My view on various ALFA adapters.

My lack of USB 3 ports, coupled with a lack of suitable linux drivers, no networks around here even using 11ac, and ALFA specifying everything about the 036AC except it's power output figures, is why I decided to stop buying anymore ALFA's at the 036NHV.

 

Sorry for the delay in reply...

I can only speak for the 051NH v1 (2770F based) the newer V2 of the 051NH has a RaLink/MediaTek 3572 chip instead which I don't own so can't comment on. The only difference I see between 2770/2750 combo and 3572 is the latter is 2T2R as opposed to 1T2R.

I can't find any more data 051NH v2 like power output etc.

The transmit bandwidth of this 051NH is 150mbps, the receive bandwidth being MISO is 300mbps.

The 051NH is great for 5Ghz operation or 802.11N if the AP has dual antenna's to maximise the bandwidth. And yesterday for the first time I captured my first 5Ghz signal and the range for it was very satisfactory with a link quality of 100% on Channel 44. I was very surprised for just 5dbi and a patch antenna inside the 051NH v1.

However, 5Ghz is more picky about placement I found.

The 051NH operates as a basic G mode adapter, and I wouldn't recommend it at all for connecting to G mode networks. Adequate, but not the best for using in G mode. There's much better for this 036H, 036NHR, 036NHV.

It seems is a more powerful adapter than the 036NHA as it has 4 amplifiers built in, and operates satisfactory under Linux.

The signal is very stable and robust despite low signal conditions just like the NHA. And I would suggest that should you have an AP to take advantage of either MIMO or 5Ghz operation (even better) then it would potentially have the extra grunt to outpace the NHA in a class of it's own depending on distance and router used.

It would be a question of what range/frequency you wanted it to work at because 5Ghz drops off quicker than 2.4Ghz.

In any case 051NH seems more powerful in my own experience than the 036NHA despite the 500mw tag which as we all know is meaningless in real world use outside of laboratory conditions.

For 802.11N or 802.11a/n use it's the best ALFA however with a possible exception of 036AC (which I don't have)

It seems a reliable unit despite it's discontinuation for the new 3572 chipped V2 model, and It's slowly becoming my favourite ALFA (2770F chip) as it seems to have the lot and has all bases covered, but that's probably because I don't own an 036AC. Yet....

If you decide to go the 2770 chipped 051NH route I would recommend no drivers higher than 3.1.3.0 on Windows 7 x64 at least. The newer ones have speed drops and problems maintaining a connection at range.

 

You can hack the CRDA, there are plenty of guides out there on the internet to do that.

You can make it display whatever power you want it to say. Doesn't mean you'll get it.

Because the settings *may* still be overridden by Atheros eeprom which hasn't or can't be tampered with as no tools exist to edit the eeprom directly.

As for CN domain (of which most 722N's are), it doesn't really matter as for all intents and purposes it behaves exactly the same as GB with the same channel assignments and power levels.

 

It says in the relevant documentation for the TP-Link WN722N, that the output power for the device is a maximum of 100mw EIRP regardless of what antenna is attached.

Increasing/doctoring the output power doesn't mean a whole lot unless you can amplify the recieve side at the same time (by increasing the output at the other end too) or it's just pointless to increase the power on one side alone because it's a 2 way communication.

You just shout louder, but not hear is all.

 

Yes. Use a USB 2.0 dual USB type A to usb mini B Y cable. Using a powered hub incorrectly doesn't fix it due to still being only 500mA restriction for a single port. Even if the usb 2.0 hub power supply itself provides 3A of power. Trying to use USB 3 ports for extra power also won't cut it.

The 036NHA intermittently pulls 830-910mA on load which violates the single port spec which is covered for by a Y cable (1000mA available)

Infact I'd recommend using one of these special cables for all your adapters just to be on the safe side, but for sure it cures the random shutdowns on the 036NHA. I used to think it was a driver issue back in 2016, but since it happens on linux as well as Windows it's power related (or rather lack of it) because people don't know the adapter violates the spec. Found with an inline USB power monitor.

Let me know if this solution works for you as it does for me.