Wifi Station Mode keeps turning Off!

bigbanger

Why is this happening when the ASIAIR Pro (version 1.51, firmware 6.92) is next to me WIFI router and both report strong signals (never less than 2 out of 3 bars as reported by my iPad’s ASIAIR Settings form)??? At that point when tapping on the Settings icon at top left of the iPad screen, I am presented with a small popup that lists the name of my Wifi router with text below it saying “Disconnected, Please reconnect, but the only active object on the popup is the “Scan” button which does nothing useful!

This is so frustrating, nothing new has happened to my otherwise working setup other than having the new version and firmware upgraded.

w7ay

bigbanger

The ASIAIR WiFi Station Mode requires a connection between the ASIAIR and your home router (or extender).

It is not sufficient (nor necessary) that both of the ASIAIR and the home router are strong at your iPad. What is required for Station Mode is a strong signal between the ASIAIR and the router.

If you are on an ASIAIR Pro (instead of the better designed original ASIAIR plastic enclosure from Raspberry Pi), and the router is more than a couple of feet away from the ASIAIR, depending on orientation of the ASIAIR relative to your router (antenna directivity), and how many WiFi signals are in your neighborhood (signal to noise ratio of the WiFi signal), what you see is quite typical of what happens when you bury a microwave antenna inside a metal box (Faraday Cage). There are some orientations that won't work with a separation of just 5 feet, especially if you have a neighbor with a strong WiFi signal.

You may be able to site your ASIAIR Pro on a tripod leg (so its orientation does not change when you move the OTA) and change its orientation until it connects (and never move it again).

A better way is to not use WiFi (either Hotspot or Station Mode) on the ASIAIR at all (why use anything that is designed to fail). Connect the ASIAIR's LAN port to the LAN port of your router with a Cat5 cable, or to the LAN port of a wireless extender, with the extender wirelessly connected to your network.

If you have a spare USB port on your ASIAIR, you can also use a USB WiFi dongle like this one

https://www.amazon.com/Edimax-EW-7811Un-V2-Compatible-2-6-18-4-14/dp/B08F2ZNC6J

The above is only capable of 150 Mbps but better than nothing, and Raspbian (Raspberry Pi OS) has a prebuilt driver for the dongle above (ASIAIR worked when I tried; it is no secret that ASIAIR rides on top of Raspbian), but no driver for the faster dongles that I have on hand like the Edimax EP-AC1617. So, it is better to use something like the TP-Link travel router (which works off 5V -- and can even be powered off of one of ASIAIR's USB port) that is configured as an extender, and connecting the ASIAIR to it with an Ethernet cable.

Chen

w7ay

bigbanger

You can see the directivity (relative to a fixed-mounted TP Link travel router) of an ASIAIR Pro (and also ASIAR) WiFI signal that I posted a few months ago:

https://bbs.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/d/10846-asiair-and-asiair-pro-wifi-signals

If you are not an EE, for reference, -3 dB is half power, -10 dB is 1/10 power, -20 dB is 1/100 power etc... (i.e., logarithmic scale).

By the way, as a sanity check, you can walk your iPad over to where your router is located. And see if you can see the WiFi signal from the ASIAIR Hotspot (i.e., iPad connected to the ASIAIR network instead of your home network). If it is spotty (try download some images from a camera and notice the download speed vs the download speed with the iPad next to the ASIAIR), then quite likely your router will also see a spotty signal. You can also try to orient the ASIAIR, aiming for the best transfer speed to the iPad (assuming the iPad can even see the ASIAIR from where your router is located).

Chen

Danshep

Another thing you might consider - I had the same type of problem, with the wifi “wigging out” while it was three feet away.

What it turned out to be, is that the DC power cord to the ASIAir Pro was just pulling out. I would shove it back in and the wifi automatically would reconnect. The unit has convinced me, that it is good and the wifi connection is very sound, as long as I am sure to check the DC power into it.

bigbanger

Thank you to all who replied... I resolved the problem by moving the ASIAIR further away from the camera (they were at most one inch away from each other). I strongly suspect that the fan's motor was emitting EM radiation that somehow interfered with the ASIAIR's WIFI signal.

bigbanger

Dear Chen (w7ay),

I carefully read you reply and will try the USB WIFI dongle if only for greater signal stability. For that suggestion I thank you.

Please note that I would have loved to use the ASIAIR's Ethernet port to connect to my router but my Vixen SXP/ Starbook10 mount can only be communicated with using an RJ45 cable.

Warm regards, Avi

w7ay

bigbanger my Vixen SXP/ Starbook10 mount can only be communicated with using an RJ45 cable.

Hi Avi,

Aha, I see.

Unfortunately the TP-Link "travel router" only has one RJ45 port (some, like one from Netgear, have no LAN port), but there are some small GL.iNet models that have a built in Ethernet switch with multiple RJ45 connectors.

You can also add an Ethernet switch, which will work fine with ASIAIR, but it also adds bulk.

Good luck,
Chen

macdaddy52

I'm very new to this I bought the iNet Slate but have no idea how to start hooking it up to the ASIair pro. Can anyone walk me threw it
Thank you
Ron