Maestro Wireless drops packets

len

Tried two different wireless routers. Maestro will start green, then go red, yellow. It is dropping packets.  I am right next to the router,so not a signal strength issue. No other wifi device has any issues. Any thoughts??

Al K0VM

One thing to consider it that the continuous stream of data that Flex puts through a router  is more demanding of a router than may other devices.

AL, K0VM

Mike va3mw

Len

You'll find lots of discussion about Wifi and the Maestro in the community.  Some dropped packets are normal, and in fact, I bet you drop packets all the time, but nothing reported on it before.  

I wrote a long article on it about 2-3 weeks ago to help explain what does happen.  Playing with your Maestro is like using VoIP phone or in some regards, streaming video to a laptop/tablet from Netflixs.  

Even being close to your AP isn't always the answer to a problem when it comes to Wifi.  802.11 Wifi is designed to share the channel with other things.  I call it the wild wild west.  

You may have to look under the covers a bit to figure out what is happening.  Not all wireless routers stream data as well as others.  

My old Linksys WRT54G running DD-WRT did not play well on 2.4Ghz wifi.  In fact, it was down right bad.  

Are you able to test with 5Ghz wifi at all?

Mike va3mw
Alpha Team.

len

I dont have 5Ghz. I can run SmartSDR on a wireless laptop all day long with no issues.  Why would Maestro be any different?  Again, I tried with two different wireless APs. Same result.

Mike va3mw

You aren't going to like my answer.    

Different types of Wifi cards and drives.  This, sadly is reality.  I suspect (and 100% guessing) that your laptop can run 2x2 MIMO or maybe 3x2.  I'm not sure what the Maestro has in it for a Wifi card.  You can search on Wifi MIMO to understand about it and multi-path.  

As an example, I have an iPad and an iPhone.  On the same AP's, at my cottage,  one works fine and the other one won't connect and keeps telling me that I have the wrong password.

Both are made by Apple.  

These are the nightmares I would run into when I did commercial Wifi installations for a living.  It was ugly.  

I wish I had a much better answer.  

Mike va3mw

len

Some useful experiments:
I connected a IOGEAR Universal Wireless-n Adapter model GWU627 to Maestro ethernet port.  Near perfect response. Ran for 30 minutes and had 6 lost packets out of 365800 packets. I even tried adding additional wireless network traffic (youtube videos, etc) and it kept a super good connection. 

Now I am back to the Maestro wireless connection. Defiantly more packet loss with the built-in wireless.

I am due to upgrade the wireless router, so I  will be shopping. What works well for everyone?

Len

Norm - W7CK

I have 3 different WRT54Gs all running Tomato software.  They are flawless and I can run 2 panadapters on my laptop from anywhere in my house as well as on the back patio.

If the Maestro isn't able to do this, then there is something wrong with the configuration of your router, or the Maestro wifi chipset.   It bothers me that there are a number of people reporting issues with dropped packets while using their Maestro.

I can even surf the internet from my laptop while I have 2 panadapters open to my Flex.  All over wifi.

This talk of buying a different wifi router just to use the Maestro doesn't make sense to me since my laptop has absolutely no issues at all and that's on 2.4Ghz.

Norm - W7CK

Mark K9BOO

I expected the same performance as Norm, but I too am getting sputters (lost packets) which would make serious CW copy problematic.  I tried both my 2.4 and 5Ghz networks with identical, "iffy" results.

Since my testing environment is arguably the worst WiFi environment (e.g . 2.4Ghz has 10+ different networks within range), I probably am not a good example.

Still, it is interesting that I get the same sputters on my 5Ghz network too.

Of course, if I reduce to one panadapter and  I turn my "FPS" and "Rate" down low (too low for my use), I get pretty consistent audio on at least one band at a time.

To be clear, I'm not bashing my Maestro.  There are quite a few variables--some beyond the control of a client like Maestro--within a wireless network environment.  And, as I wrote, my WiFi environment is poor. 

I suspect there will be some resolution.  And, I sincerely believe earnest and respectful posts like I have read so far will help flesh out any issues and ultimately contribute to their ultimate resolution.

So, for that reason, I again thank the FlexRadio user community for their participation and contribution. 

Mark K9BOO

Mike va3mw

Make sure you 5Ghz router is not using 80Mhz channels.  We have seen better success with 40Mhz channels.  Also, make sure you have Jumbo frames turned off.

I am testing on an AC1600 and it has been flawless on 5Ghz.  Since my 2.4Ghz world is so noisy, it was not even usable.

Mike va3mw

Bob KN4HH

I am using a Asus RT-AC87R dual band wireless router.  It plays well with all applications.  Here is a curve on this issue.  I also have a wireless issue with my Maestro.  However, quite by accident, I discovered that if I remove the Mogix battery from the Maestro and use the supplied DC power supply, the wifi indicator goes all green.  If I replace the battery pack and remove the DC plug, the wifi indicator goes down to one red bar.  Plug the DC supply back in and the wifi goes all green.  I have tried this with a fully charged battery and works for about an hour.  Then the wifi performance takes a nosedive.  I do not have any issue when using external dc. 

Dejavu allover again.  What can I say.

K0UNX

Aha!  NEXT: lets see if it is a battery POWER issue, OR if the BATTERY COVERS THE WI-FI ANTENNA.  Try powering it from the power supply WHILE THE BATTERY IS IN THE COMPARTMENT.  I'll be all ears!

Mike va3mw

As a test, I upgraded an older WRT54G router from DD-WRT to Tomato firmware.  I non-scientific guess feels it is a bit better, but time will tell.

This is running the Maestro remote and I am seeing about 0.04% packet loss (not that I can hear the difference).   

At the far end, my upload speed is about 1mb/s.  I do drop my frame rate down to about 1/3 scale.

If you are having drop out issues, try touching <DISPLAY and sliding your Rate: down to about 1/3rd.

Mike va3mw

len

I dont have a battery.

len

My tests were with Tomato firmware. I will test with DD-WRT too.

Burch - K4QXX

Interesting.  I have a new Asus router running on 5GHZ that will not work with Maestro but I believe it is set to 80Mhz channels.  I will try 40Mhz tonight and see if that fixes.

Burch
K4QXX

Steve (N9SKM)

Or if it is a switchmode noise issue from the pack. Seems more likely than a power issue or a product that has an antenna designed behind a battery pack location in my opinion.

Burch Akin

Tried the 40MHZ channels on my Asus router and still the same issue.  Maestro is not usable with this router (Asus AC87U).

Lee

Ok...so what happened with the battery tests??

External power with battery in place??

Lee

Dave - W6OVP

> I will test with DD-WRT too.

Please let us know the results. That's why I'm running and plan to use with Maestro. TNX.

Mike va3mw

I just posted a bunch stuff about this.  The 'quick' fix might be to invest $100 or so on a new router.  I found the TP-Link AC1750 Archer C7 worked flawlessy.  You can find it on Amazon.  Just make sure you update the firmware on the router once you get it.    


Right now, I have 106M packets on 2.4Ghz and only 47 dropped.  

Mike va3mw