[SOLVED] Connection Stability Issues

[Rowethren]

Hello,

I have two Raspberry Pi 4s which have Hifiberry Digi 2 Pro hats with the latest version of MoOde that I predominantly use for Spotify Connect. The one I have in our office (where the Asus GT-AX6000 router is) has been absolutely rock solid and I never have an issue with but the one in the lounge has been an absolute pain.

The main issues with the one in the lounge is intermittently loosing connection and sometimes not re-establishing a connection unless you completely reinstall MoOde. 
 
I can see from the router it has medium signal strength with speeds of around 500Mbps on 5Ghz. However, I can also see from connection durations that it is dropping connection randomly. 

I tried taking the Pi out of the metal case it was in and that didn't help. I also tried disabling the internal WiFi and using an external USB dongle (https://thepihut.com/products/dual-band-...5296891075) but that hasn't helped either. This behaviour happens on both the 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz bands.

Today I have reinstalled MoOde twice and on reboot it will show up in my router for a second or two and then it just vanishes. It doesn't reappear after a reboot or after trying the USB dongle again. 

I'm really at a loose as to what is going on but it's rather frustrating. I find it hard to imagine in is an issue with my router as all my other devices (smart plugs, Nest thermostat, phones, TV, Nintendo Switch and Kindles) stay connected fine. The lounge Pi is only about 3m away from the router through a wood floor.

Any suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated!

[Tim Curtis]

Try swapping the office pi to the lounge location and see if there are any connection issues.

- No connection issues would suggest a problem in the lounge pi hardware, boot media, power supply etc.
- Connection issues would suggest a problem in the network, possibly some interference or signal attenuation thats occurring at that location.

[Rowethren]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'm not sure why I didn't think of that myself ?. I swapped them over and the office Pi seems to be working fine so I guess that means the issue is with either the Pi hardware or the boot media (the power supply is the same as it's wired out the back of a cabinet so I didn't swap it).

I'll try ordering a new micro SD card and hope that fixes it but if not I guess I will get a new Pi. The Pi has had a very easy life as a Spotify Connect device so it will be disappointing if that is the cause of the issues.

[TheOldPresbyope]

Murphy’s Law says the bad apple will be the one you don’t check, in this case that power supply “wired out the back of the cabinet”. I’m not sure what that arrangement is but isn’t there some way you can try an  alternative long enough to confirm that’s not the problem?

As an aside, Pi 4 and Pi 5 need more muscular power supplies than previous models. I stick to the official RPi supplies and have never had a power-related problem.

Regards,
Kent

[Rowethren]

Murphy’s Law says the bad apple will be the one you don’t check, in this case that power supply “wired out the back of the cabinet”. I’m not sure what that arrangement is but isn’t there some way you can try an  alternative long enough to confirm that’s not the problem?

As an aside, Pi 4 and Pi 5 need more muscular power supplies than previous models. I stick to the official RPi supplies and have never had a power-related problem.

Regards,
Kent

That is so often the case isn't it  . I use the official power supply with both my Pis but the lounge one is plugged in behind the TV cabinet so it's a right pain to get to.

On the plus side the office Pi has been working fine all day so I think that pretty much confirms it's some kind of hardware issue as opposed to the network. Once the new micro SD card arrived I will try swapping them over and hope that fixes the problem. It was a fairly old 32GB card that was in a couple of other devices before so I wouldn't be surprised if it is dead.

[Rowethren]

Just to update you all, I put in a new Samsung micro SD card on the 24th and the lounge Pi has been working fine since so I guess that was the issue. Thanks all for the help!