Panda Wireless PAU09 N600

Excellent range, and the fact that it worked with my Linux (Mint) box without extra drivers -- awesome. It also works with my Linux OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. Honestly, it probably works with all Linuxii and all Mac and Windows. It's just basically plug-and-play: Ideal. I must admit I get a glance here or there when at coffee shops (looks a little geeky), but once or twice I've heard comments as people nearby talk, and they've actually been complimentary. I think people are envious! I mean, who hasn't had wifi problems? Also, I love that it is dual-band: Sometimes my local coffee shop gets a bit of traffic congestion on the normal 2.4GHz (b/g/b) band when there are too many people in the shop.. But the 5GHz band is always open, and probably only myself and at max 2 or 3 others using it. Mua hahahah!!! ;-) This thing has also been a lifesaver, since the built-in wifi radio on my HP laptop (a RealTek Semiconductor RTL8723DE) does not (yet) have reliably Linux kernel driver support. I just pack this in my laptop bag. And, though not necessary, I do use the extension USB wire (instead of plugging directly into laptop), since it looks less geeky, and I can kind of slide it off to the side. Yes, I have seen that similar-looking models are available for maybe $10-15 less on Amazon. But I went with the little extra money because this manufacturer is obviously a cut above and takes extra care in a few ways: A) They actually make a box with their name on it B) They go out of their way to advertise that it works with Linux and without need for extra drivers (quite rare, as we know), C) the comments indicate they are reachable for tech support (not just a one-way production line that doesn't want to hear from you). Thank you, Panda.

EDIT: New card was received by Amazon within 2 days but I just now remembered to update. Everything was there and everything is now working as intended. Monitor mode and packet injection work perfectly on Kali. Everything is plug and play unlike the Alfa ACH model I picked up at the same time. My Alfa ACH gets a bit better range but that's a monstrosity of a device when you are required to use the included ~3ft long cable. The Panda is perfect for my mobile devices - I love the small form factor and the fact I can plug it directly to the machine. Panda does include an optional usb extension base. I also have to say that the Alfa ACH is NOT plug and play in Kali like this Panda is! Just plug in and go! The range is about 2 city blocks here - picks up 10-12 networks as opposed to Alfa ACH 14-17 networks. Altogether its a great buy as there isn't another device of this capability in this form factor. Original Comment: Product showed up without the actual Wifi dongle in the box - everything else was there including the antennas, extension base, CD's and instructions. Box seemed to have been opened after factory packaging at some time. Now the wait is almost 2 weeks out - definitely not impressed with PantherOne

[back from the future] 3/4/19 Great Wi-Fi device for Windows. Would tell the "past me" to buy it again :) [back to the past] I wanted to FINALLY get 5Ghz working... 2.4 "monitoring" (wink) is becoming so yesterday.. Well I'm here to say it WORKS! And it was drop dead easy.. My setup is a Pi 3 + Raspbian (box stock except for updates)... and the Panda 09. No additional drivers or dicking around to get it up and running, at least on Raspbian :) To get it to scan the 5Ghz band you just need to add the switch "--band a" (this will scan 5Ghz). or "--band ag" ( 2.4 & 5g). As in: "sudo airodumpt-ng --band a wlan0mon. Or "--band an" for 2.4 & 5ghz. The "man" docs in Raspbian clearly state this however other sources I found on line omitted this small detail. So read the actual MAN pages for the real scoop. P.S. I believe this Panda 09 adapter doesn't support A or AC @5gh. Correct me if I"m wrong. But it does see all the 5Ghz on N on my network. Which is 99% of the battle IMHO. So this still isn't the ultimate adapter.. but I'm glad to finally be out of the 2.4 ghetto for a breath of fresh air. Cheers! Other worthy note. Works under Windows 10 "out of the box". No other drivers or software required. Nice!

If you use Linux or Windows this is the one to get as it just works out of the box, no need to driver hunt etc. Signal strength is pretty good.

For Linux users. I bought this adapter instead of a standard adapter because we have a very large old house with 12" walls, and I have trouble with wireless range on most usb adapters. I have been pleasantly surprised by the performance of the adapter, but I have actually been amazed with the performance of the Panda support team. I have been in touch with them several times because I initially had trouble with my 5GHz band performance. They reply at once, and the information they request is cogent and the solutions that they offer are sensible and they work. The adapter is plug and play for Linux. You do need to install the proper firmware for your distribution, but that is true of any adapter that you purchase. The installation disk only has Fedora files, so you will have to find the firmware necessary for your distribution. For Debian Jessie, for instance, it is firmware-ralink, and for Debian Stretch it is firmware-misc-nonfree. In any event, after you install the proper firmware, the adapter is plug and play. It is also worth mentioning here that if you run PCLinuxOS, the firmware will already be in place and the adapter is truly plug and play. Just configure your internet connection and away you go. Performance. Ironically, the reason that I initially contacted Panda support is because I was having trouble with stability on the 5GHz channel. I had no such problems with the adapters that I was using, so I was confused that this one would be less effective. It turns out that the extended range of the adapter also meant that interference from a neighbor's connection caused the occasional signal drop. Alex from Panda's support team picked up the problem immediately, and I have had no trouble since. I can absolutely recommend this adapter for Linux installations. RLF

I have previously had trouble with Linux WIFI network adapters either not working or just too complicated to install. So about 10 days ago, I decided to purchase a Linux Wifi Adapter from a Linux retailer. I figured paying out more for a product compatible with Linux Mint 18.1 is worth the cost. It arrived, I installed it (PnP), it connected to my WIFI network...and then disconnected less than a minute later. It reconnected and disconnected every 30 - 60 seconds. The download speeds averaged about 1.5 MBps - less if using a VPN. Two hours later I ordered this. I figured what the hey? Lets see if it works. It arrived in 2 days, it too was PnP, it connected to my WIFI network - AND MAINTAINED THE CONNECTION. The connection speed is close to what the ISP claims, and the same whether VPN is on or off. And the deal clincher - this unit is HALF the cost of the aforementioned LInux WIFI adapter. Case closed.

