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Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

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Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#81

Post by squarefoot »

reactchain wrote: post #20

Has anyone noticed a shortage of Pi Zeros recently? It seems everywhere has run out of stock.

> Has anyone noticed a shortage of Pi Zeros recently?

It has always been like that since day one with the RPi Zero, which was years ago. The Zero has always been produced in very small quantities and sold at a loss so they could advertise that price, but the actual users who could get it at the advertised price are a small minority of those wanting to buy it. I gave up after 2 full years, and never regretted.

Now I'd rather spend some more quid and get different (and often much more powerful) boards that I can order in 1 or 1000 units and will be available without either being bundled with unnecessary stuff to inflate the price or locked to 1 piece per order.

Here's a big list of boards complete with spreadsheet tables to compare them.

http://linuxgizmos.com/ringing-in-the-new-year-with-136-open...

It's being updated once or twice per year, however this year's pandemic could have delayed the new one.

Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#82

Post by jacobwilliamroy »

punnerud wrote: post #68

How to get faster internet at a hotel: Have 4-5 of these connected and talking with the hotels WiFi, and one who share Internet with you. All the traffic goes to a server you have at home that “join+proxy” the traffic. Based on the idea that every user have a limited bandwidth, combining multiple will give you higher speed.

You can also plug multiple wifi dongles into a usb 3.0 hub and use magic to load balance traffic across all the interfaces connected to different wifi internet APs.

Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#83

Post by jjeaff »

cptskippy wrote: post #54

This is perfect for hotels whose TV sucks and their wifi has those captive portals so you can't use a Chromecast, Firestick, or Roku. It just needs a captive portal of its own when the client side is disconnected.

I travel with a little $12 wireless access point for this purpose. Which is actually cheaper than you can get a pi zero w setup with PSU anyway.

Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#84

Post by capableweb »

kingosticks wrote: post #78
capableweb wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recently? I've seen a shortage (in EU shops (Pi Zero W specifically)) since it was launched and seems it's not getting better either.

Comes and goes. As it happens they are back in at https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/raspberry-pi-zero-w (limited to 1 per order).

When it's in stock, it's always limited to X per order, so I'd still stay it's in shortage currently

Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#85

Post by mcbridematt »

7ewis wrote: post #49

Would this be good for something like connecting the Pi to a VPN for say Canada, then broadcasting an SSID for it. Then connecting a Fire TV Stick or Chromecast to this AP, and tricking it into letting you stream Canadian Netflix or DAZN etc.

The software and/or device you are trying to trick would be able to determine it's true location using the MAC address of other WiFi APs in its vicinity - the same way a map app on your smartphone can without GPS and cellular network assistance.

If you can use Ethernet (e.g with a dongle on the Fire stick) and turn all the device radios off then there are less inputs available for the device to determine it's location.

Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#86

Post by DrAwdeOccarim »

jjeaff wrote: post #83
cptskippy wrote: post #54

This is perfect for hotels whose TV sucks and their wifi has those captive portals so you can't use a Chromecast, Firestick, or Roku. It just needs a captive portal of its own when the client side is disconnected.

I travel with a little $12 wireless access point for this purpose. Which is actually cheaper than you can get a pi zero w setup with PSU anyway.

Can you explain more?

Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#87

Post by 0134340 »

DrAwdeOccarim wrote: post #86
jjeaff wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I travel with a little $12 wireless access point for this purpose. Which is actually cheaper than you can get a pi zero w setup with PSU anyway.

Can you explain more?

Or you can buy an older used router for ~$10 that supports FreshTomato or DDWRT, I know those support simultaneous AP and client mode. I spent a year using one for such needs and worked well on an E2500. Or buy a dedicated like OP said as it's probably less trouble and more reliable, depending on model.

Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#88

Post by throwaway2048 »

cptskippy wrote: post #54

This is perfect for hotels whose TV sucks and their wifi has those captive portals so you can't use a Chromecast, Firestick, or Roku. It just needs a captive portal of its own when the client side is disconnected.

In a pinch you can just spoof the wifi MAC address of the chromecast/firestick/roku with a PC, connect to the wifi, deal with the captive portal, then connect the actual device (change your MAC back unless you want fireworks).

Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#89

Post by kingosticks »

capableweb wrote: post #84
kingosticks wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Comes and goes. As it happens they are back in at https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/raspberry-pi-zero-w (limited to 1 per order).

When it's in stock, it's always limited to X per order, so I'd still stay it's in shortage currently

Yes, I entirely agree. I often add one with my orders when I can because they are useful and the equivalent clone versions work out very expensive in the UK. They are in short supply because the margin on them must be tiny and it's not worth wasting much manufacturing capacity on them. I wish they would update the specs but I think that's very unlikely to happen as they'll lose the original $5 computer claim. I don't care if it got a little more expensive (again), I like the form-factor.

Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#90

Post by zxcvbn4038 »

derefr wrote: post #58
7ewis wrote: post #49

Would this be good for something like connecting the Pi to a VPN for say Canada, then broadcasting an SSID for it. Then connecting a Fire TV Stick or Chromecast to this AP, and tricking it into letting you stream Canadian Netflix or DAZN etc.

Maybe it was just an arbitrary example, but really, there's no reason to want Canadian Netflix. We only get about half the stuff the US does. Also, we have the same "content can't be offered here by Netflix because the local IP license has been bought out by a different owner" problem that the US and many other places does; but in Canada's case, most of those local IP owners are conservative dinosaur media companies,…

During the pandemic I can blaze through new additions to the Netflix US catalog with speed, then its time to go find something new to watch for the next few weeks. All of the regional Netflix get movies and shows that the US does not - I was able to watch Star Trek Discovery in its entirety on Netflix Germany for example. Netflix Hong Kong has an amazing catalogue but I could not get that one to work with my VPN. Netflix UK is the most disappointing because it is more or less devoid of UK movies and shows aside from Monty Python and Peppa Pig (both already available in the US anyway).
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