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On 24/11/13 23:11, Julian Hall wrote:
On 24/11/13 21:28, Gordon Henderson wrote:Thanks Gordon.. I do actually have a USB extension lead.. I think it's a metre or so.. I'll dig it out and give it a try. As I said in the original mail I did use Wifi Analyzer and the signal strength is good.. no other detected networks; not surprising as I live in a detached bungalow and the couple one side don't go on the Internet - at least I've never detected another network, other than the family the other side whose network isn't detected very often, and I've set my channel as far from theirs as possible.On Sun, 24 Nov 2013, Julian Hall wrote:It suggests the problem is power to the Pi's USB, and with both wireless keyboard and WiFi dongle it's sucking too much for the WiFi to perform properly.Not neccessarily.With power issues, things will either work or not work. It's rare (on the Pi) to get a grey area like this. You would be seeing the Pi rebooting or the dongles powering up then down - with the resulting messages in the log-file (which I presume you've checked)What's more likely to be happening is that your wireless keyboard/mouse interface is basically shite and spewing forth garbage all over the 2.4GHz spectrum. Sadly this is not uncommon and I've seen it before.I'd move the wireless dongle OR the Wi-Fi adapter (or both) physically far away from each other. Get a USB extension lead and put one at the end of it. It probably doesn't matter which one, but put it at least a meter away, if possible.Also run (or get) a phone app called Wi-Fi Analyzer, and pick the least congested channel for your access point, if you've not already done so - the problem here is that it will not pickup the wireless keyboard dongle as it's not using Wi-Fi, but will be using its own proprietary spread spectrum protocol. (and spewing all over the entire 2.4Ghz spectrum)GordonKind regards, Julian
Hi,Update on the Wireless keyboard / WiFi issue. For reasons known only to itself the keyboard stopped working on any kit here.. Pi, and PC in all three OSs so I figured it had died - new batteries made no difference. A friend took it down his house and it worked flawlessly, and he brought it back here last Saturday. Without changing a single thing it decided to now work. Annoyed doesn't come close, but back to the original problem.
I located a USB extension lead /and/ a powered hub. I plugged these both into the Pi in the following configurations:
Pi: Keyboard dongle direct connection to Pi USB extension lead between Pi and hub WiFi dongle connected to hub Pi: Keyboard dongle direct connection to Pi Hub connected directly to Pi. USB extension from hub to WiFi dongleI haven't tried the WiFi dongle on the Pi and keyboard dongle on the hub, didn't think it would make much difference.
Tests carried out in my bedroom with the wireless router on top of the wardrobe about 7 feet from the Pi.
The result was a separation of about 2.5 - 3 feet between both dongles, although if I stretched all the wires out it could probably be about six feet or so. Performance did then improve, but only in the matter of reading individual files. Up to 1Mb JPGs take only a few seconds to open at most, although above that and you are sitting waiting impatiently for some time. There is still an unacceptable - to me - time lag of at least a minute or two while folder contents are read before the Pi opens the folder and updates itself, often up to five minutes. Is there some way to instruct the Pi (in Raspbmc) not to waste time reading the contents of the folder prior to opening it? The kind of content I am referring to incidentally at this point is purely picture files, and it doesn't seem to matter how many there are or what size, it still takes ages to open the folders.
Failing a major increase in reading folders I think WiFi is looking like a dead duck. I also think it's possible that the combination of USB2 and WiFi just isn't cutting it in this application.
At this point I have an ever increasing mass of wires and power outlets in use for very little increase in performance, and that in itself is a limiting factor as to how workabel this will be in the lounge. A mass of wires and plugs under the TV will not be an acceptable solution to the female parent for whose benefit this is being done, quite apart from my own dislike of the scenario.
Julian -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq