Astroberry network problem

[wsteel33]

Hi everyone.

I have had a look around the forums and see some similar issues but not the specific one I am having.

When I connect my RPi to my home network and connect to Astroberry using VNC the connection drops regularly (approx. every 5 mins), "server disconnected remotely" (or something similar) it says and eventually won't seem to reconnect at all. I don't tend to have the same issue when I connect to the Astroberry hotspot but I don't want to always have to be that close to the RPi (which sits on my telescope tube) and would like access to the internet while controlling the scope.

I don't believe this is a necessarily a network strength issue as it also happens when I bring the RPi into the house and sit it next to my main router where the signal is strong (and I have repeaters near the mount which give a good signal). I also don't believe that it is the RPi being underpowered as it happens when  I power it with it power socket.

I love the set up and software and it has transformed my imaging sessions (I don't have to hook a laptop up anymore!!! 😀) but this inability to attach remotely over the internet is getting frustrating.. it did kind of work for a while but now it's having issues.

Sorry if this same issue has been covered elsewhere, I did look, please feel free to point me to other threads if someone has had the same issue and has found a solution.

Thanks for the advice and help as always it's greatly appreciated.

 

Wayne

[KP82]

Have you put your RPi in a metal case by any chance? The metal casing could seriously weaken the already weak stock WiFi signal (both broadcasting and reception) on the Pi.

[rnobleeddy]

I've used astroberry on a couple of Pis and aside from occasional network strength issues in the garden, haven't had an issues. I wouldn't rule anything out, but astroberry doesn't reinvent the way WiFi works on linux, so I'd probably start by checking if the same behavior happens on another OS on the pi. If so, that means it's either the Pi or your WiFi. If not, you've narrowed it down to astroberry.

[Davey-T]

The ASIAIR Pro that I use is based on the RPi3 and the wireless connection is pretty useless, if I connect to my iPad then slew the scope so that the ASIAIR is on the opposite side of the scope tube it looses connection.

The WiFi aerial on the the RPi is a little bit of printed circuit and once in the metal Asiair case it kills it, there are tutorials on YT on how to fit an external aerial or some folk plug a USB extender into the RPi.

Dave

[wsteel33]

Thanks for all the comments.

I was thinking RPi wifi strength may be an issue. I actually have the RPi in a plastic case so the case shouldn't be the problem in particular.

There have been developments however. It seems like the RPi keeps disconnecting from my home wifi and choosing its own hotspot connection as a priority in spite of the connection priorities I set up in the settings. I even removed my home wifi as an option and set it up again from scratch ensuring it had a higher higher priority than the Astroberry hotspot, but it still disconnected from my home wifi after a few minutes and reinitiated its own astroberry hotspot.

I'm thinking a wipe and reinstallation of Astroberry might be in order to see if that fixes it... bit annoing.

[Stuart1971]

13 hours ago, wsteel33 said:

Hi everyone.

I have had a look around the forums and see some similar issues but not the specific one I am having.

When I connect my RPi to my home network and connect to Astroberry using VNC the connection drops regularly (approx. every 5 mins), "server disconnected remotely" (or something similar) it says and eventually won't seem to reconnect at all. I don't tend to have the same issue when I connect to the Astroberry hotspot but I don't want to always have to be that close to the RPi (which sits on my telescope tube) and would like access to the internet while controlling the scope.

I don't believe this is a necessarily a network strength issue as it also happens when I bring the RPi into the house and sit it next to my main router where the signal is strong (and I have repeaters near the mount which give a good signal). I also don't believe that it is the RPi being underpowered as it happens when  I power it with it power socket.

I love the set up and software and it has transformed my imaging sessions (I don't have to hook a laptop up anymore!!! 😀) but this inability to attach remotely over the internet is getting frustrating.. it did kind of work for a while but now it's having issues.

Sorry if this same issue has been covered elsewhere, I did look, please feel free to point me to other threads if someone has had the same issue and has found a solution.

Thanks for the advice and help as always it's greatly appreciated.

