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On 10/07/2021 12:43, Simon Waters wrote:
Regarding "AP-mode" for wireless cards, check out the penetration-testing linux distributions for support (I know devs in Pentoo and Kali, and they're always fixing something...)Yeah, the card I'm trying is similar to the low cost recommendation from someone who literally tried them all a couple of months ago. This is "monitor" mode, not "master" mode, it is required to eavesdrop. Whilst a few cards don't support "master" mode, many have "monitor" mode deliberately disabled. The chipset driver loaded in mt7662u, reports maximum link speed of 480Mbps, no sign of the built in BlueTooth being supported under Linux (I guess that is a shame as this PC doesn't have it built in). So it isn't going to get you the advertised 866Mbps under Linux, but seems a decent Wi-Fi card for £12. Suspect you can pay 3 times the price for the same physical hardware with a brand you recognise on.
I like it when people ask questions and then not only fix it themselves but then post the answer with helpful supplementary information... thanks chief.
One of these right? https://www.amazon.co.uk/TEROW-Adapter-866Mbps-Wireless-Linx2-6X/dp/B086L6TR6G(excuse me linking to the evil empire, I'll at least try and find an alternative source before I buy a couple)
For 'reasons' I collect USB wifi adaptors, specifically ones that support monitor mode. I've got a literal bowl full of them. Have you got a link to the comparison article you mentioned, I'd like to have a look at that please and thankyou.
I've always preferred Atheros chipsets for obvious reasons but for cheap adapters pretty much all the random crappy Realtek based USB wifi dongles I've ever owned support monitor mode pretty well. Plastic cases fall off the circuit board a lot though - especially if they're left rattling around the bottom of a laptop bag full of other crap - and they tend to overheat so I'm always on the lookout for good alternatives.
As for your home networking question, predictably I'm with MJE: ethernet, absolutely no question. Unless your house is a complete nightmare scenario and you'd have to rip up floorboards and punch holes in walls everywhere in which case even more predictably UNIFI FTW.
Running good CAT6 or better throughout a property is a "one-and-done", particularly if you're smart enough to leave cable pulls through the runs in case you want to adjust or upgrade in the future without ripping everything apart again. I was taught to use fishing line for that back in the day and have done it ever since. If you're in a position where your resources are of the money-poor but time-rich type ethernet is even more attractive - don't worry too much about "poor cabling skills" either! If you're that worried about it just do the cable pulls yourself and leave the unterminated ends dangling out the walls wherever you want to put them: it'll cost you a lot less to have a sparky come in if they've only got to crimp and punch down a few cables rather than doing all the heavy time consuming pulling.
You'll likely be sourcing a cheap roll of cable so will have plenty spare - or you can even just sacrifice a spare random cable or two, chop the ends off an inch and practice crimping them. Ethernet crimps are cheap and after a couple of goes you'll have it down again. To be honest I don't do much cabling either anymore and when I do I always mess up a couple of cables somehow to start with.
Your life will be much easier if you get the nice Cat6 modular style plugs with a load bar: once you get the hang of them you can literally strip a cable back, split and order the wires, cut diagonally and push them through the load bar in one go. You can make piles of them like this on autopilot while watching TV or youtube for a couple of hours.
Other tips that you probably already know: run decent Cat6 cable and if all your runs are under 30m you should easily get 10Gb over the same copper if/when you upgrade the endpoint equipment. Best tip is more a commandment that a tip lol: for the love of god TEST your cables before deploying them. I cannot tell you how many times I have regretted not doing this and looked even more dumb than usual. And test them with an actual computer as well, not just a cable tester i.e.; jack a PC RJ45 port into a switch with each DIY cable and make sure it's up and signalling properly.
Powerline adaptors are an absolute no-no in my book and I've seen a *lot* of them in my life: usually as I'm replacing them with wired or Unifi backbones instead. Some people get lucky with them and good for them but powerline adapters don't even operate in the same arena as "proper" networking. They're more a fault and interference prone, very slow and completely inferior way of maybe linking one room to one other if you're lucky enough for them to even work at all.
Also you're a better man than me for sacrificing your nicest PC for your son - I don't have kids but if I did they'd have to Game of Thrones style murder me to get their hands on my workstation. Never!
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