Customer Reviews

Alfa AWUS036H 1000mW 1W 802.11b/g USB Wireless WiFi Adapter With Original Alfa Screw-On Swivel 9dBi Rubber Antenna and Suction cup Window Mount dock

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This is a good little USB network adaptor and works as advertised.

Background: I have a Dell laptop with an internal network card. I travel a lot and use it in hotels and hot spots quite a bit. The signal I was getting on the internal card with its two internal antenna's was weaker then I would like and usually doesn't get a strong enough signal to maintain 54 Mbps speed. I was usually down around 11 Mbps in a hotel room. Sometimes I have had to move to a different room, move to a balcony, or a certain point in the room to get a signal at all. In one hotel room I checked signal right after checking in and I could only get a usable signal near the door holding the computer up near the ceiling. I had to walk around the hotel to find a group of rooms that I thought would work and then coordinate with he front desk on availability and change rooms.

I researched many options, reading reviews, etc. Most other options were more expensive or problematic, including modifying my computer to install an external antenna. I looked at USB cards with the mail plug that plug into the computer without using an extension, pcmcia cards with external antenna's, directional antenna's, etc. Most of the reviews I read were from kids "War Driving" but still shed some light on how well this card works.

What I got: I went with the Alpha because of good reviews I read, and the fact that I can remote locate it using an extension giving more options then one mounted to the computer. The unit looks pretty cheap being plastic. Nothing special. It came with the two antennas. I ordered the two extension cables. One is passive and one is active (active is required for longer extensions).

Functionality/Results: It works well. So far I have not been in a Hotel where I didn't get an 88% or better connection (signal strength) with 85 or 90% link quality or better, and more importantly a link with 54 Mbps speed. I get many more signals too, but that is not what I was looking for in most cases. I have tried it in a dozen or so hotels and played with outside signals a bit. There are a lot of them out there.

The ability to move the antenna 10 to 25 feet away could be useful to get it on a balcony, outside a window, get around a concrete wall, etc. but I haven't had to do that yet with the Alpha. Once in the Bahamas, using the computers internal card, I had to get out on a balcony with a 40 mph wind coming off the ocean that would knock over the laptop if I didn't hold on to it, to get a clear shot to the hotel main building where the router was located. I had to weather the salt spray and either had to hold the computer screen to keep it from swaying so I could see it or hold my wine glass to keep it from tipping over. I needed three hands and it was a tough decision as to which two things to hold. That is when I decided to order this card. I read about folks on sail boats running the Alpha up the mast and getting a signal 4 or 10 miles off shore and putting the unit in a zip-loc bag to keep it out of the elements.

If I had modified my computer for an external antenna, or gotten a pcmcia card with external antenna, I could have run coaxial cable to a remote antenna to get the same position benefits, but the signal losses are large that way and signal cuts in half with every few feet of coax. With this adapter the antenna is run right into the transmitter/receiver and there is no loss, however you still have the ability to remote locate it up high in a room, outside a window, on a balcony, etc. without the loss. You don't get the signal loss from a USB cable, although you do run out of power if run too far. 25 feet with the two supplied cables is plenty for me.

Power: The high power is meaningless and probably a lie. I think they are claiming equivalent radiated power with a good antenna to some poor antenna standard like the antenna's printed on a pcmcia adapter card circuit board or something. Anyway it is not really a 1000mW adapter, but it does work well. The allowable power output is somewhat complicated but is based on radiated power (the combined effect of the transmitter and antenna). Anyway a balance of output power, receiver sensitivity, and selectivity is what is important and this one does a good job. It gets quite warm too only having passive cooling (vents).

Antenna's: Like many folks have reported, the big antenna doesn't seem to work any better for me then the little one. Sometimes it will get a slightly stronger signal and more signals with it, but the link quality (signal to noise ratio) is worse. The little antenna has worked fine in all cases so far and just as well as the big one on comparison.

Software: The software installed easily for me with Windows XP and I have had no problems. The software is between OK to fairly nice. I can still enable my internal card and use it when the signal is strong and I don't want to carry the Alpha. I disable it when using the Alpha.

Works great. Hope it last a long time.

If you are looking for solutions for your home (or work) because of problems with range on your Wifi you might also try one of the homemade paper directional parabolic antenna's that you print off from the internet. They really work and also increase security if positioned properly by directing coverage to within your house and decreasing coverage outside. They work will with this unit too. Requires a router with external antenna(s). You can also put one on the antenna of the Alpha and beam signals between the router and the Alpha. Quite effective. You print out a template from the internet, cutout a couple pieces of paper, cover one with foil or aluminum tape, stick the parabolic template together to the flat sheet to form the shape, and position the unit on the antenna of your router. Just do a search on "DIY windsurfer parabolic WIFI antenna" as Amazon doesn't' allow links. Also watch one of the Vid's on it.

