Strange LAN connectivity issues

jrmymllr

I've got a Pi Zero with 4.03 and things are working pretty well, but I want to throw something out there about a strange issue I kept seeing.

I attached a WiFi adapter to get a connection to my LAN, but connecting to it with SSH using PuTTY is very unreliable. Half the time it won't connect, and when it does, it frequently disconnects. If I can get a connection it won't last an hour. During this time I can use a keyboard attached to the Pi and ping something, even do updates, etc. No problems. Connecting to the Pi's Samba server by doing "\retropie" is also unreliable; it has worked at times, but usually doesn't. It just refuses to connect.

Here's the weirdest part: I have a Linux server doing various tasks, and if I use PuTTY to SSH into that, which is on the same LAN, then SSH to the Pi from the server, it's rock solid. I've been connected for an entire day without a hiccup. The only wireless link is from the Pi to WiFi router; everything else is Ethernet.

The computer running PuTTY hasn't had any connectivity issues.

This is more of a curiosity question than anything because I've been able to work around this and I'm done with the majority of the setup. But, I've never seen such a strange problem before.

mediamogul

@jrmymllr

That is strange. You can always try attaching the WiFi adapter to another machine to see if you get the same level of instability. You can also check the adapter against this list to see if there are any known issues.