TL;DR --> Definitely plug-n-play with the 3 Linux distro's I tried (though packet injection didn't seem to work). Speed is sometimes slower (less stable?) than my 6 year old on-board wifi (though they're both n-adapters). Range is not as good as I hoped (again, my 6 year old on-board wifi chip has better range). -------------------------------------------------------------------- I purchased this product because it is plug-n-play with Linux distributions. I've tested it with Arch, Ubuntu 16.04, and Kali 2017.2 -- all worked instantly, beautifully, and without the need to install any additional packages (for all 3). I also messed around with iwconfig and was able to set different modes and adjust TX-power without a hitch. Compared to past adapters I've tried, the Panda PAU09 was the most effortless to use with Linux. The only issue I've encountered, and for some it may be an important problem, is this: no matter what configuration I tried, I was unable to get the aircrack-ng suite to inject packets! This is NOT the reason I subtracted two stars, because I'm a novice and I'm assuming that it was my fault that the PAU09 couldn't inject packets -- but I followed several tutorials, tried several methods, and, alas, no packet injection. (I tried the same tutorials with my on-board wifi card [Intel Corporation Centrino Ultimate-N 6300] and it DID successfully inject packets... so I don't know.) I've subtracted two stars for the following reasons: I have an old, 2010 HP Elitebook 8440p. The on-board wifi is the Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300. I figured that the PAU09 would be faster and have better range than my 6 year old wifi chip. I have subtracted one star because after many speed tests through different services, the PAU09 performs either the same as my 6 year old wifi chip, or sometimes slower (especially when connected to 5ghz wifi...) It is important to note that my expectation is partially due to my ignorance; my on-board wifi and the PAU09 are both n-adapters, but I assumed that a new N-600 chip would perform better than my current one. (While writing this review I realized that the PAU09 claims 300Mbps and my Centrino wifi claims [up to] 450mbps... do not make the same mistake I did!) The subtracted star is because the PAU09 sometimes performs a little worse than my on-board wifi, especially with 5ghz. I guess the 6 year difference doesn't matter. The second star I've removed is because of the range. While the PAU09 has two obnoxious antenna, its range is shorter than my (6 year old...) on-board wifi (that doesn't have two large antenna). I'm sure there is much technical information that I don't know, but, just from the looks of it -- I assumed that a new wifi adapater with two obnoxious antenna would (1) be faster than my 6 year old wifi chip, and (b) have better range. This was the real reason I wanted the PAU09. (There are other adapters that are Linux-compatible.) In the end, I wish I had purchased a different wifi adapter. I would take off another star for this reason but companies like Panda need our support -- small companies that create products for Linux users. After receiving the product I also learned that their headquarters is a mile away from where I live, and so, for me at least, this is a local business. This is not a bad product, and its compatibility with Linux is quite good; but, I wish that new adapters like the PAU09 would be faster and have better range. Thanks for reading! Andrew

After my Linksys WiFi adopter stopped working after updating my system, I got very frustrated and thought to myself that there has to be something else out there that works on Linux. I did my research on the enter webs and found that the Panda Wireless was one of the ones that made the list. I went to there website and contacted there tech support via email and there where nice and helpful. They told me that it was plug and play device and no drivers needed to be installed, I found it hard to believe, because I had no but issues with my other device, and needed to install a driver and ALWAYS needed to install the driver again after the system update. I bought the Panda Wireless device. It came in and I hooked it up with my Linux Mint Machine. And BOOM it worked, and I’m able to update my system with no issues what so ever. Thanks Panda Wireless for putting out and excellent product that has absolute excellent Linux Compatibility. I HIGHLY recommended this product to anyone that is using a Linux Machine. Thank You Panda

Got the adapter with with missing user guide and installation CD even with totally different design of the adapter itself and the dock nothing like the pictures

Been using this for about a month now. On advice bought a WiFi card (over a USB solution) that was highly recommended and quite frankly, unless you are close to the router, that card didn't deliver good results. So splashed out and bought this product instead. There are 2 main advantages using this product for my use case; a) The lead can extend out the back of my PC and I can tweak the antenna to get a VERY good signal though a thick wall in an old house, I mean as if it were plugged into my Ethernet cable. b) It is fully compatible plug and play with my Linux Mint OS. It is a bit pricey those of us in the UK but in my opinion worth the extra cost.

Excelente antena solo no es la que se muestra en la imagen del vendedor

Brilliant I use Linux mint and all I did was plugged it in, it worked straight out of the box, plug n play. I recommend

Great USB network dongle for Kali Linux and has worked well out of the box on multiple Linux hosts; Kali and Ubuntu in VMware guest host operating systems. I am using it for penetration testing and wireless security testing. So far, it has worked great and has been stable. I had an issue with the delivery but it was not the fault of the seller, I contacted the seller immediately and the response was great, they were willing to get me a replacement quickly, however, the person it was delivered to brought it to my place, so there was no need for a replacement.