Raspberry Pi 3A+ WiFi issue

Help setting up WiFi
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DB6BD
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Raspberry Pi 3A+ WiFi issue

Post by DB6BD »

I got myself a Raspberrym Pi 3A+ because it fits so neatly to the size of the MMDVM_HS_DUAL_HAT board size. Unfortunately there is an issue with the 3A+'s WLAN configuration. The Pi-Star loaded hotspot boots into Auto AP mode during first startup, which is just fine. But once you configure any home WLAN access, Pi-Star will keep booting into Auto AP mode. Additionally to that, the AP performance is very poor after that. Sometimes the dashboard or any other Pi-Star page loads incompletely or not at all until you retry a couple of times.

The RasPi 3A+ itself runs fine without an hickups at all. I just installed the latest Buster release, configured my home WLAN and downloaded tons of updates without any trouble. Actually I am writing this e-mail on that very RasPi 3A+. ;)

Kind regards,

Dennis
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KE0FHS
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Re: Raspberry Pi 3A+ WiFi issue

Post by KE0FHS »

I've experienced this same issue when running 4.1.0-RC2 or 3, including AP not working well on subsequent power ups. I still have a copy of 4.0.0-RC4 and have downgraded to that for my 3A+ hotspots, and that works just fine. I still need 4.1 for my RPi 4B hotspot, though. Once in awhile, my 4B hotspot connects on the first power up. I have a Nextion screen attached via USB, so can monitor status via that. If it doesn't connect within a couple minutes, I just power it off and back on. Usually, it will connect on the second or third try, but it has taken as many as six power ups.

FYI, we're also discussing this issue on another thread: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2049
Last edited by KE0FHS on Tue Oct 08, 2019 9:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
73, Toshen, KE0FHS
Playing with Pi-Star (unofficial notes about setting up and using Pi-Star):
https://amateurradionotes.com/pi-star.htm
DB6BD
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Re: Raspberry Pi 3A+ WiFi issue

Post by DB6BD »

Thank you for the hint. I kept rebooting about 20 times until it worked. This is not a solution, but a slow workaround. I hope this gets fixed, soon.

Kind regards,
Dennis
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Re: Raspberry Pi 3A+ WiFi issue

Post by KE0FHS »

DB6BD wrote: Wed Aug 21, 2019 9:25 pm I hope this gets fixed, soon.
Me, too! If you have the capability with your router, choose the 2.4 GHz band for now, and make sure your router doesn't automatically try to kick the connection with the RPi up to 5.0 GHz (my router senses the capability of the device, and the RPi 3A+, 3B+, and 4B are all capable of 5.0 GHz).
Last edited by KE0FHS on Tue Oct 08, 2019 9:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
73, Toshen, KE0FHS
Playing with Pi-Star (unofficial notes about setting up and using Pi-Star):
https://amateurradionotes.com/pi-star.htm
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Re: Raspberry Pi 3A+ WiFi issue

Post by DB6BD »

Hi Toshen,

Interesting. My RasPi 3A+ seems to have no issues with 5 GHz WLAN. If it connects to my WLAN at all, it connects using the 5 GHz band.

And as I wrote in my initial posting, running Raspian Buster on the RasPi 3A+ has no WLAN issues at all.

So it seems to be something not yet covered in the pi-star image/config.

Kind regards,
Dennis
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Re: Raspberry Pi 3A+ WiFi issue

Post by KE0FHS »

DB6BD wrote: Wed Aug 21, 2019 11:26 pm Interesting. My RasPi 3A+ seems to have no issues with 5 GHz WLAN. If it connects to my WLAN at all, it connects using the 5 GHz band.
Ah, the mystery deepens! I also have no issue with my RPi 4B running Raspbian Buster connecting to my network. But I have issues with my hotspots running Pi-Star 4.1 connecting to my network when I try to use the 5.0 GHz option. Something will shake out eventually!
Last edited by KE0FHS on Tue Oct 08, 2019 9:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
73, Toshen, KE0FHS
Playing with Pi-Star (unofficial notes about setting up and using Pi-Star):
https://amateurradionotes.com/pi-star.htm
DB6BD
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Re: Raspberry Pi 3A+ WiFi issue

Post by DB6BD »

Sorry, I wan't 100 % clear. Both, Raspbian and Pi-Star use Buster. But yes, using Raspbian, WLAN works without hickups, while in the Pi-Star 4.1.0 RC3 on my Raspberry Pi 3A+ hardware has issues connecting to my home WLAN. I do not see this problen, when I put the same micro SD card with the Pi-Star image into a Raspberry Pi 3B+.

Kind regards,
Dennis
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Re: Raspberry Pi 3A+ WiFi issue

Post by ea7gwc »

DB6BD wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 9:18 am Sorry, I wan't 100 % clear. Both, Raspbian and Pi-Star use Buster. But yes, using Raspbian, WLAN works without hickups, while in the Pi-Star 4.1.0 RC3 on my Raspberry Pi 3A+ hardware has issues connecting to my home WLAN. I do not see this problen, when I put the same micro SD card with the Pi-Star image into a Raspberry Pi 3B+.
Hi, the same thing happens to me with PI3 A +
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Re: Raspberry Pi 3A+ WiFi issue

Post by DB6BD »

Hi,

We're down the road at Version 4.1.0 RC6, but still the same issue. :(

Dennis
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Re: Raspberry Pi 3A+ WiFi issue

Post by ea7gwc »

DB6BD wrote: Wed Oct 02, 2019 4:33 am Hi,

We're down the road at Version 4.1.0 RC6, but still the same issue. :(
You can try version 4.0.0.rc4 is better
with PI3 a +

http://download.pistar.uk/Pi-Star_RPi_V ... y-2019.zip
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