Stellarmate plus controller

[P.Rees]

Ok thanks Stuart should I invest in a Wi-fi extender booster as the signal will fade from my hub to the garden

thanks Peter 

[Stuart1971]

24 minutes ago, P.Rees said:

Ok thanks Stuart should I invest in a Wi-fi extender booster as the signal will fade from my hub to the garden

thanks Peter 

I dont use the RPI built in wifi, I bought a USB 3 wifi dongle which is much more powerful and no issues with USB...

[P.Rees]

So the dongle plugs into a USB port on the raspberry pi?

[fozzybear]

I would say so  as on my setup with a Flirc case no problem on 5ghz  internal wifi  used in the garden it depends on the output power of your Router/Access point in the house luckily mine has a good range but by adding a 10quid or so little usb dongle could/will improve things for you  look at the tplink ones on the long river company cheap as chips

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-WN823N-Wireless-Supports-10-9-10-13/dp/B0088TKTY2/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=tp%2Blink%2Bwifi%2Bdongle&qid=1614457247&sr=8-3&th=1

 

Edited February 27, 2021 by fozzybear

[fozzybear]

Wifi depends on the construction and boundaries set  so if you say have a house built of Stone rather than brick the signal will  have a reduced signal so dependant of the material it has to pass thru . So if your house is stone built then hit and miss. hot spots ie pass via the windows (signal) . Plus placement of the router/wifi  in the house  

[P.Rees]

Thanks I see they also sell Wi-fi extenders designed for outdoor garden these are more expensive . 
I could try the dongle first?  Thanks for the replies cheers Peter

[fozzybear]

I would go outside with your laptop/phone  and see if you get a signal first then if so get the dongle  

[P.Rees]

Hi my laptop and iPhone still picks my Wi-fi outside. I have a small back yard my mount is directly behind the house.

The house was built 1910 ish they are brick but old type. I had the house rewired when I moved in 13 years ago and I had electric supplied to my 2 sheds which I use for power for my Astro. I understand that a powered Wi-fi booster which uses the electric wiring the the most efficient? 
The cost of a dongle if it doesn’t work properly it can be used on a laptop when on holiday?

 Thanks Peter 

[Stuart1971]

29 minutes ago, P.Rees said:

Hi my laptop and iPhone still picks my Wi-fi outside. I have a small back yard my mount is directly behind the house.

The house was built 1910 ish they are brick but old type. I had the house rewired when I moved in 13 years ago and I had electric supplied to my 2 sheds which I use for power for my Astro. I understand that a powered Wi-fi booster which uses the electric wiring the the most efficient? 
The cost of a dongle if it doesn’t work properly it can be used on a laptop when on holiday?

 Thanks Peter 

No, the dongle will not work on holiday, it still needs to connect to your Wi-Fi, it just replaces the built in wifi on the RPI..it’s not one with built in 4g capabilities....

[StevieDvd]

The Asiair has the equivalent of small ears & quiet voice in respect of wifi signals,  so an extender that's loud enough (nearby) may let the Asiair hear & be heard. By the same analogy your phone and laptop have bigger ears.😀 - sorry for a dumb analogy but wanted to see if t works so I can use it elsewhere if it makes things easier to follow.

So you can increase the volume by adding an extender, but the best solution is to avoid them and go in via an ethernet connection.  You can do this with a cable from the house or by using an extender with a short ethernet cable to the Asiair that wirelessly connects to your home network.

You could use the same extender & short ethernet but instead of using the home wifi, make it the hotspot and you could connect to that from indoors, and the plus from that is you can use it away from home too. But fixed at home the first would be better.

 

 

[Stuart1971]

9 minutes ago, StevieDvd said:

The Asiair has the equivalent of small ears & quiet voice in respect of wifi signals,  so an extender that's loud enough (nearby) may let the Asiair hear & be heard. By the same analogy your phone and laptop have bigger ears.😀 - sorry for a dumb analogy but wanted to see if t works so I can use it elsewhere if it makes things easier to follow.

So you can increase the volume by adding an extender, but the best solution is to avoid them and go in via an ethernet connection.  You can do this with a cable from the house or by using an extender with a short ethernet cable to the Asiair that wirelessly connects to your home network.

You could use the same extender & short ethernet but instead of using the home wifi, make it the hotspot and you could connect to that from indoors, and the plus from that is you can use it away from home too. But fixed at home the first would be better.

 

 

All good, but we are discussing Stellarmate on this thread not ASIair....I realise they both use RPI, but so as not to confuse people...👍🏼

[StevieDvd]

1 minute ago, Stuart1971 said:

All good, but we are discussing Stellarmate on this thread not ASIair....I realise they both use RPI, but so as not to confuse people...👍🏼

Aplogies all. My bad I got mixed up with giving advice on a few threads - same advice goes though especially if you use a metal case for the RPI.

