Extending RPi WiFi range

Audio Gear Talk RoPieee
1

I am going to build one more Roon Bridge consisting of a Raspberry Pi 4B running RoPieee. I already have three others working fine. Those three are connected using an Ethernet cable to my local LAN. However, for this new one, I don’t think I’ll be able to use a wired network connection, so will have to use WiFi.

To complicate matters, the location is going to quite far from my broadband router. Thus, has anyone improved the WiFi reception and transmission range of a Raspberry Pi using an external USB antenna or similar? If so, did the RPi/RoPieee work fine as a Roon Bridge?

2

Might be an idea to try a wifi extender. Even if Ropieee connects, if signal is poor, you may experience dropouts or hear clicks and pops, AND anyway have trouble controlling Roon from a tablet/phone.

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3

Or even use the extender as a “reciever” and then run an Ethernet cable from the extender to the RPi

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4

I’ve had success with two different methods. The first is to use wifi extenders or mesh network. I use Google WiFi devices in my home. In two rooms of my home I just connect the raspi to the Google wifi device by ethernet. In a third room I use this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P5PRK7J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 wifi antenna with the raspi. Raspi cases seem to attenuate the wifi signal to some extent and I found that this antenna solves the problem for that raspi.

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5

I’ll be using a Flirc case for this new RPi. Do you know if that antenna works with RoPieee?

6

You didn’t say exactly how far you will be from the router but I use this one with two of my Pi’s, a 3B and a 4: https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-desktop-10-9-10-14-Archer-T2U/dp/B07P5PRK7J/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1RPCK3SAGY83X&dchild=1&keywords=tp+link+ac600+usb+wifi+adapter&qid=1633978636&sprefix=TP+link+ac600%2Caps%2C218&sr=8-3

Also using a Flirc case. I’ve never had a problem with the wifi so it seems to work well. Now I see there is a newer version which I haven’t tried, but it should work as well.

7

Thanks to a recommendation from Harry, I’ve just successfully fixed WiFi issues on my Ropieee Pi4 by using a WiFi bridge: Vonets VAP11G-300. Main downsides are the increased footprint and the ‘disco lightshow’ from the Vonets’ indicating LEDs in a room with low lighting.

I also notice that by disabling the onboard Wi-Fi, an annoying interference that was being injected into the audio path has been eradicated.

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8

Hi David! I’m planning to add a third rpi4 with ropieee in my house. This one with a wifi connexion. I’ll need a TP-Link Archer. Question: how do you setup an archer on a rpi4 with ropieee? Thx for help :-).

9

Hi PAGo. Unfortunately I’m no expert on this.

When you say Archer, to which exact Archer product are you referring?

I did try using a USB WiFi (stick) adapter on the RPi, but it wasn’t plug and play, so I gave up quickly and used the Vonets bridge, which seemed easier (but not absolutely trivial) to setup.

The Ropieee ‘change log’ part of the website lists USB WiFi sticks that Harry knows are compatible. However, I couldn’t easily find details of how to use them.