USB Adapter for wireless internet

Addison

I have a Raspberry Pi 4 with the current version of Retropie installed.

I plugged in a Nano Wireless USB Adapter (Archer T2U Nano) to one of the Raspberry's ports.

I then set up its wireless internet connection with my home router.

Everything works great!

Weird question though, is there a way of knowing if I'm actually using this USB adapter?

I'm not sure how to tell if I'm using that or the default one that comes with the Raspberry Pi itself.

Cheers.

mitu

@addison said in USB Adapter for wireless internet:

Weird question though, is there a way of knowing if I'm actually using this USB adapter?

Disable the on-board WiFi and you'll see if the adapter is used.

Addison

@mitu said in USB Adapter for wireless internet:

Disable the on-board WiFi

Using Putty:
sudo nano /boot/config.txt

I then added to the text file:
dtoverlay=disable-wifi

Reboot.

When trying to config WiFi in menu on Retropie:
"No wlan0 interface detected" window appears.

I installed the drivers that came on CD with the USB adapter.

I had the adapter in my computer at the time.

Not sure if that would make any difference though.

Any idea what I might be doing wrong here?

Thanks ahead. :)

mitu

Try installing the driver for the adapter first - see https://askubuntu.com/questions/1149117/tp-link-ac600-archer-t2u-nano-driver-for-ubuntu-18-04 - before disabling again the on-board WiFi.

Addison

@mitu

Okay.

Thank you. :)

I first tried installing the drivers with the USB dongle connected to the Pi.

For some reason, it couldn't seem to find it so I plugged it into the PC instead and then installed the drivers.

I understand nothing. :D

Addison

@mitu

sudo apt install git dkms
git clone https://github.com/aircrack-ng/rtl8812au.git
cd rtl8812au
sudo make dkms_install

sudo nano /boot/config.txt
And added this to the bottom of the text file:
dtoverlay=disable-wifi
dtoverlay=disable-bt

This worked for me.

Quick question for you though.

Is there any benefit that you can think of in using a USB dongle over the on-board WiFi that comes with a Pi 4?

Like, wouldn't I get a higher ping, and perhaps more of a computing delay, and use of more power (the USB has a light thingy that blinks) when playing online?

Thanks ahead buddy. :)

retropieuser555

@addison not sure about the pi4 but I use a USB adapter for WiFi on a pi3b and the connection speed test difference was quite significant. I do keep the pi near other devices that are always using wireless connections which I believe causes the pi to struggle as it's probably got a smaller WiFi antenna?

Addison

@retropieuser555

Yeah.

I see how you're right on this.

Using the default, built in WiFi, it took 45 minutes to transfer a 500 MB folder.

With the WiFi dongle and the same folder, about 6 minutes.

And with a direct connect with an ethernet cable, less than 30 seconds.

I'm not sure how to test for ping though, but I think I'll stick with the dongle. :)