Some Atheros are not only reliable but ubercool. They support a gazillion options, including promiscuous mode, power saving, higher power transmission, etc. In

Some Atheros are not only reliable but ubercool. They support a gazillion options, including promiscuous mode, power saving, higher power transmission, etc. In fact, Alfa Atheros antennas are the preferred option of those doing pentesting. Besides, I have great experiences with some models connecting to super low SNR networks where Broadcom would never ever connect.