Hello,

I am trying to find a Wi-Fi card (or USB dongle preferably) that I can adjust the signal transmit power.

I searched on the web and it seems pretty hard to find such a card, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I found the following USB adapter that could potentially work : Alfa USB AWUS036NH using the Ralink 3070L Chipset, true or not ?

Thank you.

Albert

You probably won't find one searching for it on the Internet. Some cards have adjustable transmit power. But in no way does the manufacturer, or the government for that matter, want computer users controlling the output power! You can do it with Linux, but the powers that be don't advertise which adapters have that capability. You might have some luck with the search terms 'variable gain".

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It is usually possible to adjust power if the chip and driver allow. In some cases it is illegal to raise power. Remember that even a mile away a consumer may have some medical device or safety device or phone that could be affected by going over the legal limit. That is why the US wanted to limit consumers ability to play with routers.

https://askubuntu.com/questions/5975...mw-not-working

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Hello,

Thank you jefro for the regulatory warning I had no intentions to break the law, at least now I know the reason why it's so hard to get any details about this possibility from hardware vendors.

Actually my plan was not to increase the signal power but to decrease it to the minimum possible for security reasons.

From reading the provided link it looks like I should be able to reduce the transmit power since there is not any regulatory limitation for the reduction of the transmit power. Am I correct about this assumption ?

Which adapter could I use then ?

Thank you.

It is fine to decrease power and associated range will decrease and no legal limits would restrict that. You can tell when you get too far by speeds slow or other metrics to tell you signal is too weak.

As to current adapter I can't say. Might pose a new question on that.

About half of all adapters are adjustable. So, if you just purchase any old card, you have a about a 50:50 chance. I know Broadcom makes adjustable amplifiers on some of their ICs.