s
Our Pick
TP-Link TL-WN722N
- Chip: Atheros 9271
- Standards: 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n
- Frequency range: 2400-2483.5 MHz
- Transmitter power: 20 dBm
- Antenna : removable omnidirectional antenna (RP- SMA)
TP Link TL-WN722N
TP-liNK – model TL-WN722N v.1.0. The device has been produced for several years and in terms of technical characteristics, by current standards, it does not represent anything outstanding – the maximum wireless connection speed is only 150 Mbps. A feature of the model is the presence of an external removable antenna with a gain of 4 dBi, which, according to the manufacturer, can significantly increase the signal power.
7- ASUS USB-AC56 (chipset: Realtek RTL8812AU) Get USB AC56 from amazon
Advantages:
• Excellent design
• 2 WiFi frequency bands (2.4 GHz / 5 GHz)
• 802.11ac
• Beautiful cradle (docking station) included
Disadvantages:
5GHz constantly fall off.
Our Pick
TP-LINK Archer T9UH
- Frequency bands: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz;
- Four high gain antennas;
- Beamforming technology;
- WPS button
- Chip:RTL8814AU
TP-link Archer T9UH AC1900
The Archer T9UH is capable of operating in one of two bands: the 5 GHz channel is suitable for online games and HD video streaming, and the 2.4 GHz channel is suitable for surfing the Internet and video conferencing. The adapter provides data transfer rates up to 600 Mbps over 2.4 GHz and up to 1,300 Mbps over 5 GHz.
9- TP-LINK Archer T4UH (rev V2, chipset: Realtek RTL8812AU)Get Archer T4UH from amazon
10- TP-LINK Archer T4U (rev V3, chipset: Realtek RTL8812AU) Get Archer T4U from amazon
11- D-Link DWA-192 (chipset: Realtek RTL8814AU) Get DWA 192 from amazon
Advantages:
- The design is rather good than bad
- Excellent speed – squeezes everything my provider can give
- Never in half a year of use did you have to reboot – plugged in and forgot!
Comment: The home nonprofessional test showed that there are practically no noticeable differences in the actual data transfer rate between the mini-PCI-E adapter with a speed of 867 megabits and the DWA-192 with its 1300 megabytes. I admit, however, that the difference with other external adapters, and even more so the standard 802.11n, will be much more noticeable.
11- D-Link DWA-182 (rev C, chipset: Realtek RTL8812AU) Get DWA-182 from amazon
Advantages:
– No out-of-order diode.
– Relatively compact
– Supports USB 3.0 and 5 GHz (in my rev. C1A)
– Overheating has not yet hung up
Disadvantages:
– None of the drivers from D-link stably does not work
– There is no USB extension cable in the set (it would not hurt)
12- Edimax AC600 USB (chipset: Realtek RTL8811AU) Get AC600 USB from amazon
13- Netis WF2190 (chipset: Realtek RTL8812AU) Get Netis WF2190 from amazon
Advantages:
– AC speed
– Dual antenna signal
– USB 3
– USB extension
– removable antennas
Disadvantages:
Over 2 weeks of use, I did not find any problems.
Comment: Chip Realtek RTL8812AU.
14- TOTOLINK A2000UA (chipset: Realtek RTL8812AU) Get A2000UA from amazon
15- Tenda U12 (chipset: Realtek RTL8812AU) Get Tenda U12 from amazon
Advantages:
Performs all functions perfectly.
Disadvantages:
On Win10 without drivers it did not start, I had to install it.
Comment:
The speed does not sink, it looks decent, wifi at 5GHz catches instantly.
16- ZyXEL NWD6605 (chipset: Realtek RTL8812AU) Get NWD6605 from amazon
Single-band 2.4GHz Kali Linux WiFi adapters
Our Pick
Alfa AWUS036NHA
- WiFi standard: 802.11b/g/n.
