I have noticed this issue(disassociation after 10-15mins), and have wondered if perhaps there is a discrepancy with the 'ALFA' Firmware? Mine doesn't have the ALFA markings on it anywhere (newer version perhaps?) If anyone solves this let me know.
I dont believe it can be due to excessive current draw, as the math indicates a small difference... mind-you the pineapple's USB is probably not really desgined for much more than a USB flash-stick (in terms of the 5v reg it probably has: I will have to check one of these days, but right now I have no desire to crack-mine open as I too am trying to come to grips with OpenWRT/.Jasager in what little spare-time I have)
(BTW)
Most netbooks (I should say :many netbooks <AFAIK>) have USB ports rated at 500ma(USB standard is 1A), the Pineapple suggests 1A at peak output (etc) But I'm pretty sure under most loads you wouldn't notice powering from 500ma (the voltage may drop a little, but the internals can probably work fine down to 3v <with perhaps the exception of the USB port, which is most likely using a lo-drop regulator , so it could overheat under the above circumstance... just a theory) At any-rate the wal-wart is 1A, but the internal regulator may not be able to sustain the load (If this turns-out to be the issue& not FW, then let me know& I'll do a tut on how to upgrade to v-reg- or make use of a small powered hub ;-)
I seem to get drop-outs just using the pineapple on it's own as ICS (with network manager) sometimes (though I suspect these are more to do with time-out than straight drop-out) I'm running 2.7.0 and Wlan1 seems to break with some modules (or rather just not do anything/hang)
My initial impressions of the pineapple are good, (I have a few other gripes like with the web-GUI the quick-start/menu bar gets partially covered under some circumstances eg; clicking detailed report etc..) But It's well-supported & I love the whole idea of it (&hak5 generally :D ) Linux and OpenWRT are not my strong-suit but HW is, so like I said let me know if I can help-out, as I want to do it all with this bad-boy (not to mention my boss wants me to do pen-testing demos >_< )
@Tisker (as is mentioned somewhere in the pineapple doco) It's not a good idea to back-flow power through the USB-port on the device, like I always tell ppl: 'Just because you can, doesn't mean you should'
It will run the regulators hot (more than likely) and may bypass some of the filtering etc..
EDIT: Man, do I feel like a douche (more than usual) In my speed-reading I somehow missed the post about it being the USB-cable! It totally makes sense (the USB cable has thinner copper in it hence cannot carry the current <or has bad shielding> Both are common problems with those type of cables, often the older-ones are better, I have had this issue many-times before with other similar types of issues, so I should of known :P )