Parallax Digital
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Afternoon all
Just been working on this for my own purposes as we try to source cost-effective WiFi Adapters for the above range
I had managed to get the equivalent of the Startech unit that Stern were shipping on later machines, but 99.9% of your alibaba/aliexpress sellers have no idea what driver signatures are and just sell whatever they have in under the same title they have always used - sent 3 our of the last 4 batches back for full refund, which has been a bit frustrating, and the quality of the metalwork was not where it needed to be for ease of use.
So with that in mind, I set out to compare some new adapters - comparison was against what I think was the original adapter from Panda - the PAU09 - or at least it was the first IC equipped machines that I received in bulk and they all had this unit in - I can see why it would have been used as it is good, and very reliable, but..... dear god they are expensive.
Units to compare against (all in decreasing order of price as I expected this to be a pure 'you get what you pay for' exercise):
Tests were done at home - a very old Yorkshire brick building, going back three hundred plus years, so solid stone walls for general construction, and plasterboard used in places to divide areas up or for sectioning.
Wi-Fi frequencies were separated across different APNs so that I could be sure that I was using a discrete band,
Results are below and are generally in line with what I expected with a couple of anomalies. Pricing is retail pricing expected, less sales tax/VAT for one offs and bulk purchases (so what you see is what the customer would be expected to pay for a one off)
Reader's Digest Results:
Generally - you get what you pay for, but the little one offers really good value for money
No real need for 5GHz as everything operates well at 2.4GHz - if you haven't got a 2.4GHz system available - you need to spend a bit more on your adapters (but Spike II does handle 5GHz with the correct signature drivers)
If you really have poor WiFi availability, then you need a decent adapter, and they cost, unless you use a local booster, which is what I would recommend as you can then feed multiple machines from one booster source, as opposed to buying lots of expensive adapters (one for each machine)
Not sure why the PAU09 has low signal strength at 5GHz, but it might have been a rogue value - ping and throughput values are all good either way
This was really just intended for internal use for product sourcing, but I thought it would be helpful for those that are planning location setups for the future (or are currently having some challenges). I have built up a 4g kit that mounts internally into the machines, and also a hard wired ethernet kit, that allows a wired connection to a panel mount connector on the rear of the backbox - all simple stuff.
Apologies - the formatting does not carry over into this
Just been working on this for my own purposes as we try to source cost-effective WiFi Adapters for the above range
I had managed to get the equivalent of the Startech unit that Stern were shipping on later machines, but 99.9% of your alibaba/aliexpress sellers have no idea what driver signatures are and just sell whatever they have in under the same title they have always used - sent 3 our of the last 4 batches back for full refund, which has been a bit frustrating, and the quality of the metalwork was not where it needed to be for ease of use.
So with that in mind, I set out to compare some new adapters - comparison was against what I think was the original adapter from Panda - the PAU09 - or at least it was the first IC equipped machines that I received in bulk and they all had this unit in - I can see why it would have been used as it is good, and very reliable, but..... dear god they are expensive.
Units to compare against (all in decreasing order of price as I expected this to be a pure 'you get what you pay for' exercise):
- USB Dual Freq Unit with Dual Monopole Antennas
- USB Single Monopole Antenna
- USB Mini Dongle (new type)
Tests were done at home - a very old Yorkshire brick building, going back three hundred plus years, so solid stone walls for general construction, and plasterboard used in places to divide areas up or for sectioning.
Wi-Fi frequencies were separated across different APNs so that I could be sure that I was using a discrete band,
Results are below and are generally in line with what I expected with a couple of anomalies. Pricing is retail pricing expected, less sales tax/VAT for one offs and bulk purchases (so what you see is what the customer would be expected to pay for a one off)
Reader's Digest Results:
Generally - you get what you pay for, but the little one offers really good value for money
No real need for 5GHz as everything operates well at 2.4GHz - if you haven't got a 2.4GHz system available - you need to spend a bit more on your adapters (but Spike II does handle 5GHz with the correct signature drivers)
If you really have poor WiFi availability, then you need a decent adapter, and they cost, unless you use a local booster, which is what I would recommend as you can then feed multiple machines from one booster source, as opposed to buying lots of expensive adapters (one for each machine)
Not sure why the PAU09 has low signal strength at 5GHz, but it might have been a rogue value - ping and throughput values are all good either way
This was really just intended for internal use for product sourcing, but I thought it would be helpful for those that are planning location setups for the future (or are currently having some challenges). I have built up a 4g kit that mounts internally into the machines, and also a hard wired ethernet kit, that allows a wired connection to a panel mount connector on the rear of the backbox - all simple stuff.
Apologies - the formatting does not carry over into this
| Specification | |||
| Wi-Fi Device Type | 2.4GHz | 5GHz | Price (ex VAT) |
| USB PAU09 | ✓ | ✓ | £94.95/ £94.95 |
| USB Dual Monopole | ✓ | ✓ | £24.95/ £24.95 |
| USB Monopole | ✓ | x | £11.95/ £8.95 |
| Mini USB Dongle | ✓ | x | £7.95/ £3.95 |
| Source - Booster - 2.4Ghz Only | Sky Router with Sky WiFi Extender Box Positioned 3m from Machine 2 x Plasterboard Sheets | ||
| Wi-Fi Device Type | Signal Strength | Loopback (ms) | Transfer Rate (kbps) |
| USB PAU09 | 61 | 759 | 3007 |
| USB Dual Monopole | 47 | 762 | 3000 |
| USB Monopole | 27 | 833 | 2987 |
| Mini USB Dongle | 37 | 775 | 4052 |
| Source - Router Only - 2.4Ghz Only | |||
| Wi-Fi Device Type | Signal Strength | Loopback (ms) | Transfer Rate (kbps) |
| USB PAU09 | 34 | 763 | 3014 |
| USB Dual Monopole | 26 | 782 | 1443 |
| USB Monopole | 17 | 10477 | 500 |
| Mini USB Dongle | 22 | 772 | 875 |
| Source - Booster - 5Ghz Only | Sky Router direct to Machine Range Approx 14m 3 x Solid Brick Walls | ||
| Wi-Fi Device Type | Signal Strength | Loopback (ms) | Transfer Rate (kbps) |
| USB PAU09 | 51 | 838 | 3000 |
| USB Dual Monopole | 51 | 808 | 3255 |
| USB Monopole | - | - | - |
| Mini USB Dongle | - | - | - |
| Source - Router Only - 5Ghz Only | |||
| Wi-Fi Device Type | Signal Strength | Loopback (ms) | Transfer Rate (kbps) |
| USB PAU09 | 32 | 630 | 3046 |
| USB Dual Monopole | 21 | 729 | 590 |
| USB Monopole | - | - | - |
| Mini USB Dongle | - | - | - |