Hello, I am just starting out and recently got my first bits of kit, AWUS036H, (Ralink 3070 is printed on the chip) with 5dBi antenna. I also got a 25dBi Yagi antenna, and a 20dBi internal antenna with a similar form factor. I have tried each of these several times over the last week inside near the window. Using Linux wifi tray icons initially, then LinSSID, and more recently using Xiaopan OS Live CD. The same 6 wifi are displaying as scan results, regardless of which antenna or tool I use to scan. I thought this didn't seem correct, and am unsure where I am going wrong ? I would also like to know if there is a way to determine the distance each result is away from the antenna ?
Hello, wizzla, I am the author and maintainer of LinSSID. All of the software tools will naturally give you the same result because they are just echoing what the driver for the AWUS036H is telling the system. You should see some difference with different antennas. As you know, the Yagi is extremely directional. You should see different attach points available depending on which direction you point it. Also, it is sensitive to horizontal vs. vertical polarization of received signals. Try holding it with the elements parallel to the ground (horizontal polarization) and then with the elements vertical with respect to the ground. Make sure you leave the antenna in each position and orientation without moving it for at least 30 seconds so that the software scanning tools have time to do several scans and accumulate the results.
Hello warsev, LinSSID is a nice program and runs very cleanly and efficiently. It's great to meet the author and maintainer of a software I use. I have tried the Yagi in 3 vertical positions, and one with its elements vertical with respect to the ground. I have not tried it horizontally, or leaving it for 30 seconds, I had been leaving it longer then stopping the scan when moving the antenna and restarting, and also removing the usb and changing antenna. I will try this later today and reply again. --- Double Post Merged, 31 Aug 2014 --- Hello, I have tried this it improves the scanning results a lot I have marked it as best answer. The antenna found the most when held horizontally, facing towards the back of the house it finds 9 wifi, and towards the front it finds an additional 2 wifi. The similar form factor unbranded internal finds an additional 1 wifi when the antenna was swapped at the end of the Yagi scan. This was the first WEP result. Signal strength with the Yagi results were -75 to -110 , with the internal they were -61 to -110. I am unsure whether the higher or lower number indicates the stronger signal. 3 interesting results stated in LinSSID , "Privacy - None, Cypher -Unknown" - one of these is a BT Hotspot it keeps automatically connecting during scans, but attempting to use it with a browser redirects me to the BT website to enter a password, it states on the website it is a free wifi hotspot for BT customers (so not public free access, there are 152 of these I am trying to find any 1 of them) it asks to enter the BT password, or if not a BT customer if you wish to sign up for 1 hour, or various other durations to use it short term. In a way they are spoofing the privacy results, by feeding it through the webpage, the same results occurs with other scan software as per your explanation of how the software works. Hopefully this may be useful or save other members some time when scanning if BT hotspots appear. The other 2 produce a message "not found in scan results" when tested using system tray icons to connect, the antenna was in a different position when they were found, I will try them out in a future scan as they are found. The final test I done was just for curiosity, I closed LinSSID and removed the Yagi, and disconnected the AWUS036H from the usb, rebooted Linux, waited 5 minutes (coffee time), connected AWUS036H to usb with no antenna connected, I then ran LinSSID, it found one connection instantly a Sky broadband, on channel 6 with signal -81 which altered to -110 over 30 seconds then held steady, during the 30 seconds the scan also discovered cipher TKIP , and that it was a WPA2, these results match those of that connection when found using an antenna which seems to make no difference to this wifi result. Nobody has Sky for at least 6 homes to the left or right and the buildings are all double cavity brick walls. So it is around 250-300 feet minimum it detects without any antenna connected to the device. The Terminal says the device is set to 20dBi, I have not altered the settings at all. Maybe the information is interesting to some members.
