I’ve got it running on Android.
Changing the channel you use to the best open signal will make all your wifi systems work much better. I use an app called WiFi Analyzer on my cell phone. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farproc.wifi.analyzer&gl=US
This one works best or me. I will be checking out the powerline adapters too. Those work well. Have fun out there.
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I can see another signal on the same 5 GHz channel that I’m on. But it’s at -85 dBm whereas mine is at -50 dBm. I wouldn’t think that would be a problem.
This is where people sometimes go wrong.
Seeing others on the same channel is fine. The ssid and keys once locked in make it easier to ‘hear’.
It’s when people go ‘thats too noisy’ and change channel to non separation that you get noise it can’t handle.
Ie on 2.4, 1,6,11 are all separated. Then routers find 3 and 5 unused so go there. Suddenly you may have it worse
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I agree that’s probably the way to go if you want that kind of discretion with regard to your router.
But, man, the set-up can be a b!t(!!
Just to clarify, I switched back to the external USB WiFi adapter on the RPi. That adapter is 5GHz only (802.11ac). I get better results than when I was using the RPi on-board WiFi at 2.4 GHz. However still getting too many connects/disconnects with FlightAware.
Use ethernet 
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For the last few days now I’ve been using RPi WiFi. When traffic is low during night, the piaware connection to Flightaware is good (no disconnects). As soon as traffic picks up in the morning, the disconnects/reconnects start. It seems like if there’s more than about 2000 messages in a 5 min period the connection becomes unreliable.
I tried using an ethernet connection between the RPi and the router, and I get the same thing (might even be worse). So I’m kind of at a loss as to what to try next. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Did you try powerline adapters as I use these for my computers around the house and into the shed where my RPI4’s are for my adsb and my server and they work so well. The connection speed is better to my shed via the powerline adapters then to my computer room, in total I have 1 from my router which is the main hub and the others connect to that adapter (3 in total) and I am about to add another. WIFI is great for laptops and tablets but I reckon for what we do you need a decent adapter and good ethernet cables to connect the lot together.
I did a direct ethernet connection – 75 ft of Cat 6 ethernet cable between the RPi and the router. I figured I should try that prior to trying powerline adapters.
Here’s an example of a piaware log. I’ve turned off MLAT since I don’t think it aids in solving this problem.
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo journalctl -eu piaware
Jan 20 20:06:45 raspberrypi sudo[144070]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root(uid=0) by (uid=999)
Jan 20 20:06:45 raspberrypi sudo[144070]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
Jan 20 20:06:46 raspberrypi piaware[980]: logged in to FlightAware as user jimMerk2
Jan 20 20:06:46 raspberrypi piaware[980]: my feeder ID is xxx...
Jan 20 20:06:46 raspberrypi piaware[980]: site statistics URL: https://flightaware.com/adsb/stats/user/jimMerk2#stats-180204
Jan 20 20:08:08 raspberrypi piaware[980]: 227833 msgs recv'd from dump1090-fa (2561 in last 5m); 214487 msgs sent to FlightAware
Jan 20 20:13:08 raspberrypi piaware[980]: 230255 msgs recv'd from dump1090-fa (2422 in last 5m); 216909 msgs sent to FlightAware
Jan 20 20:18:08 raspberrypi piaware[980]: 232277 msgs recv'd from dump1090-fa (2022 in last 5m); 218931 msgs sent to FlightAware
Jan 20 20:23:08 raspberrypi piaware[980]: 234232 msgs recv'd from dump1090-fa (1955 in last 5m); 220886 msgs sent to FlightAware
Jan 20 20:23:15 raspberrypi piaware[980]: data isn't making it to FlightAware, reconnecting...
Jan 20 20:23:15 raspberrypi piaware[980]: reconnecting in 4 seconds...
Jan 20 20:23:19 raspberrypi piaware[980]: Connecting to FlightAware adept server at piaware.flightaware.com/1200
Jan 20 20:23:20 raspberrypi piaware[980]: Connection with adept server at piaware.flightaware.com/1200 established
Jan 20 20:23:20 raspberrypi piaware[980]: TLS handshake with adept server at piaware.flightaware.com/1200 completed
Jan 20 20:23:20 raspberrypi piaware[980]: FlightAware server certificate validated
Jan 20 20:23:20 raspberrypi piaware[980]: encrypted session established with FlightAware
Jan 20 20:23:20 raspberrypi sudo[151611]: piaware : PWD=/ ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/netstat --program --tcp --wide --all --numeric
Jan 20 20:23:20 raspberrypi sudo[151611]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root(uid=0) by (uid=999)
Jan 20 20:23:20 raspberrypi sudo[151611]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
Jan 20 20:23:20 raspberrypi piaware[980]: logged in to FlightAware as user jimMerk2
Jan 20 20:23:20 raspberrypi piaware[980]: my feeder ID is xxx...
