Kali Linux USB Persistent (2018.4) and Alfa AWUS036ACH antenna

Hello,

I've been trying to setup a Kali Linux USB Persistent USB with an Alfa AWUS036ACH antenna. However, I have not been able to make it work.

Here's my setup:

• Kali Linux: 2018.4 on Samsung USB 3.1
• HP Pavilion laptop
• Alfa AWUS036ACH antenna

lsusb shows the realtek adapter.

I've been able to make the antenna work with Kali Linux installed on the laptop. I've been able to make it work via a Kali Linux virtual machine. My assumption was that the adapter should work whether the OS is on the USB stick or the actual disk drive but maybe I'm wrong.

I did review several other posts and tried using some recommendations around this antenna but to no avail.

Has anyone done or tested this setup and can offer some advice?

Just FYI, an antenna is just the passive hardware piece you screw on the card.

Just install using the weekly ISO and install the driver immediately. It's because if there is a kernel upgrade, the older headers won't be available and the driver can't be compiled without them (and the other reason is that you can't easily update the kernel on persistence).