Libreelec/pi/RTL8188 wifi dongle - wifi issues

1st Official Post

    I recently moved a libreelec pi2 to a room without UTP. I have sourced a RTL8188 USB wifi dongle, I am no expert but through this forum and links to compatablity lists I think that would have been a save bet (happy to be proved wrong, open to suggestions for worryfree alternatives).

    Wifi with this dongle has been far from trouble free. After every reboot the wifi connection is listed as failed. If I then connect it will connect but I never know how long that stays working.

    I already changed the network timeout on boot to 30s.

    Just tried to move a backup file (400mb) ov er Wifi to my laptop and I never succeeded in downloading the file. I moved it to a room with UTP just to get it done.

    Searching here i found the lsusb -v command.

    Happy to post logs but am now connected to UTP in order to download them so advice appreciated on what to "do" while logging is on. Assume unplug UTP, try to connect, have it fail a few times and then connect via UTP to get the log?


    Edited once, last by jaspov (January 24, 2020 at 2:19 PM).

    • Official Post

    User posts about low-quality Realtek device delivering low-quality performance. LE staff feign surprise and advise user that the $2 USB wireless thing they purchased is garbage. User asks for officially supported and recomended alternative cheap USB wireless devices. LE staff refuse to recommend anything because all the cheap USB wireless stuff you can find is similar garbage. LE staff recommend a wireless bridge that presents Ethernet to the RPi2. User protests that $20 (for a used Apple A1rport express on eBay) is an outrageous idea and makes pithy comments about our decision to not add more low-quality realtek drivers to our distro (so they can purchase the latest expensive USB Realtek wireless garbage instead of older cheap garbage). Eventually user gives up and gets a wireless bridge that just works and the pithy comments stop.

    ^ is usually how these threads play out..

    Quote from chewitt

    User posts about low-quality Realtek device delivering low-quality performance. LE staff feign surprise and advise user that the $2 USB wireless thing they purchased is garbage. User asks for officially supported and recomended alternative cheap USB wireless devices. LE staff refuse to recommend anything because all the cheap USB wireless stuff you can find is similar garbage. LE staff recommend a wireless bridge that presents Ethernet to the RPi2. User protests that $20 (for a used Apple A1rport express on eBay) is an outrageous idea and makes pithy comments about our decision to not add more low-quality realtek drivers to our distro (so they can purchase the latest expensive USB Realtek wireless garbage instead of older cheap garbage). Eventually user gives up and gets a wireless bridge that just works and the pithy comments stop.

    ^ is usually how these threads play out..

    Thanks chewitt, will skip a few steps and look at a bridge ;)

    Fully see your point, and appreciate all the hard work done by you and many others.

    Have been googling a bit more and in the mean time found my error of opting for Realtek, only recall finding realtek on a compatibility list somewhere. Wish I had stumbled upon the bridge earlier but was probably googling for dongles and never found it because of that narrow scope.

    Update: Apple device is now running. Looked for adds and found one 950m from here :) So far so good!

    Edited 2 times, last by jaspov: typo (January 26, 2020 at 6:52 PM).

    I was also having WIFI issues. My RPI4 is running LE 9.2.3 and I have the country code properly set. However, I still don't see the 5Ghz band and I suspect my FLIRC case is interfering so I am getting some pretty low throughput on 2.4.

    I decided to go the bridge route and now I am getting great speeds. If anyone is interested, I bought this unit and so far I'm quite happy:

    Wireless Portable Wifi Repeater/Bridge/AP Modes, VONETS VAP11G-300, Pocket Design 300mbps Multi-Functional AP Signal Booster, Plug & Play High Power Wifi Hotspot Extender Amplifier, USB Powered: Amazon.ca: Electronics

    Cheers.

    Quote from chewitt

    User posts about low-quality Realtek device delivering low-quality performance. LE staff feign surprise and advise user that the $2 USB wireless thing they purchased is garbage. User asks for officially supported and recomended alternative cheap USB wireless devices. LE staff refuse to recommend anything because all the cheap USB wireless stuff you can find is similar garbage. LE staff recommend a wireless bridge that presents Ethernet to the RPi2. User protests that $20 (for a used Apple A1rport express on eBay) is an outrageous idea and makes pithy comments about our decision to not add more low-quality realtek drivers to our distro (so they can purchase the latest expensive USB Realtek wireless garbage instead of older cheap garbage). Eventually user gives up and gets a wireless bridge that just works and the pithy comments stop.

    ^ is usually how these threads play out..

    chewitt OK, can you officially confirm RTL8188 is not supported?

    What about using storage firmware folder to drop a driver?

    Ran across this thread while trying to find out if a wireless dongle I was considering would work with my Raspberry Pi Kodi. I took this advice and bought an airport express.

    I don't recommend this. My Kodi now has access over it's ethernet port to my wifi, but I cannot connect to the Kodi device since it's hidden behind the aiport express on an isolated network. It looks pretty, but my one and only apply product purchase is so far pretty disappointing.

    If the devices are hidden behind NAT you configured the APX incorrectly. If you configure it as a wireless bridge, everything will be visible.