- Chipset: Atheros AR9271 chipse
- Frequency Band:2.4 GHz
AWUS036NHA – is capable of supporting MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) – a method of spatial coding of a signal, allowing to increase the channel bandwidth in which data transmission and data reception are performed by systems from several antennas.
Alfa AWUS036NHA (chipset: Atheros AR9271)
One of the most knowen monitor mode wifi adapter is Alfa AWUS036NHA it’s a WiFi USB adapter that supports IEEE 802.11 b/g/N. Able to create networks with transmission speeds up to 150 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band, which is also compatible with IEEE 802.11 b/g for connecting wireless devices at speeds up to 54 Mbps.
ALFA AWUS036NHA is built on the atheros ar9271 chipset, the adapter does an excellent job with the functions of wardriving, testing for penetration of wireless networks and solving non-trivial tasks.
The ALFA 036NHA adapter works great with the Kali Linux operating system, ar9271chipset is one of the best chipset you can ever find.
21- Alfa AWUS036NH (chipset: Ralink RT3070) Get AWUS036NH from amazon
The Alfa AWUS 036NH is an Awus036 Series High-Power USB Client Amplifier designed for connection to access points located at a considerable distance from the connection point. Ten times more powerful than standard built-in computer adapters or handheld smartphones connected to a regular USB connector, this client can successfully work up to 1 km away. Alfa AWUS 036NH powerful WiFi router will provide a reliable signal in the network coverage area.
22- Alfa AWUS036NEH (chipset: Ralink RT3070) Get AWUS036NEH from amazon
Alfa AWUS036NEH 1000mW High-Performance WiFi High Gain Network Adapter
AWUS036NEH IEEE 802.11b / g / n.
The USB Wireless Adapter provides users with the ability to launch a 150Mbps IEEE 802.11b /g/n wireless network in the 2.4GHz band, which is also compatible with 54Mbps IEEE 802.11b /g wireless devices.
This is a wireless 802.11n USB adapter with a maximum output power of 1W. This is a single-channel (2.4 GHz) 1T1R 802.11n adapter with a maximum transfer rate of 150 megabits per second and includes a 5dBi gain antenna.
23- TP-LINK TL-WN823N (rev v1, chipset: Realtek RTL8192CU) Get TL WN823N from amazon
TP-link TL-WN823N is a wireless WiFi adapter that is designed to connect your computer to a WiFi network for future use of the Internet. This adapter has a compact size and is connected to the computer via a USB connector.
24- TP-LINK TL-WN822N (rev v3, chipset: Realtek RTL8192CU) Get TL WN822N from amazon
tp-link tl wn822n Advantages:
– a long usb adapter, it is convenient to bring the adapter to a better place
– it connected to windows 10 with the latest update automatically, even the driver did not have to be installed, although the third version of the adapter was caught
– a reasonable price
tp-link tl wn822n Disadvantages:
haven’t noticed yet
25- TP-LINK TL-WN821N (rev v4, chipset: Realtek RTL8192CU) Get TL WN821N from amazon
26- ASUS USB N14 (rchipset: Ralink RT5372) Get ASUS USB N14 from amazon
Advantages: Good quality, ease of use, good reception, stable connection.
Disadvantages: For a year of use I did not find it.
27- ASUS USB N13 (rev B1, chipset: Realtek RTL8192CU) Get ASUS USB N13 from amazon
ASUS USB N13 advantages:
Works with those characteristics as stated.
N13 Disadvantages: Not found
Comment: At home, the internet rate is 100 mbps, measured at speedtest showed 92/94 mbps, the losses are minimal. I use it in conjunction with ASUS RT-N12E, tkip-aes is set up in the settings.
28- Panda PAU06 USB (chipset: Ralink RT5372) Get Panda PAU06 from amazon
29- Panda PAU05 USB (chipset: Ralink RT3070) Get Panda PAU05 from amazon
30- Tenda W311M (chipset: Ralink RT5370) Get Tenda W311M from amazon
Tenda W311M Advantages: Low price, compactness, acceptable signal reception.
