Squeezebox Radio disconnect from LMS, still active on wifi...

[pfavr]

Just installed wlanpoke-development on 3 radios here (Firmware: 8.0.1-r16916)

Seems to work so far...

Thank you very much!

[magicus]

You might try the development branch version of wlanpoke, which on many radios has greatly reduced their frequency. This version has been available since early December, and is waiting for user evaluation and feedback (none so far) prior to being released generally.

First of all: thank GODNESS for this workaround POMdev! I was going mad, assuming the radios had broke down, and buying second-hand Radios of auctioning sites in the hope that they would work better, which they didn't.

I have installed the development version on three of my Radios now. It seem to be working fine. I was not really sure how you intended the logging service, I just started a

while true ; do netcat -l 1121 >> lms-client.log ; done

in a screen session on the machine running my LMS server. Not very sophisticated, but it seems to work.

As far as I can tell, this is working fine so far. I'm a bit at a loss how to interpret the logs and web status page, but the fact that the Radios are still connected to the net is a major difference. My Radios are really stationary, but at least one of them was horribly bad at keeping the connection. From what I've understood by browsing the threads on the issue, this might be due to it sitting "on the fence" between two almost equally strong AP nodes.

I am so thankful for this script, and I'll gladly help as much as I can to test it. Let me know if you want me to publish some logs, or look for some specific output in the logs. Or if I should try to change location of some of the Radios and look for changes in behavior. (I don't have a battery so I can't walk around with it while connected.)

[POMdev]

I will install the development branch on one of my Radios to provide any feedback. However, I only have one Wifi Access point so it would not be switching between access points.

So in your case, the same as mine here, you would be comparing the number of dropouts and resets per day or week before and after the update. You would not be testing any loss of battery use mobility.

If I follow the simplified instructions that were posted, I assume it will overwrite the old files. After a reboot the new version should be running. Is there anything else I should do? ...

Yes, the update procedures overwrite old files. (You could also rename the original mv wlanpoke.sh wlanpoke.sh.086 or something then update. This would make reverting to the previous version a 'simple' matter of file renaming mv wlanpoke.sh wlanpoke.sh.071a and mv wlanpoke.sh.086 wlanpoke.sh)

It would be helpful to capture the current statistics for a later comparison. I suggest running the 'slow' web server on the original version for a period of time before switching, and saving the web page or the gs.bat output.You can also disable the scan reduction function to switch back and forth and observe the difference.

If your experience is degraded, you may wish to disable this function altogether. To do so, overwrite any existing "scanctrl.inc." file with a short (< 11 character) message, e.g.,
echo "stop" > scanctrl.inc
will do it. Or you can delete the file and then "touch scanctrl.inc" to create a zero length file. If you delete the file, it will be recreated with default values the next time wlanpoke launches. [ed: And the function will be reenabled]

[P Nelson]

BTW, it would be helpful if some users (including those who carry their radios from room to room) tried this version and provided some feedback. Then the development branch could be perhaps revised and released.

I will install the development branch on one of my Radios to provide any feedback. However, I only have one Wifi Access point so it would not be switching between access points.

If I follow the simplified instructions that were posted, I assume it will overwrite the old files. After a reboot the new version should be running. Is there anything else I should do?
I am not a tech savvy as some of the members on the forum, but if the instructions are clear I will do my best to provide useful feedback.

Paul

[POMdev]

I did install the "WiFI patch" for the SB Radio, but when synching it to my main SB Touch, regulalry there is a dropout that lasts 5 to 20 seconds or so. ... Anyone else observed this?

For sure. Periodic dropouts that occur, especially when syncing, are quite annoying. You might try the development branch version of wlanpoke, which on many radios has greatly reduced their frequency. This version has been available since early December, and is waiting for user evaluation and feedback (none so far) prior to being released generally. This hasn't been done yet because possible slowness in switching between one WiFi access point to another in the battery operated mobile use case requires appropriate testing and feedback.

