Tp-Link TL-WN321G Wireless Usb Adpator Mini Review
After a few months looking for a wireless usb adaptor, I’ve finally bought this TP-Link TL-WN321G. A cheap but extremely nifty little device.
Aesthetic wise: This little fella does look quite sleek and clean with its white glossy finish. Not too glossy that your fingerprints would get onto it but they’ve done it just right.
Physical usability: They weren’t that smart after all since the cap for this device cannot be plugged back to the device when it is slotted into the USB port of your PC. Where shall I keep the cap?
This TL-WN321G is quite strong too as I accidentally dropped this unit flat on the ground from 2m high. Nothing broke. It still works.
Usability : This device is detected once it’s plugged into Windows. Just pop in the cd and you are ready to go. There’s even a 64bit driver for this unit. Not bad. If I’m not mistaken it is supported by Machintosh also but you’ll have to source the 3rd party drivers yourself.
Hack-ability: Here is where the TP-Link TL-WN312G is in all its glory.
Having a Ralink RT2571WF heart (chipset) brings out many wonders to this adaptor. The Ralink RT2571WF or usually known as the RT73 chipset is fully supported by the Backtrack family which means packet injection and monitoring mode is here! Why spend more on a more famous brand when it uses the same chipset as this? You’re just buying the brand.
I’ve examined the circuitry of the TP-Link TL-WN312G and it looks like we can have an antenna mod for this baby.. I’ve yet to decide whether I should get a pigtail and solder it *which i can plug in a 12dbi antenna on it* on or just use the “wajanbolic” aka chinese wok mod. Both will work. Under the metal plate is an RF shield to prevent interference to the antenna? I’m not too sure about that. Did not dig it up yet.
Backtrack testing: To check on whether this unit really can perform, I did a WEP penetration on my home wifi network. Please be warned that cracking wireless networks are strictly prohibited and this program should only be used to test your own network.
How was my network set up? 2 pcs connected to the router named “stupid” and was set to use WEP 64bit encryption.It passed all my test. airodump-ng worked, aireplay-ng worked and of course aircrack-ng worked as well. There’s only one flaw about this RT73 Chipset which it can’t display the actual signal strength properly. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. Other than that, everyting is great. I cracked it in under 3 mins. Hmm..never use WEP for wifi..
Price: Around RM45-50 depending on shop. I grabbed mine at RM30 with 9months warranty from All-IT Hypermarket. Perhaps it could get cheaper if you are able to find an older unit.
The TP-Link TL-WN321G Wireless USB Adpator is a really nice device if you intend to customize it and have a low budget.
p/s: photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.
And yes, this is a repost because my old blog was brought down.
why suddenly got this post back wan? grab back dari mana wan ar u?
er i actually managed to get back my posts from google.. but i lazy to repost all.. so i just choose those that i want..
ooh.. then mana itu usb over ethernet?
itu i malas repost haha
lols repost lols. den u got ALL your posts in google? cool man
yeah i had all there.. but i didn’t salvage all of them.. lazy and simply too many
lolx take those gud memory de la
wa 1st time see u comment lol
programming stuff~~@.@
I like it
all ur posts as in ALL ur posts?! wow kewl. den maybe u should save it up in case something inspire u nx time lols
yes yess ALL.. but now nomore dy.. they’ve removed it from their database already
I have just bought this usb wifi and there is no way to make it work with backtrack’s spoonWEP/aircrack. I can find access points but spoonWEP wont work, just stucks at searching all the time. most of the time needs to be removed from usb and put back again in order to find a router.
Can you please email me and give me a solution to aircrack problem..?
Nasos
@Nasos
Hey Nasos, probably you could follow the instructions at
http://forums.remote-exploit.org/newbie-area/18764-get-all-rt73-drivers-working-crack-weps-2-min.html
and
http://www.aircrack-ng.org/doku.php?id=simple_wep_crack
rather than relying on the simple spoonWEP app.
hi friend,how bout your project?(making antenna mod)to tp-link wn321G..?i’m very hope that you can make that antenna mod as i can learn from you..thanks..plz reply or email me if you succesfully make that one work..
@sham
I have yet to mod the tp link.. haha probably because the built in antenna already serves what i need and i dont have the time to do it.. maybe when i’m free.. maybe.. but I’ll email you if i do so =)
sory for my bad english..still learning :$
haha no problem =)
thanks bro..i’ll waiting..
Still did not anderstand were to connect second wire of external antenna.
Could you be more spesific, please.
@Anatoliy
if im not mistaken the 2nd wire would be the ground wire. perhaps connecting it to any metal part of the adaptor would work. not that sure though.
Phat post, amazing looking website, added it to my favorites!
hey..i came across your website when i searched for tplink wn321g..i think your website is interesting and informative.
btw, i just bought the same usb wireless card as you, but it’s just 1mbps when my integrated wireless card can go up to 54mbps on the same network. is it just mine or yours too? i appreciate your help.
