WiFi Pineapple Logo

DIY WiFi Pineapple vs Real WiFi Pineapple

The WiFi pineapple is a great WiFi auditing tool from the Hak5 team. It has some great features and has improved with each generation. Here, we will be seeing how the WiFi Pineapple holds up against two alternatives.

⚠️ Warning⚠️: I will be using the MKVI not MKVII because it’s what I have and what I don’t have is $119 to spend on buying a MKVII.

You can also find this article and others for free on my website!

Alternative 1:Clone Using Different Hardware

In case you didn’t know, the WiFi Pineapple firmware is based on OpenWrt. This allows it to be used on different hardware with a few modifications.

Prerequisites:

A router with a mips24kc architecture, you can find a list here

M̶o̶d̶i̶f̶i̶e̶d̶ ̶f̶i̶r̶m̶w̶a̶r̶e̶,̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶f̶o̶u̶n̶d̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶S̶a̶m̶y̶ ̶Y̶o̶u̶n̶s̶i̶’̶s̶ ̶G̶i̶t̶L̶a̶b̶ ̶p̶a̶g̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶e̶

Update: It seems Samy copied from xchwarze without giving credit checkout xchwarze’s cloner instead

A laptop to flash the firmware

Some patience

This article won’t go through the actual setup process but if you want to make your own the instructions are on Samy Younsi’s page. I will say that I used a gl-ar750s as the alternative router as it can run on USB power and is in a similar price range, making it a viable competitor.

WiFi Pineapple nano

WiFi Pineapple Nano Pros

1. Works out of the box
2. Relatively simple to setup
3. Officially supported by Hak5
4. Comes with stickers :)

WiFi Pineapple Nano Cons

1. Only 2.4GHz supported
2. Antennas get caught up on lots of stuff when in a bag
3. MicroSD card issues on firmware 2.7.0

gl-ar750s

gl-ar750s Pros

1. $40 cheaper
2. 5GHz support
3. runs Tetra firmware
4. no MicroSD card issues
5. Doesn’t get caught in a bag
6. Has 3 ethernet ports (1 in, 2 out)
7. Faster soc and more ram, making the experience more smooth

gl-ar750s Cons

1. Confusing to set up, Note: if you are trying to DIY with the gl-ar750s I recommend using xchwarze’s custom firmware and flashing using uboot
2. Each interface only supports one type of frequency (wlan0 does 5GHz wlan1 does 2.4GHz)
3. Not officially supported by Hak5

Alternative 2:Raspberry pi or other Micro Computer

Prerequisites

Micro Computer

A linux OS of your choice

Two or more WiFi adapters

Some way to set it up

Once again this Article won’t go through how to setup the Micro Computer. But if you are curious I used a Raspberry pi 3b+ on kali linux.

WiFi Pineapple Nano Pros

1. Work out of the box
2. Easy to set up
3. Officially supported by Hak5
4. Comes with stickers :)
5. Comes with Web UI that has gone through many iterations
6. Cheaper in the current market

WiFi Pineapple Nano Cons

1. Only 2.4Ghz
2. Not as much software available
3. MicroSD card issues on firmware 2.7.0
4. Issues with lots of modules

Raspberry pi example (may be different)

Raspberry pi Pros

1. 5GHz support (depends on WiFi adapter)
2. Customization galore
3. Support for lots of different software
4. Comes with ethernet port

Raspberry pi Cons

1. No built in WebUI
2. Requires lots of setup
3. Worse in a bag (depending on WiFi adapter)
4. Easy to mess up software/brick

Conclusion

The WiFi pineapple is a great tool for hackers. It comes with great features and is capable of achieving lots of things. However, it doesn’t stand well against its competitors, especially with its $100 or more price tag. In the end, the WiFi pineapple is a tool for those who are looking to quickly and easily start hacking WiFi without putting much effort in.

~Happy Hacking!