Nearly all Amazon.com reviewers agree, the Alfa AWUS036H is the long range WiFi antenna on the market. But with 3 antenna options to chose from, which is the best setup?

I own the all 3 wi-fi antennas from Alpha: 5dBi omni-directional, 7dBi panel, 9dBi omni-directional. The Alfa AWUS036H with the 7dBi antenna is the best performing set up: Alfa AWUS036H Upgraded to 1000mW 1W 802.11b/g High Gain USB Wireless Long-Rang WiFi network Adapter with 5dBi Rubber Antenna and a 7dBi Panel Antenna - for Wardriving & Range Extension *Strongest on the Market*

With the 5dBi omni antenna, I can get 2-3 bars from a public wi-fi signal a little over 1 mile away (direct line of sight).

With the 9dBi omni antenna, I get only 0-1 bar with dropped signals.

With the 7dBi panel antenna, I get 3-4 bars with the fastest data transfer rates.

I have even tested the 5dBi and 7 dBi side by side and the 7dBi loads web pages in less than 1/2 the speed as the 5dBi antenna.

I have done a fair amount of research before purchasing the Alfa AWUS036H unit. The general consensus is that this unit has much better performance for B and G networks than the newer Alfa AWUS036NH model. But for accessing N networks, the newer model is necessary.

Although I still own the 5dBi and 9dBi antennas, I only ever use the 7dBi panel antenan. It's actually shorter in size and easier to transport than the 5dBi model. Go with the 7dBi - you'll get the best performance.

***** UPDATED COMPARISON *****

Aug 25, 2011: Using Xirrus Wi-Fi Monitor software, I compared the signal strength of this Alfa AWUS036H with the 7dBi panel antenna Alfa 2.4HGz 7dBi Booster SMA Panel High-Gain Screw-On Swivel Antenna or to the new High Power USB-Yagi Plug and Play directional WiFi Antenna 802.11n 2200mW / NextG USB-Yagi Plug & Play 11N Long Range WiFi antenna 2200mW. In nearly every test location, the Alfa rated 1 bar better and -10 RSSI (Receiving Signal Strength Indication) better (with RSSI signals negative numbers are better).

Although the 2200mW Yagi antenna is much larger and twice the power, it pulls in a weaker signal and slower data transfer than the 1000mW Alfa 7dBi panel antenna.

Still this Alfa AWUS036H is the best performing wi-fi antenna on the market. Thank you Alfa!

*** IMPORTANT ***

Please rate this review as 'helpful' to push this review to the product's home page so that everyone can get the best performing WiFi antenna setup: Alfa AWUS036H Upgraded to 1000mW 1W 802.11b/g High Gain USB Wireless Long-Rang WiFi network Adapter with 5dBi Rubber Antenna and a 7dBi Panel Antenna - for Wardriving & Range Extension *Strongest on the Market*

This is by far the best usb wifi device I have ever tried, and I have used allot of them. I work in a computer store and have had the opportunity to try many different brands and devices. This one beats just about all of them. I am able to pull in and connect to nearby access points I never could before and with a totally stable connection. (no dropping in and out) This is with the standard short antenna. The bigger "9 DBI" antenna is just about useless. The signal strength is actually lower with the 9 dbi antenna then with the standard one and I had a hard time connecting to any access point with it. Even the one in my house had a much weaker signal. The others in the neighborhood that I was able to connect to with the short antenna I couldn't connect to at all with the larger antenna. This is why I gave the Alfa only 4 stars, if the 9dbi had worked it would have been 5. The window mount is also pretty handy, you can stick it right to the back of your laptops screen or if need be a nearby window or other surface to get a better signal. If the 9dbi antenna worked it would be the perfect device. If you have a need for an usb wifi card the Alfa 1000mw is the one to get, but save you money and buy one of the kits without the larger antenna.

The antenna works great for picking up wifi in our rv except something was wrong with the driver disk as I couldn't get it to load onto my computer. I finally had to go to their web site and download a driver (with help from an expert). They sent it USPS who messed up and sent it all over Texas before it finally got here. But I am happy with it now and have reccomended it to several people in our rv park. Not sure why I ordered the large antenna as I haven't used it yet and don't know if I will.

I purchased this item in an attempt to extend the range of my wireless. I use a ATT 2 wire router. I was able to only get a very weak signal (one bar) to my computer in my shop, about 200 feet away. This item enabled me to get an 'Excellent" (5 bar) signal to the computer.