 

Wayne

If you are using the USB 3.0 on the RPI, and the wifi at the same time, this is a known issue with them, you are best either to use a powered USB hub, plugged into one of the RPI ports, or an external wifi dongle instead of the built in wifi....also always use the 5ghz if using internal wifi and try it on Chanel 44...👍🏼

Edited April 23, 2021 by Stuart1971

[blameTECHIE]

I'm with @Stuart1971 on that - I've had issues with my RPI4 using wifi and pulling power through the USB ports (GPS dongle & another device was fine, then connecting a USB3.0 Camera had some random dropout of wifi issues) - adding a cheap powered USB3.0 7port hub from Amazon seemed to solve the problem and enough spare ports to power my dew heaters.

Though that was my second issue - the first was my home wifi channel was fine, but outside a neighbour was on the same channel and knocking out the signal, a quick walk around with an android app identified open channels and I just set up an AccessPoint to broadcast on that for outdoor use.

Edited April 23, 2021 by blameTECHIE
usb3.0 not usb2.0

[BCN_Sean]

I had a similar problem to this with one installation of Astroberry on a pair of Pi 4B, but not a problem on another installation.  In the end I tracked it down to having connected to a couple of local networks (I've got two WiFi networks in the apartment) and I'd also got the Astroberry Hotspot in the list; just going through and deleting the connections until one was left solved it.

[wsteel33]

22 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

If you are using the USB 3.0 on the RPI, and the wifi at the same time, this is a known issue with them, you are best either to use a powered USB hub, plugged into one of the RPI ports, or an external wifi dongle instead of the built in wifi....👍🏼

I am using the USB3 ports for my cameras.

The connection/wifi priorities seem to have sorted themselves out, I connected via ethernet and then it just seemed to stop prioritising its own hotspot 🤔.

I am rapidly coming to the conclusion many of you have suggested... stronger wifi, maybe a dongle

[wsteel33]

16 minutes ago, BCN_Sean said:

I had a similar problem to this with one installation of Astroberry on a pair of Pi 4B, but not a problem on another installation.  In the end I tracked it down to having connected to a couple of local networks (I've got two WiFi networks in the apartment) and I'd also got the Astroberry Hotspot in the list; just going through and deleting the connections until one was left solved it.

Thanks for this... I also had multiple networks due to powerline boosters, I have fixed that and changed all the boosters to clone my main network and I think it has helped a little. I now have one home network and the RPi astroberry hotspot as the only options. 👍

[wsteel33]

25 minutes ago, blameTECHIE said:

I'm with @Stuart1971 on that - I've had issues with my RPI4 using wifi and pulling power through the USB ports (GPS dongle & another device was fine, then connecting a USB3.0 Camera had some random dropout of wifi issues) - adding a cheap powered USB3.0 7port hub from Amazon seemed to solve the problem and enough spare ports to power my dew heaters.

Though that was my second issue - the first was my home wifi channel was fine, but outside a neighbour was on the same channel and knocking out the signal, a quick walk around with an android app identified open channels and I just set up an AccessPoint to broadcast on that for outdoor use.

I have a powered USB3 hub, I'll give that a go 👍

[rnobleeddy]

The Pi3/4 WiFi is generally solid enough for use in the house, so if it's still disconnecting when your using it in the house, there's definitely an issue! 

Outside, without any walls for the signal to bounce off, it's not unexpected that in certain orientations (e.g. behind a large metal telescope!) that there'll be some signal weak spots, so I agree that a dedicated USB WiFi adapter or a home-made aerial is a good idea. 

If I was starting again I'd attach my Pi on my mount rather than on a shelf that moves with the telescope!

 

 

[teoria_del_big_bang]

12 hours ago, Stuart1971 said:

f you are using the USB 3.0 on the RPI, and the wifi at the same time, this is a known issue with them, you are best either to use a powered USB hub, plugged into one of the RPI ports, or an external wifi dongle instead of the built in wifi....also always use the 5ghz if using internal wifi and try it on Chanel 44...👍🏼

This is great advice - putting the wifi on a designated channel and using 5gHz instead of letting the RPi decide stopped loads of similar issues for me. 
Have you tried this yet ?

