Strange incident with USB wifi adapter Alfa AWUS036H

[rul3s]

Hello everyone!!

Well, until recently I was using a USB wifi adapter bought from dealextreme that had a realtek 8187L chipset, a 16db antenna and a supposed 1600mw power, it worked very well but it suddenly died 1 week ago.

Well, seeing that in several forums they talk so well about the Alfa, I bought one from ebay, this one:

http://cgi.ebay.es/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=221141607077#ht_4275wt_1037

The thing is as follows:
With my laptop and the integrated wifi, if I run a speed test it gives me about 12Mb/0.8Mb/68 latency, but if I connect the USB adapter and disconnect the laptop's wifi, the speed drops to 4Mb/0.8Mb/68 latency.

If I stand right next to the router, the same problem happens, but if I remove the antenna next to the router, it works correctly, giving a result of 12Mb/0.8Mb/68 latency, so I tried changing the antenna for another one I had around, but it does the same thing, it gives me a little more, 6Mb/0.8Mb, but it doesn't go beyond that.

It seems to me that the adapter must have some defect since, when it works "at full capacity" without an antenna next to the router, you can hear a lot of electrical noise from its interior.

What do you think? Do you think it's defective, that it's fake, or what do you think it could be?

Best regards and thanks!!

[Kernel1.0]

If it makes an electrical noise, it is most likely a manufacturing defect.

[kynes]

Do a test with and without the antenna using a program like inssider. It may be saturating the signal.