Pi 4 USB Wifi and wireless keyboard problems

[Atari2020]

I have a problem with my Pi 4 and my wireless keyboards, a Logitech 540 KB&M and the Canakit Oval micro KB&Pad, dropping and repeating characters when I use a TP Link 722 Wifi Adaptor. I have tried the Solaar Logitech driver and putting the dongles on a USB extension cable, using a 4 port hub and nothing helps.

I am wondering if there are any error log files or status report commands that would help me track down the problem. I am not a tech, but I have four decades of expirence so I understand the basics.

There are no problems with the same gear on the Pi 3, running Stretch. I have not tried upgrading the Pi 3 to Buster yet to see if it has the same problems.

Later Edit:

After looking into how to format an old SD and copy Noobs over and getting confused, I just put the orginal Noobs SD that I installed Buster from, and later copied to a 120gb SD, into my Pi 3 and booted it. It works perfect, with the software I had installed before I coppied it over, on the Pi 4.

AND... the KB&M and Wifi work perfectly as well. The issue is with the Pi 4 HARDWARE, not the OS or settings or the KBs and Wifi. There is something wrong with the USB on Pi 4, if the same software and perifierals on the Pi 3 work perfect.

I wonder what that means and how do I get that fixed?

[Nichwall]

Hi Atari2020,

I had the same keyboard problems with a wireless Microsoft keyboard.
For me was a problem of power consumption, as soon as I set free all the USB ports except for the keyboard receiver the issue disappeared.

In feature I will buy a more powerful power supply so i can drain more power from the USB ports without that the lightning bolt (the icon in the top-right corner meaning that the power isn’t enough) appears or any keyboard typing problems.

Cheers Nichwall.

[Atari2020]

It is not a power supply problem, I have the Canakit 3Amp PS, the best available. I am going to get a wired KB, the Official one naturally and see what happens. I also plan to use my phone as a Wifi hotspot and try it with the TP Link 722 and with the Wifi built into the Pi 4, that should tell me something.
Thanks for your suggestion.

[Atari2020]

This is an update on my problem. I got data for my phone and used it as a hotspot and used the built in wifi on my Pi 4 and 3. There were no issues with the wireless keyboards. The TP Link 722 usb wifi adaptor caused the same Keyboard problems when I connected with it. I will get contact TP Link and see if they know of the problem and have a fix and update this post.

I am getting a wired keyboard and will try that with the usb wifi and see if there is still a problem.

I would like to hear from anyone using a USB 3 high powered wifi adaptor with antenna connector on it like the TP Link 722. With more power on the USB they should be better than USB 2.

[AdultsOnly]

I would like to hear from anyone using a USB 3 high powered wifi adaptor with antenna connector on it like the TP Link 722. With more power on the USB they should be better than USB 2.

The problem of dropped or repeated keystrokes with the TP Link USB WiFi adapters and any type of keyboard still exists as of this posting (11/March/2020). It seems to affect multiple Devian-based operating systems for the Raspberry Pi. I have tested plain-vanilla Raspian downloaded within the last 24 hours with both wireless and wired keyboards and every combination of USB port types with no change to the behavior. The moment the TP Link WiFi adapter is removed, both types of keyboards behave as they should.

Current Specs [and alts]:

• Raspberry Pi 3 B+ [and Raspberry Pi 4 B]
• Raspian [and K---]
• Generic wired HP keyboard [and generic Dell wired, and a Logitech wireless keyboard]
• 2.5A R-Pi power supply
• TP Link TL-WN722N USB WiFi adapter with supplied antenna (not high-powered)

I'll keep digging on my end. If you hear from TP-Link, please post. I'll do likewise.

[alexandrozz]

Good morning all,
I am having the same problem.

any updates plz ?

[coltrane]

My experience:
It all started when installing the new Raspberry OS, I found I now needed a wifi dongle to get decent wifi signal. Using a TP- Link WN-722N dongle I started then to have the keyboard dropping/repeating characters issue. My keyboard is not wireless.
I went back to old Raspbian, because like this I have good wifi signal with no dongle.
I never got the thunderbolt alarm, so I don't think it's power related (raspberry 4B using the 3 amp official PSU) it must be some kind of RF interference or cross talking between the USB ports...

I used to have a Pi 3B+ and have the impression that the Pi 4 wifi is less sensitive, as I had a lot more networks detected in the neighborhood on the Pi 3. With Raspberry OS, the Pi4 became even less sensitive and impossible to use without the wifi dongle.