Realtek RTL8812AU monitor mode script for ALFA AWUS036ACH, AWUS036AC & other models

This article was made to help alleviate challenges involved with using the Realtek RTL8812AU chip's out-of-kernel USB WiFi adapter drivers in monitor mode with Kali Linux.

It can also be used with MediaTek adapters, but is not required, since the MediaTek chipset is plug and play. This script was provided by our good friend over on GitHub, morrownr. For a more in-depth look check out his page on Monitor_Mode.

The included shell script will allow you to change various settings such as:

  • Tx Power
  • Channels
  • Change MAC address
  • Monitor Mode

A tutorial video for using this shell script will be coming soon, in the mean time check out the instructions below: 

Step 1:
Download the monitor mode shell script and save it somewhere easily accessible via terminal. (Click Here To Download)

Step 2:
Open Terminal

Step 3:
To determine which wlan your wireless adapter is associated with, type one of the following commands into terminal: 
iwconfig
or
ip a

In this case our ALFA AWUS036ACH is associated with wlan0.
Terminal iwconfig command wlan0

Step 4:
In terminal, navigate to where the start-mon.sh file was save. Ours is saved on the desktop so we used the following command to navigate there:
cd Desktop

If the file was saved elsewhere such as Downloads you would use "cd Downloads".
Kali Linux terminal cd Desktop command

Step 5:
Copy and paste or type the following command into terminal to start the shell script:
sudo bash ./start-mon.sh wlan0

If your wireless adapter is labeled as a different wlan, such as wlan1/wlan2/etc, replace wlan0 with the correct wlan.
Kali Linux terminal bash command

Step 6:
The script will start and prompt you to press any key to continue. It will then ask a set of questions related to various settings. Simply type "y" or "n" if you wish to change them.

Step 7:
Place the current terminal in the background or minimize it while using the applications that utilize the wireless adapter that is now in monitor mode.
Kali Linux Terminal Monitor Mode script utilization

To revert the wireless adapter back to its original settings, locate the terminal that was placed in the background or minimized, press any key, and then type "y" to return to the original settings.

The author welcomes suggestions and pull requests.