31- Tenda W311Ma (chipset: Сhip Ralink RT5370) Get Tenda W311Ma from amazon
32- Netis WF2123 (chipset: Realtek RTL8192CU) Get Netis WF2123 from Amazon
So this was a list of best compatible usb wireless adapter for kali linux but we still have more for internal Wifi adapter.
Internal Kali Linux WIFI For laptop
Some laptops have wireless adapters pre-installed that can be listed as monitor mode wifi adapter. For example, Intel chips can do this. Moreover, they also support the Access Point mode and virtual interfaces. Apparently, it’s a matter of good support for Intel wireless drivers for Linux. Therefore, they are suitable for daily use in Linux, as well as for wireless attacks.
I had laptops with the following adapter models
- Intel Wireless-AC 9560 [Jefferson Peak] (rev 10) – has 2 × 2 antennas, supports MU-MIMO and supports AC
- Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 (rev 24)
They work very well for transferring data or grabbing handshakes. I think that all representatives of the Wireless-AC and Intel Centrino Advanced-N lines support monitor mode and wireless injections. Therefore, Intel internal adapters help me when I cannot use Alfa external adapters. But, of course, you need to make a correction for the absence of external antennas.
Popular chips and their features
It may seem that choosing a USB adapter for auditing wireless networks is simple. In theory, enough to buy any device with a suitable chip, and you can go to conquer the access point. In practice, there are plenty of unobvious things and important details.
Make sure to check :
i got Alfa AWUS052NH monitor mode and wireless injection is working fine
Intel Kablosuz-AC 9560
I did not run in monitor mode, I could not run in injektion.
This dose not support injection , get a usb adapter
Which usb adapter would you recommend?
Please help me what is the best packet injection WiFi USB for Windows
Alfa AWUS036ACH
Im looking for wifi adapter supports packet injection,
what's the most powerful dual band wifi adapters for packet injection and monitor mode ?
All of these adapters in the list support monitor mode and packet injection even the $13 usb wifi adapter works perfectly fine
running ‘netsh wlan show wirelesscapabilities’ on my laptop with intel 9560 chipset shows that it does not support promiscuous mode.
The best WiFi adapter for Kali Linux i ever used is Alfa AWUS036ACH
Alfa AWUS036ACH has been my favorite adapter for years, with it’s chipset RTL8812AU it has been one of the best wifi adapter for kali ever
whats the cheapest wifi adapter for kali linux ?
What’s the Best Wifi adapter for Kali ?
This is the best for me
Alfa AWUS1900
Have absolutely never gotten our one to work and it was 100 bucks too. Don’t know how all these sites still recommend it.
I am planning to buy ALFA AC1900 but after reading comments about driver failure i got confused. Similarly ALFA AC1200 is not recognising ac or 5ghz channels for packet injection. I am extremely confused what to do now 😔😭😢
Alfa AC1900 Works fine you just need to install the right drivers to support monitor mode and packet injection
Great article, Thanks for the Detailed Analysis of the USB WiFi adapter. Would you please tell me that, do I need a wifi adapter for Kali Linux if I have a laptop?
Yes you do if you want to get into wifi monitor mode
Hi, do you know if tp-link T3U ver 1.0 support monitor mode and packet injection? Thanks
yes it dose
I bought the Trendnet AC1900 TEW 809UB (for 30 bucks; a steal for the extra power), not realizing it didn’t have good Linux driver support but I had got it working with help from 3rd party Github drivers on an older Kali version (Kali 5.12 to 5.14, I think)… Since I updated to 5.15 It doesn’t want to quite run properly. .. It’s detected as NIC with lsusb but doesn’t come up with iwconfig or ifconfig at all…. so it’s buggy but the range was suuuper impressive when it was working lol…. any advice is much welcome btw.
How do I reach you to ask you questions regarding Kali Linux and ubuntu Linux?
you can ask here anything you want
you can ask here anything you want
I have bought tenda 331m which has rtl8818gu chipset. It gets detected by lsusb but not in ifconfig..plz suggest.
