Well I've finally decided to take the plunge and get serious about wireless security(I know I'm a little late). I've been learning about sniffing and WEP but its looking like I'm going to have to order special wireless cards supported by the software I want to use. I understand I need a card with a chipset that supports promiscuous mode.

Now I've bought and exchanged two seperate cards that didnt support what I'm looking for and I thought I should ask the experts! My question is, do some cards support promiscuous mode through linux but not windows unless you have custom drivers? I have no problems using Ethereal or Cain with my on-board wireless, but am I going to have to buy two seperate cards to use AirSnort and Netstumbler? These apeared to require different chipsets.

So i guess what it comes down to is, if i need to buy a new card for my laptop, can I buy one that would support several programs like Kismet, AirSnort and Netstumbler? I found a wardriving kit that comes with netstumbler and an antenna, but how could I know if this is what I'm looking for?

Could anyone recomend a good card that fits the bill?