Raspberry Pi Forums

Hey guys
I am thinking of buying an aluminum cover. Wouldn't
that disturb the Raspberry (4b) wifi and Bluetooth signal?

Yes, a metal case can have a negative impact on the WiFi signal. Given the number of variables (distance from router/AP, number of nearby routers in your area etc) it's not possible to say if this will be a problem for you. To give you an idea here is a link to a review of the Argon Neo with WiFi results:

https://www.martinrowan.co.uk/2019/11/argon-neo/

richard_br_alves wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 15, 2019 2:31 am

Hey guys
I am thinking of buying an aluminum cover. Wouldn't
that disturb the Raspberry (4b) wifi and Bluetooth signal?

I am using a Flirc case for my 4B, and I run it headless over WiFi without any problems. However, it is just the other side of an interior wall from the fairly high-end WiFi access point which serves my house, so YMMV.

If you have a metal case with a large heat sink covering the computer then you can expect the WiFi signal to be reduced by 50% this does not mean your internet speed will decrease the WiFi will have a maximum download speed, use Ethernet if you needed to know the maximum internet speed that you can use on the RPI computer, you can check your internet speed using Google internet speed test:

https://www.google.com/search?q=speedte ... e&ie=UTF-8

Expect more latency with Bluetooth peripherals if you are using a metal case for example using Bluetooth headphones the audio will not be synchronized with the video, if you use a plastic case the Bluetooth latency should be minimal with better range.