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FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
1

Hello gentlemen,

I’m wondering why some of my recievers are connecting via UDP port to FR24 while others use a TCP connection.

When running on the Raspberry PI OS I get a UDP connection, Running on Armbian I’m getting a TCP connection.

All recievers are Prosticks and are configured as avr-tcp on Host/IP 127.0.0.1:30002
So what is the difference ? Is this to be expected ?

All are up and running but |I just wonder why some use an UDP port and others use the TCP port.
Could this be a difference between IPv4 and IPv6 ?

What would be your advice in configuring this correctly ?
Many thanks in advance

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You’d need to ask FR24 directly, it’s closed source so only they have visibility into what their feeder is doing.

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Fair enough, Thanks obj, I’ll raise it there

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I got an answer from FR24 support. Maybe it is of interest to others as well
Hello,

I’m wondering why some of my receivers are connecting via UDP port to FR24 while others use a TCP connection.

T-EHAM282 and T-EHAM283 (Raspberry Pi) use UDP, T-EHAM590, T-EHAM591 and T-EHAM608 (Orange Pi running Armbian) use TCP connections

When running on the Raspberry PI OS I get a UDP connection, Running on Armbian I’m getting a TCP connection.

All receivers are FlightAware Prosticks and are configured as avr-tcp on Host/IP 127.0.0.1:30002
So what is the difference ? Is this to be expected ?

All are up and running but |I just wonder why some use an UDP port and others use the TCP port.
Could this be a difference between IPv4 and IPv6 ?

What would be your advice in configuring this correctly ?
Many thanks in advance

Answer
The use of TCP or UDP depends on what receiver you are using and what information you require the receiver to process. By default we have DVB-T preconfigured and this uses the TCP protocol. This ensures we have decently corrected information to be processed. Basically TCP tries to ensure critical data reliability whereas UDP ensures a constant stream of data whether its correct or not. It all depends on what hardware/decoder you are using. Either way, for our requirements, both TCP and UDP are fine to use.

IPv4 / IPv6 is a different story though, we prefer IPv4 since it is more compatible with all the various networks we operate with. IPv6, while more flexible, much more complex and efficient, most networks still operate primarily with IPv4. We have IPv6 as an option for compatibility considerations.

I hope I answered your question!

Have a nice day!

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5

TCP is good for when you absolutely, positively have to have a full duplex error free connection. UDP is a postcard- you send it and hope it gets there.
TCP requires more network traffic and complexity to set up and exchange information, UDP has a very minimal impact on networks traffic.
I use TCP when I have to have a good connection. I use UDP on a lot of real-time data where if I loose a packet, it’s OK, in a few seconds a new reading will show up.
What to use is also heavily influenced by the reliability and latency of your connection between the sender and receiver.
Elaborating on the very good answer given, hope it helps… The conclusion that for their requirements either is fine to use is spot on.

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