Has anyone found a USB WIFI Adapter that works with the Groov RIO module? The adapters that are listed in the Groov RIO manual dated May 2021 are all quite old and some obsolete completely. I am hesitant to base a system architecture on hardware that may become obsolete early in the lifecycle of the system.
Welcome to the forums Tim.
Opto is aware of the wifi driver requirements and is working hard on an update (no firm ETA just yet).
Many of the called out adapters are available new from sellers on eBay.
Thank you for the quick response. Purchasing from Ebay for production equipment is not allowed by my management. I need to be able to purchase from one of our approved vendors. I will continue to check back for updates.
@fillenwarth_timothy One of our sales engineers took the initiative to do some searching and see what your options were. (At least for a few months till the new firmware update comes out that will address this and many other issues).
They came up with this. Perhaps there are some options here to get you over the line…
did you find which one USB wi-fi adapter working with RIO? I have faced up before purchasing. Thanks for your answer.
I purchased one of the LinkSys AE6000 units for use testing a Groov RIO module on our wireless network. It worked very well, but I still have the issue that I cannot purchase a large quantity and most of the others are obsolete. I keep hoping Opto22 will test some currently available units that can be purchased through a network hardware distributor. Ebay is not an option.
The Netis WF 2190 works well. It is more of a question which on you can purchase. The next OS update on RIO will use more and current WiFi dongles.
Hello all,
I work as a network engineer and recently just started working with these products at a developer level. Searching for wireless adapters that works well with a linux system is the best approach. I attempted using the Alfa Network adapter and it worked instantly. However, you have to chase the debug logs if it doesn’t work. In my case, I had to find the firmware version for the adapter and copy it via SSH to the /lib/firmware library then plug it back in. So, the whole situation tells me to find wireless adapters for linux systems.
I used a Netis WF 2190 which worked for months then started disconnecting. I would have to unplug it and plug it back in and it would work for a month or so and disconnect again.
Hi Nick. Welcome to the OptoForums.
Glad you found your way to the shell license and had some fun.
Its not just using wireless adaptors for Linux, as I am sure you know, but adaptors that have the Linux drivers installed in the kernel the device is using.
We list the adaptors that we have included the drivers on in the users guide. Those are plug and play and we offer support for them.
As you know, you are welcome to use others that you manually add the drivers for via shell.
Don’t forget that you will need to shell back in after a firmware update and re-do any steps you took to get it running the first time.
The next release of firmware for the groov family will include a longer list of supported drivers as some of current ones are getting harder to find.
Beno, the next firmware release has come out (Feb 2025), but the release notes say nothing about new USB Wifi drivers.
Correct. The recently released firmware was a minor dot release. It did not include any new drivers, just a few bug fixes.
The one with the 4 new Wifi adapter drivers is a major point release. Your looking for 4.0 in a few weeks.
Thanks for the fast response Beno. We’ll be watching for the new firmware.
