Classic Unit Wifi? Is it bad?

[TylerAW]

So I noticed the Pandora supports Wifi Dongles, do they provide a huge speed increase over the stock chip? And if so, which one should I get? The wiki shows a bunch and I have no idea which is the better one for the Pandora.

 

[Granitehead]

I don't think there are any Pandora models with good WiFi - some units (based on luck) are better than others, but they are all pretty bad.

So yes, USB WiFi dongles do tend to provide a much faster connection.

I can't recommend any particular one, but if one is listed on the Wiki as supported, just choose the one which seems best to you, shouldn't matter too much, or wait for someone else to maybe comment with a good recommendation.

 

[Tensuke]

I bought a TPLINK TL-WN725N nano adapter for $9, 150Mbps, speeds are decent for my connection and it works out of box (just plug it in) but I get terrible signal, like one bar, even when I'm right next to the router. And speeds still aren't exactly stable (although that may also be due to my crappy home connection, I haven't tested it elsewhere yet). I chose this one because I didn't want a big thing sticking out, and for that it does work well--still better than default wifi on my CC unit. I'd check out ones on the wiki and see what you think will work better for you.

 

[KickAss]

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WN725N-Wireless-Adapter-Miniature/dp/B008IFXQFU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409339971&sr=8-1&keywords=TP-Link+TL-WN725N

tiny, doesnt get in your way, cheap and works out of the box.

i use it and couldnt be happier.

 

[rygD]

I think that is the one I use, too.

 

[TylerAW]

Thank you! 

 

[comradekingu]

https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/penguin-wireless-n-usb-adapter-gnu-linux-tpe-n150usb or ebay-link

 

[Eight Bit]

WiFi on my Cc Pandora is decent enough for some web browsing or downloading software from the repo. Not spectacular but I get between 50 and 80 kB/sec. I never been so annoyed with the waiting time that I considered getting a wifi stick...

Lets see what the allumium case will do..

 

[rygD]

WiFi on my Cc Pandora is decent enough for some web browsing or downloading software from the repo. Not spectacular but I get between 50 and 80 kB/sec. I never been so annoyed with the waiting time that I considered getting a wifi stick...

What you describe is exactly why I wanted to try USB.  It took far too long to load pages or get updates and stuff from the repo with internal wifi.  It is good enough if I am out without all my extra stuff, I guess.

 

[sepulep]

WiFi on my Cc Pandora is decent enough for some web browsing or downloading software from the repo. Not spectacular but I get between 50 and 80 kB/sec. I never been so annoyed with the waiting time that I considered getting a wifi stick...

What you describe is exactly why I wanted to try USB.  It took far too long to load pages or get updates and stuff from the repo with internal wifi.  It is good enough if I am out without all my extra stuff, I guess.

I got similar speeds as Eight Bit, this improved a lot after I changed router, now its downloading ~1MB/sec; it may be worthwhile to check your router settings or try a different one. (Another potential problem I noticed long ago is a pinched wifi cable internally which i fixed..)

 

[Eight Bit]

WiFi on my Cc Pandora is decent enough for some web browsing or downloading software from the repo. Not spectacular but I get between 50 and 80 kB/sec. I never been so annoyed with the waiting time that I considered getting a wifi stick...

What you describe is exactly why I wanted to try USB.  It took far too long to load pages or get updates and stuff from the repo with internal wifi.  It is good enough if I am out without all my extra stuff, I guess.

I got similar speeds as Eight Bit, this improved a lot after I changed router, now its downloading ~1MB/sec; it may be worthwhile to check your router settings or try a different one. (Another potential problem I noticed long ago is a pinched wifi cable internally which i fixed..)

May I ask which router you got? Is it 802.11G? N? Any settings you changed?

WiFi on my Cc Pandora is decent enough for some web browsing or downloading software from the repo. Not spectacular but I get between 50 and 80 kB/sec. I never been so annoyed with the waiting time that I considered getting a wifi stick...

What you describe is exactly why I wanted to try USB.  It took far too long to load pages or get updates and stuff from the repo with internal wifi.  It is good enough if I am out without all my extra stuff, I guess.

You never loaded tape games on a commodore 64 have you? ^ ^

 

[sepulep]

WiFi on my Cc Pandora is decent enough for some web browsing or downloading software from the repo. Not spectacular but I get between 50 and 80 kB/sec. I never been so annoyed with the waiting time that I considered getting a wifi stick...

What you describe is exactly why I wanted to try USB.  It took far too long to load pages or get updates and stuff from the repo with internal wifi.  It is good enough if I am out without all my extra stuff, I guess.

I got similar speeds as Eight Bit, this improved a lot after I changed router, now its downloading ~1MB/sec; it may be worthwhile to check your router settings or try a different one. (Another potential problem I noticed long ago is a pinched wifi cable internally which i fixed..)

May I ask which router you got? Is it 802.11G? N? Any settings you changed?

the model is icidu 300N, its 802.11n (previous one was b/g). for this one I think I only changed the channel settings..

 

[Klumpen]

I don't think there are any Pandora models with good WiFi - some units (based on luck) are better than others, but they are all pretty bad.

My old CC Pandora needed a dongle for proper speed,

but the WLAN of my 1Ghz unit is good so I sold the dongle after upgrading.

 

[rygD]

WiFi on my Cc Pandora is decent enough for some web browsing or downloading software from the repo. Not spectacular but I get between 50 and 80 kB/sec. I never been so annoyed with the waiting time that I considered getting a wifi stick...

What you describe is exactly why I wanted to try USB.  It took far too long to load pages or get updates and stuff from the repo with internal wifi.  It is good enough if I am out without all my extra stuff, I guess.

I got similar speeds as Eight Bit, this improved a lot after I changed router, now its downloading ~1MB/sec; it may be worthwhile to check your router settings or try a different one. (Another potential problem I noticed long ago is a pinched wifi cable internally which i fixed..)

I mess with my router settings about weekly, and I doubt it is the problem, since all other devices, including Pandora with USB wifi thingy, get much higher speeds.

You never loaded tape games on a commodore 64 have you? ^ ^

I still mess around with a lot of old hardware that is very slow to transfer data, or has long load times.  I only play with those things when I have a lot of free time (so almost never for the last year and a half or so).  Also the Pandora is a much more modern system with fairly recent hardware, so I do expect things with it to be faster.

 

[KickAss]

Traffic speed is only one aspect of the whole problem. The onboard wifi suffers from rather unstable connections, it might disconnect at random.


Thus a wifi dongle is a good idea in general.