I think that if you are not careful then if the RPi is left to select the best channel then sometimes it can swap channels and thats when the connection drops for a while, enough for the remote connection to drop out.

Steve

Edited April 24, 2021 by teoria_del_big_bang

[Stuart1971]

1 minute ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

This is great advice - putting the wifi on a designated channel and using 5gHz instead of letting the RPi decide stopped loads of similar issues for me. 
Have you tried this yet ?

I think that if you are not careful then if the RPi is left to select the best channel then sometimes it can swap channels and thata when the connection drops for a while, enough for the remote connection to drop out.

Steve

Exactly correct...

The wifi and the USB 3.0 share power on the RPI board, and are very close to each other, this was a design flaw, when one is in use it causes issue for the other,  I swapped to a USB 3.0 wifi dongle that works three times faster than the built in one, and never had an issue since....cost around £12...

[teoria_del_big_bang]

3 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

The wifi and the USB 3.0 share power on the RPI board, and are very close to each other, this was a design flaw, when one is in use it causes issue for the other,  I swapped to a USB 3.0 wifi dongle that works three times faster than the built in one, and never had an issue since....cost around £12...

I too bought a USB wifi dongle (as suggested by @Stuart1971 in a thread where I was having similar issues) and not looked back since.
It has never put a foot wrong since, the connection is much faster and have no issues over a 100 meters through a couple of walls.

THIS is the one I bought.

It was fairly straightforward to install on the RPi once I found the correct instructions and at moment on Amazon is £17 but well worth it as before I was often giving up with the wifi part way through a session and rolling out my 100M ethernet cable.

Steve

[wsteel33]

On 24/04/2021 at 11:10, teoria_del_big_bang said:

I too bought a USB wifi dongle (as suggested by @Stuart1971 in a thread where I was having similar issues) and not looked back since.
It has never put a foot wrong since, the connection is much faster and have no issues over a 100 meters through a couple of walls.

THIS is the one I bought.

It was fairly straightforward to install on the RPi once I found the correct instructions and at moment on Amazon is £17 but well worth it as before I was often giving up with the wifi part way through a session and rolling out my 100M ethernet cable.

Steve

Thanks Steve

Brilliant! Straight into the shopping basket 😃👍

[wsteel33]

On 24/04/2021 at 10:58, teoria_del_big_bang said:

This is great advice - putting the wifi on a designated channel and using 5gHz instead of letting the RPi decide stopped loads of similar issues for me. 
Have you tried this yet ?

I think that if you are not careful then if the RPi is left to select the best channel then sometimes it can swap channels and thats when the connection drops for a while, enough for the remote connection to drop out.

Steve

Thanks.. I have done this and forced 2.4GHz, I think it has helped.👍

[wsteel33]

On 24/04/2021 at 10:48, rnobleeddy said:

The Pi3/4 WiFi is generally solid enough for use in the house, so if it's still disconnecting when your using it in the house, there's definitely an issue! 

Outside, without any walls for the signal to bounce off, it's not unexpected that in certain orientations (e.g. behind a large metal telescope!) that there'll be some signal weak spots, so I agree that a dedicated USB WiFi adapter or a home-made aerial is a good idea. 

If I was starting again I'd attach my Pi on my mount rather than on a shelf that moves with the telescope!

 

 

Thanks.. I was thinking of putting a RPi on each of my two mounts and letting them live there rather than moving them with the scopes.

I think I will do this and I can see how this would help stability of the signal if the RPi isn't moving 👍

[teoria_del_big_bang]

1 minute ago, wsteel33 said:

Thanks.. I have done this and forced 2.4GHz, I think it has helped.👍

Is there a reason you went for the 2.4 Ghz and not 5 GHz ?