Run sudo apt install realtek-rtl88xxgu-dmks
Thanks for the very nice article. I have a question, are all the wi-fi adapters listed here capable of monitor mode and packet injection on KaliLinux?
Yes all of them
I think I get the gist of things, that is that all of the adapters on the list support monitor and injection mode but I’m ever so slightly confused by the fact that all the way up until the Archer T9UH, there are specific comments relating to the adapters’ use for hacking purposes, ie.,as it relates to handshakes, monitoring, injection etc but then for some reason, the comment associated with the Archer T9UH looks like it came out of a PCWorld magazine or something, certainly nothing related to hacking but rather to its functional application for use in connecting to the internet and nothing more. While I’m a noob where a lot of this is concerned (admittedly I purchased the Archer T9UH oblivious to the fact that it had monitor and injection mode support and to make matters worse depending on how you look at it, I have been using a Linux aircrack-ng driver from Chaotic-AUR with it ever since purchase, knowing that a world of presently hidden capabilities existed but never taking the time to learn a little bit more about it all). Fast forward to now and I’m attempting to change all that but I’m starting from scratch with nothing more than the knowledge that my WiFi adapter supports this as of yet still mysterious functionally. I know there’s not really a question in there, more like I’m curious why starting with the adapter that I purchased on a wimb did the comments change tone from directly relating to their use in and for the dark arts to the equivalent of a turkey and extra mayo sandwich, if you catch my meaning (I can have a strange way with words and I can’t use the excuse that English isn’t my first language bc it is. Really it’s my only language, I have barely passable conversational skills on a superficial level in German and Portuguese and a little bit Spanish & Italian but only because of the Portuguese knowledge but it’s not even close to fluency so yeah I’m just a weird bird but I have a feeling I could find my flock or at the very least some other weird birds even if everyone flies at their own speed and altitude amongst the type of person that runs Kali as a daily driver)
I feel like there’s some part of me that’s known all along that I would find my way into this world but hesitating due to the sheer size and scope of the required reading, so to speak. Regardless, I’ve been slowly inching my way there, starting with embracing Linux and command line 3-4 years ago which lead to virtual machines and rooting Android devices, playing around with SBCs (O-droid N2+ 4gb) and just general ripping apart whatever tech i can get my hands on (that I’m comfortable with possibly borking) and seeing if I can mod it in some way or at least gain some new understanding about how it’s components and underlying technical concepts, etc. work. Or at the VERY least, be able to put it back together again and have it work. Considering it’s usually done with something featuring at least 1 failure point, usually at a hardware level, this isn’t necessarily a walk in the park. I’ve become fairly productive with a soldering gun/pencil, though. Even if it doesn’t end up leading me to the promised land, it’s still damn satisfying when you slap it all back together and have a working X,Y or Z.
Earlier when I said I have a funny way with words I should have just called a spade a spade and admitted that I’m extremely long-winded. If you actually read all of the above and have any words to share with a Lost Boy, I’m all 👂 👂
PS – I’m not currently daily driving Kali, at least not on bare metal but I have it in a VM. My daily driver is arch-based and I’ve got the blackarch repo included with PacMan. Is it really that advantageous to run Kali Linux over something like my setup which is specifically a Black Arch spin of Garuda Linux, or rather do I put myself at a disadvantage by using this setup over simply running Kali? I’m somewhat attached to Garuda Linux since it’s the first distro that I liked enough to call a home after distro hopping every few months from the point that I first installed Linux as my OS until finding Garuda. That was only a few months after it’s inception, well before it was even in the top 100 (or 300 for that matter) on Distrowatch and I haven’t looked in at least the last few months but last I checked it was at number 7 on DW. That said, I’ve also come to learn that any distro can be fine-tuned to cater to one’s preferences. Even if it doesn’t come with your desktop environment of choice. Out of the box where there’s a will, there’s generally a way with Linux and I find that generally speaking, in simplified terms that’s an adequate summary of the hacking mindset on the whole