Here is a partial quote from the development branch page:

NOTE: Experimental Failure Reduction
...
A possible cause for failure has been identified as too frequent scanning for alternate access points by the radio even when connected to a strong signal router or access point. This scanning may encounter signals or packets that cause the radio to lose wireless sensitivity, degrade reception, and eventually fail. This version includes a function to attempt to reduce the number of these scans. The function uses very poorly or undocumented calls to the radio's wireless driver and chip in the belief that this will have the desired effect. Testing over a few days suggests that this provides a dramatic improvement in some fixed location radios. Other fixed location radios show less improvement. However, other use cases, especially ones that require frequent switching wireless networks, may be degraded.

The scan reduction function can be adjusted or disabled. Since December, the overall improvement has been quite good, reducing the number of gaps (and complaints from users) here greatly!

BTW, it would be helpful if some users (including those who carry their radios from room to room) tried this version and provided some feedback. Then the development branch could be perhaps revised and released.

[P Nelson]

I did install the "WiFI patch" for the SB Radio, but when synching it to my main SB Touch, regulalry there is a dropout that lasts 5 to 20 seconds or so. I am thinking about de-comissioning the Radio, since I have a spare Boom. Anyone else observed this?

I am not sure what you mean by "WiFi patch". If it is wlanpoke and you are syncing radios to other SB devices, then it could be the function of wlanpoke when it detects a problem with Wifi. I have two Radios (with Wlanpoke) and a Touch synced. Occasionally, the system will have a dropout and start again. However, I have not observed the dropout being 5 - 20 seconds long, but a few seconds. Wlanpoke does offer logging and there are adjustments that can be made, but I have not dug deep into the wlanpoke options.

Paul

[Redrum]

I did install the "WiFI patch" for the SB Radio, but when synching it to my main SB Touch, regulalry there is a dropout that lasts 5 to 20 seconds or so. I am thinking about de-comissioning the Radio, since I have a spare Boom. Anyone else observed this?

There has been allot of discussion on this for the last couple years. It's exclusively/mostly been Radio specific. In addition to this thread, there is allot here: https://forums.slimdevices.com/forum...n-three-radios

I don't have any problems with my radios, probably because I am fairly rural. But if I did, after reading all of the discussion, I would probably try wlanpoke first, then use a wifi dongle like the vonets or similar. The only problem that comes into play is if you want to use it on battery/portable. But, if you are thinking of replacing with your boom, then you are probably not.

ok, I just reread your post. Does the dropout occur with the radio only when synced to the touch? If so, I would double check wifi strength to both devices, and try them individually to see which one is causing the drop. The non offending unit also drops because of the need to re-sync.

Jim

[pablolie]

I did install the "WiFI patch" for the SB Radio, but when synching it to my main SB Touch, regulalry there is a dropout that lasts 5 to 20 seconds or so. I am thinking about de-comissioning the Radio, since I have a spare Boom. Anyone else observed this?

[MichaelPr]

I've got a new Wifi 6 router a couple of weeks ago and had issues with both of my radios (on lates Community FW) from that time. Then I disabled ax for the 2.4 GHz band - disabled band steering and separated the 2.4 GHz from the 5 GHz...

Everything seems to be work over 3 weeks now... keep fingers crossed

[devkid]

So, so far no problem anymore since installing that wlanpoke! So I guess it fixed my situatioon or at least made the problem appear only very rarely! Thanks alot!!!

[Redrum]

fingers crossed

Jim

[devkid]

I am running on line power with no batteries.
Yesterday I installed that wlanpoke thingie and at least since then no issue anymore. So I have hope that it actually "fixes" the problem for me.

[Redrum]

One question - are you operating on line power or battery? I seem to recall quite a while ago that there was a "red icon" issue with battery operation only. I can find the thread if that's the case, let me know.

Jim

[devkid]

Thanks alot, I am just installing it. Let's see

[Paul Webster]

Search the forum for wlanpoke and see if it improves things.