Please disregard this one star. I actually only put it in there to make this post visible to those having trouble. I recommended this product to my friend after extensive research. Despite it not being N rated it was the best option and I determined the N adapters aren't quite up there yet in technology to handle long-range even if a b/g/n.

My friend has Windows 7 and didn't use the CD provided at all, they simply went and downloaded the newest drivers fresh off Alfa's website. Simply type: "alfa wireless" in google to find them. Then navigate to support / drivers to your OS and bit (32 or 64) and download the power drivers (includes the config utility which is very useful).

My friend was then having an issue with only 11mb speed, stable but occasionally dipping lower as well and sometimes disconnecting totally. After intensive troubleshooting for days on the router I accidentally discovered what was choking the speed while playing with every setting. Remember, signal bars are only indicative of your reception to the router; speed shows the actual potential throughput. Going by both is best as you can have 2-3 bars but if you have 54 speed or higher it will be fine. Also sometimes you might have 4-5 bars but 1mb or 5.5mb of speed and this means that while you can connect well to the router and are in its range, your throughput is lacking whether due to settings or restrictions on your speed/data from your ISP (Internet Service Provider).

In conclusion, for everyone that has this adapter and are wondering what's limiting your speed, simply go to your Alfa (Realtek) adapter and right-click on it, go to properties > configure > in the second tab you should see something called "Rate Adaptive" enabled (by default), Disable this. Hit ok and save and your adapter will reset itself then show your new full speed! (Don't go by windows status for this go by Alfa's Utility. Also note that your internal adapter should be disabled when using an external one as running them together can cause potential conflicts and problems for you.) Repairing your connect via windows (right-click on the icon in the lower right tray) and hitting "renew ip" after in Alfa's config utility can help too. Reboots do as well sometimes. Anyway I hope this helps everyone because this was really a headache for me as I was just not satisfied with 11mb and it was slowing down our productivity.

It's kind of sad that this Alfa unit outperforms there Intel 1000BGN totally (XPS 17). I mean the internal can't even detect the network even though it is set to highest transmit power and also if it ever does it's around 1mb to 5.5 and extremely limited on the spot you have to be to find the network. Anyway, run a test on speedtest dot com to see the improvement before and after.

- Cheers (If my review helped you at all please click yes below.)

Signal bars jump from 1 bar to 5 bars when using this product!
One minor quibble; the longer antenna doesn't seem to offer any improvement
over the regular shorter one

yes it really does extend the range of your wifi area. Not that bad to transport as well as to set up, shoot I'm using it now as a write this review. The biggest down fall which is a blatant lie by the maker. Is that it works for mac, I contacted them my self and they told me that it didn't. Yet it said it does, buyer beware...

The product was delivered on time, and came packaged nicely. I bought it for its packet injection and out of the box linux compatibility. I get about 3/4 of a mile distance out of it(my friend who lives 3/4 of a mile now lets me use his internet) in linux, and about a 1/4 mile in windows. great buy

This card is AWESOME! I have a custom built outdoor wifi repeater with a 12db antenna which cost me $450. This Alfa card with it's 9db antenna actually beats it in signal strength quality to the AP. Using the included driver disk, it works well with Win XP on one laptop and Win 7 x64 on another. Most importantly for me, it works out of the box with linux, specifically Backtrack 4. In Backtrack or Ubuntu, just plug it in and it's working. The drivers for this card are included with those distros. Also, you hackers out there might be interested to know that packet injection in Backtrack 4 also works out of the box flawlessly! Tested with WirelessMon (a great wifi software BTW) I found that this Alfa card has a -12db gain over my laptop's internal card, which is just fantastic!
Overall, I would say that this card is better than most high end cards you might pay $200 for. The large 9db antenna included in this bundle is surprisingly light weight for it's size, and can be easily removed and transported in a backpack or laptop case. With the big antenna attached and the unit mounted to the screen of my laptop with the included mount, it stays put and doesn't get in the way much. Although, it does look a little silly. The description says "suction cup window mount" What I recieved was the same holder but no suction cup on the back. Instead it had a clip designed to clip to the top of a laptop's screen. I am really more pleased with this. Because with this, it can be more securely mounted to the top of a laptop than a suction cup, and can be readily attached to many other things such as the sun visor of your car. I would recommend this to anyone who needs a stronger wifi link without getting rid of that large lump in your wallet. For college students, or anyone who finds themselves frequently at public hotspots, you might get stared at having a nearly 2 foot tall antenna on your laptop, but you'll have the best connection of anyone there.