Sourcing a new Wifi Dongle for Classic PAW

[jbone]

Hi,  The wifi dongle for my Classic PAW packed in during a recent flight.   (It smells burnt out and a borrowed one from another installation works fine).

What spec do I need to order and where can I buy one please?   They don't seem to be available from the PAW store.   (I naively bought a couple of cheap ones off Ebay, but when I plug them in nothing happens, so there must be more to it than meets the eye).

Thanks, John

[PaulSS]

If it’s anything like the ATOM station set up then the ‘config’ script needs to be run so the Pi recognises the new type of dongle.

Hopefully someone will be along to tell us whether I’m talking bollleaux or not and, even better, tell us how to do the config thing

[exfirepro]

Hi John,

Unfortunately, although it should be a simple case of replacing the WiFi dongle (reconfig is not required Paul), this doesn't appear to be as simple as it once was.

The critical point is that the replacement WiFi dongle MUST be based on an RT5370 chipset to be recognised by the PAW software. (see this early thread from 2015 for background if you are interested...

http://forum.pilotaware.com/index.php/topic,71.msg987.html#msg987

...but ignore the links in the thread as most are now out of date/no longer appropriate - I have just checked them all.)

I have also checked the 'WiFi dongle' link from the 'Known Good Hardware' List (in the pinned posts at the top of the General Discussion Forum). Unfortunately the e-bay site that link points to, identifies the chipset of the dongles they now sell as MT7601 and the seller (Ernest Boutique - who I bought most of my early WiFi dongles from) now seems to be concentrating solely on bulk sales.

After about an hour trawling through old forum posts and checking e-bay links, however - most of which don't specify chipset - this one looks like it might be worth a try as it does clearly state that it uses the RT5370 chipset (though we have had experience in the past of incorrect claims by sellers as you can see from the 2015 posts)...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201745493990

Please let me know if it works and if so I will update the 'Known Good Hardware' List.

Best Regards

Peter

[PaulSS]

Unfortunately, although it should be a simple case of replacing the WiFi dongle (reconfig is not required Paul), this doesn't appear to be as simple as it once was.

Good to know, Peter. I thought it would be like the ATOM station but now recall that I couldn't use the Pro Stick in my PAW and no re-config was mentioned then. I think I still have one of the original dongles, with the MCX connector, so if you want that, John, you're more than welcome.

I have a different dongle with an SMA connector to the antenna.

[exfirepro]

Hi Paul,

Oops.... I think you are getting confused with the radio receiver (SDR) dongle....

(As, it appears, were several of the posters back in 2015)

No harm done though!

Best Regards
Peter

[jbone]

Peter,  Thanks for going to such trouble to track one down.   I've just ordered on via that link and will let you know if it works.   John

[PaulSS]

Haha, yep, you’re absolutely right. Please ignore the arse bleating on about running a config script.

I stuck a Pi 3 in my PAW, so a built in WIFI, but think I probably have the original WIFi single somewhere if that is needed.

[jbone]

Hi Peter,  Just to let you know that the EBAY replacement arrived today and I just tried it out in the hangar and it seems to work fine.   Thanks for the help,   John

[exfirepro]

Hi John,

Thanks for letting me know. I have updated the ‘Known Good Hardware’ list for the PAW Classic to reflect that source.

Best Regards

Peter