1 Topic by infocastme (edited by infocastme 2014-04-14 20:02:25)

  • From: Arizona
  • Registered: 2012-05-17
  • Posts: 294

Topic: Wi-Fi Dongle replacement

I was getting ready to mod the USB Wi-Fi adapter to accept an external antenna when I came across this post about an alternate adapter http://forum.chumby.com/viewtopic.php?pid=27426#p27426. Just curious if it was still available somewhere, I found this site http://www.pcliquidations.com/p10293-sp … 2-11g-wlan that has them for $4.99 and less if you order more than one (starting with 2-3 for $3.99 and gets better with qreater quantity) with free shipping.

I ordered 5 and it cost a whopping $17.45 with shipping. (yes I have that many units!)

I will update when I receive them and install them.

Duane, this might be a good investment if you need replacement Wi-Fi dongles.

Below is the particular post from ymelord

Found a Working WiFi Dongle
Finally, and this thing is great! Much better range and signal strength. Ordered from http://www.oxfordtec.com/
SparkLAN WL-685R WLAN 802.11g 54Mbps Wireless USB Dongle (Ralink RT2571WF) $15.99 +sh
Just plugged it in and restarted, can finally use the Chumby more than 20 ft from the wireless router (actually it's 50ft now, through several walls...
wlan0     IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:"Home"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: 00:22:75:A1:5D:68
          Bit Rate=36 Mb/s   Tx-Power=5 dBm
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=36/70  Signal level=-74 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

  • Registered: 2011-10-12
  • Posts: 326

Re: Wi-Fi Dongle replacement

Interesting. 
Mine all say TPLINK on my network.

MAC ADDRESS  D8:5D:4C

I wonder if those will work?  I assume you decided they are the same chip?

  • From: Arizona
  • Registered: 2012-05-17
  • Posts: 294

Re: Wi-Fi Dongle replacement

Steevo wrote:

Interesting. 
Mine all say TPLINK on my network.

MAC ADDRESS  D8:5D:4C

I wonder if those will work?  I assume you decided they are the same chip?

They have the RT2571WF chipset which is compatible with the chumby software

  • From: Arizona
  • Registered: 2012-05-17
  • Posts: 294

Re: Wi-Fi Dongle replacement

The adapters came quickly and I installed one to make sure it was compatible. Sure enough all is good in Chumbyland.
The signal is stronger than the original. I will post some info on a comparison with the other Chumbys (I3) and swapping the original with the replacement in one unit for a comparison.

I am still going to mod an original adapter with an external antenna and see how that compares as well.

All in all, I think this was a very good investment!

5 Reply by infocastme (edited by infocastme 2014-04-21 04:49:42)

  • From: Arizona
  • Registered: 2012-05-17
  • Posts: 294

Re: Wi-Fi Dongle replacement

Quick Update

I have a Linksys E2000 wireless router in my home office which is on a second floor in the back of the house. I was averaging a 65% link quality @ -72 db signal level all around the house including the garage. Because of the strong signal, I took the I3 outside to see what kind of signal I would get. It never dipped below 55%! It bounced a few times above 60% but it was rock solid. This was at the front of the house with the router on the backside of the house.

  • From: Somewhere on or near Earth
  • Registered: 2009-12-16
  • Posts: 774

Re: Wi-Fi Dongle replacement

Good to know there is an inexpensive source in case any user needs a new wifi dongle.

Tar, feathers, congress. Some assembly required.

BoloMKXXVIII's Website

7 Reply by pearmaster (edited by pearmaster 2014-05-01 20:12:31)

  • Registered: 2011-01-13
  • Posts: 31

Re: Wi-Fi Dongle replacement

I bought one of these to plug into my I8 which had its internal wifi fail.  The usb dongle seemed to be recognized, but looks like it is stuck with WEP security.  These are the steps I took to reproduce:

Boot I8 with wifi dongle
Select to create a new connection (instead of using existing connection)
I8 finds several access points.
I choose my own access point which has WPA2 Person security.
enter the passphrase
choose Automatic (DHCP) IP assignment
On the "Network Configuration: Confirm Settings" page, it displays "auth: WEPAUTO encryption: WEP"
It spins for a while to connect but fails

Particularly alarming is that it says it is using WEP security when I'm connecting it to WPA2 Personal.

This is only true when creating a new connection.  When I plug the dongle into a device which had an existing network connection all set up, it seems to be able to use the existing connection settings just fine.

8 Reply by infocastme (edited by infocastme 2014-05-02 08:12:50)

  • From: Arizona
  • Registered: 2012-05-17
  • Posts: 294

Re: Wi-Fi Dongle replacement

pearmaster wrote:

I bought one of these to plug into my I8 which had its internal wifi fail.  The usb dongle seemed to be recognized, but looks like it is stuck with WEP security.......This is only true when creating a new connection.  When I plug the dongle into a device which had an existing network connection all set up, it seems to be able to use the existing connection settings just fine.

Interesting. I will see if it is reproducible on the I3. I have been using the existing connection and not had to make a new one.

If you have another unit with a stock wifi dongle, use it to make the connection and then replace it with the new one.

I will be happy to send you the stock one from the I3 if you need it.

  • Registered: 2011-01-13
  • Posts: 31

Re: Wi-Fi Dongle replacement

Actually, my plan is to copy over the /psp/network_config files from another chumby.

I'll probably put the files on a usb flash drive with a debugchumby script to copy them to /psp.