[P.Rees]

Hi my tp-link wireless adapter arrived today I will try it out tomorrow.

Just looking at the instructions you connect it to the computer RPI install the driver this can be done with the supplied CD or download.

Do I connect RPI AB to a mouse and keyboard? Does AB have a browser I can go online with to download the driver?

Then press WPS button on router and then WPS on the dongle 

Thank Peter

[Stuart1971]

38 minutes ago, P.Rees said:

Hi my tp-link wireless adapter arrived today I will try it out tomorrow.

Just looking at the instructions you connect it to the computer RPI install the driver this can be done with the supplied CD or download.

Do I connect RPI AB to a mouse and keyboard? Does AB have a browser I can go online with to download the driver?

Then press WPS button on router and then WPS on the dongle 

Thank Peter

No driver needed, if it’s a homeplug that runs over house wiring...just plug in and go....

[fozzybear]

i'm confused is it a usb adaptor?  or a home plug? if usb adaptor plug into Rpi and power up then VNC into the RPi as normal then right click click onto the wireless bars and edit the connections highlight your current wifi conection and click on the cog icon bottom of the window. then under "device" click the down icon and select the other  wlan1 and click OK. hang on better still see before you plug in the dongle to check what it is before the MAC address of the internal wifi adaptor do into the same settings and you should just see Wlan0 then when you plug in the dongle you will see 2 adaptors wlan0 and wlan1. sorry to confuse you as it did me

Edited March 2, 2021 by fozzybear

[P.Rees]

Hi I clicked on the link you sent me. It says mini wireless N USB adapter TL-WN823N

I will try tomorrow thanks 

[Stuart1971]

1 hour ago, P.Rees said:

Hi I clicked on the link you sent me. It says mini wireless N USB adapter TL-WN823N

I will try tomorrow thanks 

I thought your were going to use ethernet homeplug adapters....why another wifi adapter...??

[P.Rees]

Hi Sorry for the confusion. I thought the price of the dongle it was worth trying that first as I do have a wifi signal outside as picked up by my phone if weakened. I wasnt sure if the ethernet home plug adapter would work with my wiring my outbuildings are on my main fusebox so it should work?

I think I follow your first part of your instructions fozzy. But I am lost on the second part?

Thanks for all your help

[StevieDvd]

Hi,

I understand the usb dongle may need a driver to be installed first, unless it is now supported in the RPI by default which would save you a little hassle.  I'm sure @fozzybear will clarify this for you.

Should it need a driver install then I saw this on dongle mention on the Raspberry Pi forum install-wifi script as a backup if the others here feel it's a good guide.

[fozzybear]

8 hours ago, P.Rees said:

Hi Sorry for the confusion. I thought the price of the dongle it was worth trying that first as I do have a wifi signal outside as picked up by my phone if weakened. I wasnt sure if the ethernet home plug adapter would work with my wiring my outbuildings are on my main fusebox so it should work?

I think I follow your first part of your instructions fozzy. But I am lost on the second part?

Thanks for all your help

when editing your current wifi connection under the Device tab there is a down arrow as you can see mine is wlan0 when you click on the arrow you will see wlan1 if you have plugged in the usb dongle just select that and click save it might ask you for the wifi password again

Edited March 3, 2021 by fozzybear
addition of text

[P.Rees]

Hi Fozzy

Just a quick question I connected the dongle and Wi-fi settings shows wlan0 in devices like yours when I click down the same wlan0 is shown. I downloaded the driver and have tried to extract the files.

 Thanks Peter 

[Stuart1971]

1 hour ago, P.Rees said:

Hi Fozzy

Just a quick question I connected the dongle and Wi-fi settings shows wlan0 in devices like yours when I click down the same wlan0 is shown. I downloaded the driver and have tried to extract the files.

 Thanks Peter 

There are only a limited few wifi dongles that will work with the RPI....so are you sure it’s got ARM drivers...??

[StevieDvd]

I think this is supported on the RPI as I mentioned earlier.

"Should it need a driver install then I saw this on dongle mention on the Raspberry Pi forum install-wifi script as a backup if the others here feel it's a good guide. "

Though the downside is that the driver may need re-installing when the OS level is updated.

[Stuart1971]

4 minutes ago, StevieDvd said:

I think this is supported on the RPI as I mentioned earlier.

"Should it need a driver install then I saw this on dongle mention on the Raspberry Pi forum install-wifi script as a backup if the others here feel it's a good guide. "

Though the downside is that the driver may need re-installing when the OS level is updated.

Not sure which one the OP bought, but the one in the link is only a. 300mbs wireless N one, which is no better than the internal wifi on the PI, I bought a USB 3.0 1200mbs one and gives me superb speed with my RPI around 850mbs