mrboldt
Posts: 26
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2016 2:09 am

Dual Band Wireless Adapter, TP-LINK TL-WDN4200

Sat Oct 22, 2016 9:58 pm

Raspberry Pi 3
SD Card: Samsung EVO Plus, 32Gb
Power Supply: 5v@2.4a
OS: Raspbian, Jessie
dist-upgrade 10/21/16
USB: WiFi Dual Band Adapter - https://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WDN42 ... ss+adapter

Project (did I get this right?): Dual Band Mode with hostapd.

Opening comments:
1) Works out of the box in client mode, 2.4 and 5 GHz.
2) Excellent appearance. Nice!
3) 3' usb cable for optimum placement.
4) I would add shrink tubing at the usb to adapter connection.
5) Runs cool to the touch.
6) I suspect the adapter has one radio. Waiting confirmation from tech support but, we know this is the case.

The not so good part, Raspbian, Jessie:
Going from memory here but, this is reproducible. Ran through it three times.
1) AP already established, 2.4 GHz on motherboard, with hostapd. Excellent performance!
2) Power down and add adapter.
3) Client mode operates as expected.
4) "Turn Off WiFi". All WiFi dead.
5) Power down, hard boot.
6) Remove WiFi adapter cable.
7) Power up and origional AP is dead! Toggle on and off, dead.
8) Power down, hard boot.
9) Re-install usb cable and power up.
10) Motherboard AP back on-line. Usb WiFi still dead.
11) Power down, hard boot.
12) All back on-line.

Most likely I will edit the trouble shooting but, some thing isn't right here. Inexperienced people will be chasing their tails needlessly. This isn't the TP-LINK TL-WDN4200.

I still need to work on AP mode with hostapd but, I got side tracked.
EET (Electronic Engineering Technology), TAC/ABET accredited

mrboldt
Posts: 26
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2016 2:09 am

Re: Dual Band Wireless Adapter, TP-LINK TL-WDN4200

Wed Oct 26, 2016 3:34 am

Confirmed by tech support. One radio, 5GHz or 2.4GHz What I haven't seen is 450Mb/s on either band. However, I have been on channel 153 @ 30dbm. Android OS and apps can't see the higher channels...so I think. Needs more research. Waiting on TP-Link for further tech support on speed issues. Should be interesting...or not.

Router/AP Dual Band on-line. What is dual band exactly? You make the call.

2.4 GHz @ 72 Mb/s and 5 GHz @ 150 Mb/s

The key is multiple instances of hostapd:

sudo nano /etc/default/hostapd

DAEMON_CONF="/etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf /etc/hostapd/hostapd1.conf"

I suspect there are electrical design issues with the Raspberry Pi 3 USB bus. Troubleshooting starts early in the morning. Issues with Jessie and WiFi still remain.
EET (Electronic Engineering Technology), TAC/ABET accredited

mrboldt
Posts: 26
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2016 2:09 am

Re: Dual Band Wireless Adapter, TP-LINK TL-WDN4200

Wed Nov 02, 2016 2:09 am

Appears to function correctly, 405 Mb/s top speed. Extremely noisy environment during day light hours. Things settle down during the night.

Wavemon, need to understand (read) bitrate algorithm. Appears to be some what static.

[TX-STBC][RX-STBC123]

I'll check back in awhile otherwise good luck folks!

Mike
EET (Electronic Engineering Technology), TAC/ABET accredited

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