I think the 5Hz is less prone to interference form the USB ports (I think)

Steve

[wsteel33]

Just now, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Is there a reason you went for the 2.4 Ghz and not 5 GHz ?

I think the 5Hz is less prone to interference form the USB ports (I think)

Steve

Better range?. When I get the wifi dongle i think I will switch back.

[teoria_del_big_bang]

1 minute ago, wsteel33 said:

Thanks.. I was thinking of putting a RPi on each of my two mounts and letting them live there rather than moving them with the scopes.

I think I will do this and I can see how this would help stability of the signal if the RPi isn't moving 👍

I have mine on the mount leg.
I have a Pegasus PPBA  (not cheap mind) on the scope to connect all the gear USB's to and also the dew bands and then it just needs a 12V power cable going up to the scope and one USB 3 cable coming back to the RPi on the mount leg. The mount USB also goes directly back to the RPi.
Works like a dream and only 2 cables to loop round for movement of the scope, so setup real easy just put scope on mount and plug in 2 cables, switch RPi on and were away.

Also good ide not to have RPi on scope with that WiFi dongle it has a fair size aeriel.

Steve  

[teoria_del_big_bang]

9 minutes ago, wsteel33 said:

Better range?. When I get the wifi dongle i think I will switch back.

Ah okay, well yes if the 2.4 GHz works without interference then yes supposed to be better for range and 2.4 better for speed I think but just the fact the RPi is not switching channels will probably help.

Steve

[wsteel33]

16 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

I have mine on the mount leg.
I have a Pegasus PPBA  (not cheap mind) on the scope to connect all the gear USB's to and also the dew bands and then it just needs a 12V power cable going up to the scope and one USB 3 cable coming back to the RPi on the mount leg. The mount USB also goes directly back to the RPi.
Works like a dream and only 2 cables to loop round for movement of the scope, so setup real easy just put scope on mount and plug in 2 cables, switch RPi on and were away.

Also good ide not to have RPi on scope with that WiFi dongle it has a fair size aeriel.

Steve  

About to repurpose/modify a MiniATX power supply as a Power supply for the mount and all the cameras, dew heaters, RPi etc.. I will be taking photos as I go along and posing on the DIY projects threads on here when I am done. I think this will go well with the RPi mounted on the mount rather than the scope

[trailer]

On 24/04/2021 at 11:10, teoria_del_big_bang said:

I too bought a USB wifi dongle (as suggested by @Stuart1971 in a thread where I was having similar issues) and not looked back since.
It has never put a foot wrong since, the connection is much faster and have no issues over a 100 meters through a couple of walls.

THIS is the one I bought.

It was fairly straightforward to install on the RPi once I found the correct instructions and at moment on Amazon is £17 but well worth it as before I was often giving up with the wifi part way through a session and rolling out my 100M ethernet cable.

Steve

Looking for a bit of help with this dongle if I may. I have installed the drivers and it is coming up as wlan1 - typing 'iw dev' gives this correctly. I have created the network option similar to the one with the in built wifi device apart from choosing the wi-fi device as wlan1 as opposed to wlan0. However, it will not connect to any wi-fi, with 100 priority and even if I disable the in built wi-fi. I'm obviously doing something wrong but I can't figure out what it is. Grateful for any assistance please!! (RPi4 - Astroberry)

[teoria_del_big_bang]

6 minutes ago, trailer said:

Looking for a bit of help with this dongle if I may. I have installed the drivers and it is coming up as wlan1 - typing 'iw dev' gives this correctly. I have created the network option similar to the one with the in built wifi device apart from choosing the wi-fi device as wlan1 as opposed to wlan0. However, it will not connect to any wi-fi, with 100 priority and even if I disable the in built wi-fi. I'm obviously doing something wrong but I can't figure out what it is. Grateful for any assistance please!! (RPi4 - Astroberry)

A while since I did this but I am sure I can get you working.
I am also on Stellarmate but I do not think too much difference between them and if I cannot help I am sure @Stuart1971 can as he helped me with mine.
Let me power it up and see what I can do 🙂 

Steve