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wifi adapter

Started by dogger99, February 10, 2016, 06:46:54 AM

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dogger99

What wifi adapter are you using and hows it working for you? I checked out the obi wifi adapter on amazon and the review aren't that good...thanks

drgeoff

The OBiWiFi is the only USB adaptor that the firmware will recognise and work with.

An alternative is any adaptor that converts WiFi to an ethernet socket.

Angelc19

I had used Obi WiFi adapter for about a year, worked great until yesterday it died. Can't recommend.

SteveInWA

Just because one user's WiFi adapter isn't working, is no reason to not recommend it.

Considering the cost of the alternative (a pair of powerline Ethernet adapters, or a WiFi<-->Ethernet bridge), the OBiWiFi wins.

drgeoff

On ebay, £5 (about US$8) gets one of these delivered to the UK.  It can be powered from an OBi's USB port and is easily configured as a Wi-Fi adaptor.

azrobert

You can convert an extra supported router to a wireless bridge by installing DD-WRT firmware. This will cost you nothing.

http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=5229.msg33913#msg33913

SteveInWA

Quote from: azrobert on February 15, 2016, 03:16:26 PM
You can convert an extra supported router to a wireless bridge by installing DD-WRT firmware. This will cost you nothing.

http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=5229.msg33913#msg33913


The true cost depends on how you value your time.  If you live in your mother's basement in a rat's nest of cabling and junk, with no spouse to complain about how messy things are, you are unemployed, and you have nothing else going on in your life, and you've already bought an old router, and you still have it laying around, and you enjoy spending hours fiddling with that old router and figuring out which version of DD-WRT to use, and how to get it working on that router...

Personally, I'd rather spend the money on a WiFi dongle and be done with it.

Angelc19

I had used Obi WiFi adapter for about a year, worked great until yesterday it died. You can decide. But I definitely would NOT recommend it.

azrobert

#8
Quote from: SteveInWA on February 15, 2016, 04:37:45 PM
you enjoy spending hours fiddling with that old router and figuring out which version of DD-WRT to use, and how to get it working on that router...

The time to setup a DD-WRT router depends on the user's skill level. I recently setup a router and it took me 10-15 minutes to flash it and another 5 minutes to configure it to a wireless bridge. I've been though the procedure several times, so expect it to take a first time user longer. You just do a lookup on their database with your router model and they tell you what firmware to use. They also supply a link to instructions for your router. Flashing is similar to manually upgrading an OBi's firmware. My router had to be flashed twice, first with an initial firmware.

If you're familiar with router settings, you shouldn't have problems re-configuring it to a wireless bridge. In the thread I pointed to in my Reply#5 above, I supplied a link to the correct instructions (there is a least 2 setup versions). If you have problems, DD-WRT has a user forum where you can find help. If you have multiple devices, you don't have to buy a dongle for each. You can connect up to 5 devices (the WAN port can be reconfigured by checking a box).

Edit:
The 10-15 minutes includes the database lookup, downloading 2 version of firmware, factory reset and flashing the router twice. The actual flash takes about a minute.

TonyTib

As always, it depends on YOUR requirements.

If all you want to do is connect an Obi to WiFi with minimal fuss, then ObiWiFi makes a lot of sense.

But if you want to connect some other items along with the Obi or don't have good WiFi access, then a WiFi bridge or Powerline networking can make sense.

In my case, I have the Obi 202 and another WiFi AP together, so PL networking made sense - and the Powerline adapters were pretty cheap.

I have also converted an older router to a bridge using DD-WRT (to get wired access from a MiFi), and the whole process was pretty simple.

airberryblue

We run a wireless bridge access point where we run 3 obi units, 2 obi200s and one obi202.  All are plugged into the wireless unit.  Our wireless router is on one side of the house, and the obi units are on the oppisite side of the house.  I make and receive calls on a regular basis.  No quality problems.

KrazyKanuck

I was looking for a similar solution since I could not move the base of our phone to where the router was. After reading many negative reviews on the OBiWifi's build quality and problems connecting to networks, I went with fairly more reliable option IMO.

I picked up a TP-LINK TL-WR802N nano travel router (there is also a 150Mbps version for 15-20$: TL-WR702N). It cost me 30$ CDN and is powered by USB, so it plugs directly into the USB port of my Obi202. Runs in client mode so it's an extension of the network. No problems at all with this.