I bought an external USB wifi antenna BrosTrend 1200Mbps Linux USB WiFi Network to boost my Stellarmate hotspot signal. I've installed it and worked great (plug n play). When the dongle is attached the Hotspot goes automatically through it.

My "problem" is that it seems that I have no signal boost with it. If i go further than 10-15m I loose my connection. Is there anything that I could do from Stellarmate's / OS side (settings etc.)

Are you sure the hotspot is running from the dongle and not the on-board wifi? I'm using a Raspberry Pi 4B (8GB) in a heavy metal case, which weakens the 5ghz wifi signal to almost nothing. I have some USB 3.0 devices plugged in that jam the 2.4ghz signal. So I'm trying to use an external dongle (Panda PAU09N) to give me a reliable 5ghz connection. In wifi mode (connected to my router), it works fine. But when I try to switch back to hotspot (AP) mode, the output from the dongle stops, and I am left with only the very weak 5ghz signal that barely escapes the metal case.

I've been disabling the on-board wifi by setting dtoverlay=disable-wifi in the /boot/config.txt to force using the dongle. I switch between the wifi and hotspot modes using NetworkManager nmcli.

I had the exact same scenario as you have. In the past I was running a long USB cable inside the house. This was when I connected everything to a USB hub, and ran the USB cable directly to my PC. But when I switch to SM, I had no need for the long cable. After I purchase the Wi-Fi adapter, I use the long cable to connect the adaptor to SM. I run the cable just outside my front door. Signal strength is 100%.

I hope this helps!

Thanks for the reply.

For me, the hole point of using the wifi adapter is to avoid running long cables anywhere.

The wifi adapter itself came with a 6-ft USB cable, but I would prefer to mount the USB adapter directly into the USB hub, or perhaps with only a short extension so that I can mount it somewhere on the scope. I'm trying to set things up so that I only have one power cable coming from the rig, eveything else wireless. I want this to be something I can use at home or at remote locations from a nearby vehicle without running communication cables.

I use that same brostrend wifi adapter connected to my home wifi and it works perfectly...if it can’t connect to my home wifi, then the hotspot shows up, for instances out in the field...

You can choose to have the hotspot come through the external dongle by changing settings in the network config....

I also have my rpi in a metal case but internal wifi still works very well on 5ghz... but not on 2.4ghz...that is a bit flaky....

As already suggested above, I will confirm you’re not using the internal wifi. I think what you will find is that Wi-Fi signal outside dissipates quickly. And 5G especially doesn’t pass through exterior walls very well. My long USB cable work around, was to get solid 5G connection for passing big files to my laptop. Tripping over the cable late at night is still a possibility!

Hello!

The adapter never worked correctly. I’ve returned it back and bought the cheaper with dual antenna:

Flybiz USB WiFi Adapter, 1200Mbps Wifi Dongle Wireless USB 3.0 Dual Band 5.8GHz/867Mbps + 2.4GHz/300Mbps Detachable Wifi Antenna, for PC/Laptop/Desktop Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10, Linx2.6X; Mac OS X
by Flybiz-EU
Learn more: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07S23DBBY/ref=cm_sw..._encoding=UTF8&psc=1

With this everything works great. I have simultaneously 2 networks (internal - hotspot & adapter - WiFi) with no issues. I still use a usb extension cable(connected to usb powered hub) to bring the adapter closer to my apartment. Imagine that my gear is at the buildings rooftop (9th) and my apartment is at the 3rd floor.


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Thanks for sharing this.

Were settings modified in RPi4 for the Flybiz USB WiFi Adapter to work? I would like to try this but I do not want to spend more $$ chasing a solution.