bb1 dropping wifi link

[bennyb]

My BB1 is lately dropping its wifi connection regularly in a position where it was usually ok before - same room as a B2, which works fine, and my laptop, which also works fine. Signal strength reads 65 dbm with a little fluctuation.

I do live in a rural area where the power supply flutters a little, though we haven't recently had an actual outage - which is recorded by my cooker clock resetting to zeros.

Is this a common problem? Is there any way of improving the connection to the router? And  it would be a big help if I did not have to key in the full password  to reset the wifi every time, using the BB1 buttons to laboriously scroll to one digit at a time. Any ideas?

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi bennyb,

I am not a BB1 user but 65dbm seems a little high (a lower number is better). You cant plug a BB1 into the Ethernet unfortunately and it is portable. You say the problem has started recently? Have you brought anything new electrical wise into your home 

(this could be causing interference) - do you have any neighbours that may have changed their WiFi - this could be "overlapping" the WiFi band you are using.

Also try a hard (power off wait a min then power on) reboot of your router and see if it is possible to raise its position so that it antennae are higher than they were (physically).

Fred

[bennyb]

Thanks. The neighbour wi-fis thing is a possible. I have noticed several new networks within range. What would I do about that?

[JFBUK]

Hi,

there are some things you could try, all are aimed at boosting the Wi-Fi signal strength the BB1 can see.

1. Move the BB1 closer to your router (not necessarily convenient)

2. Run a wired connection to the BB1 (not necessarily convenient ) and you would need a USB ethernet adaptor similar to this

Ugreen USB Ethernet adaptor 

3. Install a Wi-Fi extender that would give you an access point closer to the BB1

The one I have is not currently available on Amazon (where I bought it) but there are others

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08CMN64XX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I think the BB1's Wi-Fi antenna is internal (on the motherboard) and I don't know whether the BB1 will recognize an alternative Wi-Fi connection via a USB Wi-Fi dongle  ?  

Hopefully a BB1 owner can confirm if it does ?

If it does then ...

4. Fitting a USB Wi-Fi dongle onto a short USB extension cable, plug the one end of the lead into the BB1 and position the end with the dongle to get a better signal

5. A dongle with an RT5370 type with built-in antenna - an example here - link - might also work plugged  into the USB port on the BB1

There are other ways to boost the signal , including installing a router on your network that can deliver a stronger Wi-Fi signal, but these are more involved and pricey.

John

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi John, 

As I said I do not own a BB1 but I thought that that device used its own built in WiFi adapter that comes as part of the Pi Zero inside it ? If I am wrong please correct me!

--------------------

Hi Benny

Your router should have this sort of "Advanced" setup option

Where mine (above) is set to auto select the WiFi channel it will use  (which is why simply rebooting it can help - it may detect a channel conflict and switch for you!) but you can override that and actually select

the channel you want it to use.

This summary may help

https://www.actiontec.com/wifihelp/tip-check-channel-conflict-wireless-network/

Fred 

[JFBUK]

Hi Fred,

that is correct. 

You may have seen my deleted post which I managed to hit send on before editing after a cut and paste :(   - now corrected

They have made the antenna part of the motherboard but what I don't know is whether the Brennan BB1 software will recognize an external Wi-Fi dongle and can use it to connect to a network.

It will recognize a USB ethernet adaptor 

John

[bennyb]

Excellent chaps. Thanks. Will report back later.

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi John,

FYI yes it would recognise an external WiFi adapter plugged into a USB port, that would be detected as Linux booted, but you would then have 2 WiFis - not a good idea!

Fred

[J Rathbone]

Hi bennyb

You ask “it would be a big help if I did not have to key in the full password  to reset the wifi every time, using the BB1 buttons to laboriously scroll to one digit at a time. Any ideas?“ and the answer’s Yes!

BB1 stores your router logon password - several in fact, if you travel a lot - so no need to “laboriously scroll to one digit at a time”. Instead, when you lose connection (the clock display disappears) do this:

- press the knob (displays shows Main Menu)

- move cursor to Settings & Tools

- press knob 

- move cursor to Setup Wifi

- press knob (display shows “Scanning” then goes to Pick Network 

- move cursor to your router (may already be at the top)

- press knob (takes you to the “laboriously scroll to one digit at a time” screen - DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING! just look at the button next to the knob labelled “Next”)

- press Next button

- display shows “Connecting” then goes to Main Menu

- press Back button - clock display returns confirming connection restored

Job done!

Good luck

Jim

[bennyb]

Top tip indeed! Thanks Jim.