Jan 20 20:23:20 raspberrypi piaware[980]: site statistics URL: https://flightaware.com/adsb/stats/user/jimMerk2#stats-180204
Jan 20 20:28:08 raspberrypi piaware[980]: 236199 msgs recv'd from dump1090-fa (1967 in last 5m); 222820 msgs sent to FlightAware
Jan 20 20:33:08 raspberrypi piaware[980]: 237991 msgs recv'd from dump1090-fa (1792 in last 5m); 224612 msgs sent to FlightAware
Jan 20 20:38:08 raspberrypi piaware[980]: 239551 msgs recv'd from dump1090-fa (1560 in last 5m); 226172 msgs sent to FlightAware
Jan 20 20:43:08 raspberrypi piaware[980]: 241213 msgs recv'd from dump1090-fa (1662 in last 5m); 227834 msgs sent to FlightAware
Jan 20 20:48:08 raspberrypi piaware[980]: 243018 msgs recv'd from dump1090-fa (1805 in last 5m); 229639 msgs sent to FlightAware
Jan 20 20:53:08 raspberrypi piaware[980]: 244986 msgs recv'd from dump1090-fa (1968 in last 5m); 231607 msgs sent to FlightAware
As shown, this is around 8:30 PM local time where traffic has died down somewhat. Msgs received are around 2000 or less in a 5 min period. There is one disconnect/reconnect. Earlier in the day when there are 4000 or 5000 msgs in a 5 min period there are many more disconnects/connects and very little data gets through to Flightaware
Just a thought, does the Pi have a fixed IP adress ?
Or does it get alternating IP adresses due to a short lease time of the DHCP router ?
Either give it a DHCP reservation or a fixed IP adres outside of the DHCP scope so it is always reachable on the same IP adres inside your network.
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As far as I can tell, the RPi has a fixed IP address assigned by the router. It’s a different IP address than when I was using WiFi. Also, when I was using the external USB WiFi adapter it was a different IP address than for the on-board WiFi. Those IP addresses seem to always be the same when I switch around the setup (i.e for ethernet, on-board WiFi or USB WiFi adapter).
One thing I was wondering – could this be a buffer overflow problem that was mentioned in a thread last Oct ? In that thread you mentioned modifying the /etc/hosts file. My /etc/hosts file is:
pi@raspberrypi:/etc $ cat hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback
ff02::1 ip6-allnodes
ff02::2 ip6-allrouters
127.0.1.1 raspberrypi
Hi Jim,
You could always write the IP v6 addresses down ( ::1 addresses ) and edit them out.
That would ensure you always connect via IPv4.
If that doesn’t bring an improvement then you can add them again
Just delete the line
::1 localhost ip6-localhost ip6-loopback ?
I don’t have to write it down since it’s available just above.
Just checked mine
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ vcgencmd measure_volts core
volt=1.0200V
Yep,
Also delete the ff02::01 and ::02 lines, they also refer to IPv6 routing
Reboot the Pi after the edit to activate the new routing.
@tomvdhorst
Piaware log looks about the same after making the change to /etc/hosts and rebooting. Thanks for the suggestion.
@craigtrex600
Reading the Raspberry Pi forums, I see that the core voltage can vary depending on the processor speed. I think the processor speed can vary depending on the processor load (not sure on that). So, both of our voltage values could be ok.
I guess I could have a hardware problem --either the RPi or the power supply. This whole problem started shortly after I plugged in the USB WiFi adapter (now removed). Possibly the power supply got screwed up. Or possibly it’s the RPi. I hope not, cause the prices of RPi4’s are not going down.
Hello Jim,
That’s a shame it didn’t improve.
Only thing I can think of is something not set properly in the router then but that would require access to it so we can determine what it is doing.
Maybe to try to increase overall voltage for RPi? Set over_voltage=1 or 2 in /boot/config.txt. I just solved long standing freezing problem on one of the my RPi (not used to flight tracking).
@tomvdhorst
Actually I can get into the router, but it seems all I can change is SSID and password. (Spectrum). If I got a new router do you have any suggestions?
@vkirienko
Have to check to see what over_voltage=1 or 2 actually does. Sounds scary. In the mean time, I ordered a new power supply from Amazon. It’s the “official” Raspberry Pi 4 power supply. I’ll get it in a few days and try it out.