Hey there, are you using it with windows? if yes, what version? In windows 7 this device works out of the box. simply plug it in and its good to go.. I’m having 54mbps with this.. If you’re using something other than windows7 maybe you should try updating the drivers..
@youliang
thanks for replying.. i’ve tried using the latest driver from tplink’s website, which is the same driver provided in the box. but i realise it can go up to 18mbps depending on the signal strength.. so, considered problem solved, just gotta move nearer to the source.
i’m using windows xp sp2 i think.
btw, u use backtrack? if so, which version are u using?
is your tplink working with it? mine cant. it gets hang just like what the remote exploit website says. so disappointed..
in backtrack 4 final, it says the chipset is ralink 2573, n driver rt73.
tried it with backtrack 3 usb, backtrack 4 pre release, n backtrack 4 final. all cant.
sorry for asking so many things. one more thing, using live cd, any idea how to update the driver?
i’ve downloaded it’s latest linux driver, but dont know how to use it in live cd.
thank you so much for your time.
@jenny
hey..managed to have it working with bt3 n 4.. just moved it closer to source..
@jenny
Great that BT3 and 4 is already working.. ehhe.. the signal strength doesnt show that well in BT3 and BT4.. so you’ll have to guess it out..
I’ve used both BT3 and 4. Both works
Not too sure about injecting the drivers into linux live cd though.. I thought it would work out of the box since backtrack supports it, your live cd would also work..
I am thinking in buying this item, i would like to know, how many meters can provide wireless i mean the distance between the router and the pc, thanks
So far the I’m having around 50m with this usb adaptor. I didn’t take it further though..
Great chipset, but poor, I mean very poor signal, if you know how modify this baby to increase its limited power of detection, please tell me.
How far is the distance from the usb wifi adaptor to your router? Mine runs great even without antenna modification
Can you tell me if this device has any compatibility issues with Windows-7? I haver found a drevier on the website, it is working alright. or use older drivers from the CD.
Drivers are not needed for this device to work with windows 7 as it will be detected as a RT73 wireless device =)
Hi! I am interested in modding WN321G usb device. So far i’ve tried one way to connect it to a high gain antenna, but it does not work at all. So, I need your help
where to connect coax cable on its PCB. Thanks!
I got it at 2nd floor Low Yat – next to Sri Computer – Startec for RM29 – brand new.
Ha… i even brought my laptop there to test in my ubuntu to make sure the chipset is detected as RT73!
Yes.. WEP is bad for wifi authentication. Should use WPA/WPA2… but time will tell…
@Grant Skywalker
hahah the price dropped already eh? after almost a year =P.
and u brought your notebook there
what about TL-WN727n ? G is slow, would like N. can TL-WN727n do BT?
I have a TL-WN321G and when I plugged that into a Windows 7 machine, Windows 7 tried to install a driver and hung trying to download and install it; it was not at all plug-and-play. Under Linux, it kind of works, but the connection is very slow and unstable; I am beginning to think this is a 11Mbps adapter, not 54MBps! There may be several versions of this adapter; I got the wrong one and am very very disappointed.
Link to TL-WN321G modification
http://afrodita.rcub.bg.ac.rs/~ggajic/index.html/TP-LINK_TL-WN321G-MOD/
@is
HEY! Thanks for the link =)
hello, I bought a TP-Link TL-WN321G to access the router with Thomson WAP encryption and often loses the endorsement, we have to wait a little and get back to. The router is at a distance of 10 meters. Greetings to all.
hye everyone…i just want 2 ask….compare with wn321 and wn821, which 1 is better???
It depends whether Wireless N is needed or not. WN821 has a Wifi N chipset while WN321G is only wifi G capable. =)
@youliang
so, that means i need 2 get WN321…?
@MoZ
it depends if you are using a wifi N router or not? If you are just using a wifi G router then just get the 321g else if you have a wifi N router get the 821..
look for other options if possible. the transmit range on this usb adapter is embarrasing.
when comparing to the internal RTL on my laptop it gets half the bars, and 1/3 less APs show up
also, the TX distance is baaad. a AP has to be 50% signal or better
my other one, an RTL, on the same AP can speak to it as low as a 30% signal “farther away”
I would say theres a 30 range on this? great for home use, fast and stable
but if your a sniffer, kiddy, linux nut, BT junkie, etc. you should get a stronger TX card.
@Thespa
yes true if your main purpose is to sniff. I’ve changed over to the 8187L chipset as well
i’ve one.but,i’ve trouble with it.
hi all
i have two question please help me …
1= where to connect second wire of external antenna.
Could you be more explain, please.
2= how i can inestal this adaptor in to BACKTRACK 5
Found an external antenna mod on a Chinese site: http://www.52wlan.com/html/DIYjishu/DIYtianxian/200905_270.html
Another mod with clearer photos: http://wirelessandsecurity.blogspot.com/2010/02/since-there-was-no-real-mod-i-could.html