Wireless disconnects on TP-Link TL-MR3020 V1 mini router

Submitted by jdlewis on #1

I purchased a TP-Link TL-MR3020 V1 mini router per the instructions on this site...from day one, the wireless connection drops anywhere from 60-90 seconds and continues to reconnect, over and over and over. I made sure I had the right firmware, matched up the hardware, etc., etc. Performed a reset and no luck. I feel pretty strongly that this will be blamed on my hardware and that I'll not get a lot of support, so this begs two questions...

1.) Any way I can get my license transferred to another hardware device?
2.) Any way I can revert back to the factory firmware so I can re-use this device?

Thanks,

John

Submitted by Michael on Wed, 2018/07/11 - 07:09

#2

Yes, i think its probably your hardware with the 1T1R signal. You should try the NEXX WT3020F because it is 2T2R (i.e it has two aerials) and the signal is a lot stronger. I can give you another key for that if you want. Email mail [at] virtualhere.com (mail[at]virtualhere[dot]com)

Submitted by jdlewis on Thu, 2018/07/12 - 06:15

#3

I am not sure why you have firmware listed on your website if it repetitively fails...you should probably remove that firmware as an option since it's no longer viable. That's pretty misleading to anyone who wants to setup a VirtualHere USB option and very frustrating to load it only to find it won't properly work. (Even having the TP-Link within feet of my router, the problem persists, and it seems to work only with a wired connection.) With that said, any recommendations on reverting this back to the TP-Link firmware?

Submitted by Michael on Thu, 2018/07/12 - 06:52

#4

My TP-Link 3020 works fine with the firmware.

You might have some other issue if its feet from the router with no reception. Other users also use this firm ware with no trouble. I'm also wondering if it might be a V2 or some other hardware revision.

Submitted by jdlewis on Thu, 2018/07/12 - 10:00

#5

OK, so third try at this question... any way to go back to the TP-Link firmware?

Submitted by jdlewis on Thu, 2018/12/27 - 11:04

#7

OK, so I haven't had the time to play with the Virtual USB solution again until this week. I have a Pi Zero W, and after updating to 3.8.1, it seems to do the same thing. I'm wondering if the Pi Zero W just doesn't have enough horsepower to do this wirelessly? I tried a different wireless router at home just to validate, and put the CloudHub close by, but it still drops out. I see the new recommended device is now the GL-MT300N-V2, and I am OK with buying that, but I have to admit that swapping devices and licenses is a little frustrating. What piece of hardware do you anticipate supporting long term that has a good track record for operating over a wireless network?

Submitted by jdlewis on Thu, 2018/12/27 - 11:09

#8

OK, so I haven't had much time to play with a Virtual USB solution until recently. I updated the Pi Zero W with the latest firmware (3.8.1) and it doesn't seem very impressive. It technically works, but it drops connectivity with my USB devices once in a while and requires me to close out the client and reboot the CloudHub. I'm using it in a ham radio application where I'm passing audio over USB devices and the disconnection is pretty troublesome. I am under the impression that the Pi Zero W just doesn't have enough horsepower to run a handful of USB devices. With that said, I now see that the TL-MR3020 has been dropped from support, and now the GL-MT300N-V2 is the recommended product. I have to admit, swapping devices and licenses is frustrating. What is the planned long term support for the GL-MT300N-V2? I need a device that can really perform without frequent disconnects, and don't want to have to swap devices every few months to get something working.

Submitted by jdlewis on Thu, 2018/12/27 - 11:09

#9

Sorry for the duplicate post--I posted once, it failed, and had to post again, only to find my post here...arrrgh!

Submitted by Michael on Thu, 2018/12/27 - 18:47

#10

Yeah the pi0w does not have a good wifi.

I kept getting request for cloudhub for it so i made an image but i think most people just use a usb->ethernet adapter with it anyway, rather than the wifi.

I dont think you should be using wifi. It seems your environment is not conducive to wifi. Can you just run an ethernet cable or something?

Submitted by jdlewis on Fri, 2018/12/28 - 03:57

#11

Michael: Yeah, that was my next solution, so I can do that--which device to you recommend? What will you be supporting for a while?

Submitted by Michael on Fri, 2018/12/28 - 10:10

#12

Ive moved away from supporting TP-LINK devices because they are not easy to get for long periods of time and its harder to flash them initially due to the original firmware. So devices which are cheap and produced for long periods and are better suited to proper custom firmware.

The Pi3B is pretty good (not 3B+, just the 3B) and also the GL-MT300NV2 is also good and more compact. Its just in the GL-MT300NV2 the cpu is not as powerful as the pi. For example the pi3 can stream a webcam via virtualhere in full hd resolution whereas the same webcam on the GL-MT300NV2 stuggles with 640x380x30 via virtualhere.