RockPro64 and Pine H64 Discussion Thread

[Tigger]

Hey thanks for the info and photo. I assumed that the module came without antennas.
Looks like you have the WiFi/BT module. Did it come with the specs of the antennas? Or do you happen to know the DBi and Ohm of the antennas ?
Pardon me for bugging you about this.

[Luke]

Hey thanks for the info and photo. I assumed that the module came without antennas.
Looks like you have the WiFi/BT module. Did it come with the specs of the antennas? Or do you happen to know the DBi and Ohm of the antennas ?
Pardon me for bugging you about this.

Not bugging at all; it does come with the antennas in the picture and nope, I don't know their spec. I cannot test right now, but I am 99.99% positive that these antennas and ufl cables will work with the module too (thats why I got them). I will test tomorrow afternoon and let you know.

[Tigger]

The 6 DBi gain of those antennas will be perfect. Nice strong signal for indoor use. Much better than 4 DBi antennas.

I notice one thing though. That Amazon page mentions : "NOTE: Only Use for MINI PCI-E Interface, Do Not Use for M.2 (NGFF) Interface".
While the WiFi/BT modules shop page mentions : "with SDIO Interface and HS-UART Mixed Interface".
Wouldn't that mean that there will only be SDIO radios (low power) on the module, and no PCIe radios (high performance). (The AP6536 can handle both.)

[pfeerick]

The 6 DBi gain of those antennas will be perfect. Nice strong signal for indoor use. Much better than 4 DBi antennas.

I notice one thing though. That Amazon page mentions : "NOTE: Only Use for MINI PCI-E Interface, Do Not Use for M.2 (NGFF) Interface".
While the WiFi/BT modules shop page mentions : "with SDIO Interface and HS-UART Mixed Interface".
Wouldn't that mean that there will only be SDIO radios (low power) on the module, and no PCIe radios (high performance). (The AP6536 can handle both.)

Yeah, if I understand right from when I was looking at the pinout on the schematic it's SDIO for the WiFi and UART for the Bluetooth. I see mention of SDIO being theoretically limited to 100Mbps, so if that is the case that would have the mean you're not going to be able to saturate that wifi link.

[Luke]

I can report that those cheap-o antennas I got work. They seem to be working very well too.

[Tigger]

The 6 DBi gain of those antennas will be perfect. Nice strong signal for indoor use. Much better than 4 DBi antennas.

I notice one thing though. That Amazon page mentions : "NOTE: Only Use for MINI PCI-E Interface, Do Not Use for M.2 (NGFF) Interface".
While the WiFi/BT modules shop page mentions : "with SDIO Interface and HS-UART Mixed Interface".
Wouldn't that mean that there will only be SDIO radios (low power) on the module, and no PCIe radios (high performance). (The AP6536 can handle both.)

Yeah, if I understand right from when I was looking at the pinout on the schematic it's SDIO for the WiFi and UART for the Bluetooth. I see mention of SDIO being theoretically limited to 100Mbps, so if that is the case that would have the mean you're not going to be able to saturate that wifi link.

Which would also stop my quest for higher gain antennas. I hope that Luke still sees some increase in throughput or reach because of the new antennas. And if not, that he can still return his new antennas.

EDIT:@Luke That's good to hear. Do you find that they are better than the antennas shipped with the module ?

[Luke]

The 6 DBi gain of those antennas will be perfect. Nice strong signal for indoor use. Much better than 4 DBi antennas.

I notice one thing though. That Amazon page mentions : "NOTE: Only Use for MINI PCI-E Interface, Do Not Use for M.2 (NGFF) Interface".
While the WiFi/BT modules shop page mentions : "with SDIO Interface and HS-UART Mixed Interface".
Wouldn't that mean that there will only be SDIO radios (low power) on the module, and no PCIe radios (high performance). (The AP6536 can handle both.)

Yeah, if I understand right from when I was looking at the pinout on the schematic it's SDIO for the WiFi and UART for the Bluetooth. I see mention of SDIO being theoretically limited to 100Mbps, so if that is the case that would have the mean you're not going to be able to saturate that wifi link.

Which would also stop my quest for higher gain antennas. I hope that Luke still sees some increase in throughput or reach because of the new antennas. And if not, that he can still return his new antennas.

EDIT:@Luke That's good to hear. Do you find that they are better than the antennas shipped with the module ?

First of all, I only tested on android as I've been told by evilbunny (who is infinitely more competent than me) that the module is currently not stable in Linux. As for swamping out the antennas the speed did not improve (not necessarily the modules fault) but the range did improve quite a bit and quality of signal is clearly more stable. So yes, for a few quid thats a good upgrade.

[Tigger]

On the RockPro64 sales page in the shop there is this line : "Note (the Wifi/BT model shown on photo is an optional item):". I want to see what the module looks like, and where on the board it would be slotted in. But I can't see/distinguish the module at all in the board's photo.

I would have thought it was was the circled part from how pine64 have designed stuff in the past and because of the can over the top of it..., but I can't confirm 100% as there's no separate picture of the module on the shop atm.

The 6 DBi gain of those antennas will be perfect. Nice strong signal for indoor use. Much better than 4 DBi antennas.

I notice one thing though. That Amazon page mentions : "NOTE: Only Use for MINI PCI-E Interface, Do Not Use for M.2 (NGFF) Interface".
While the WiFi/BT modules shop page mentions : "with SDIO Interface and HS-UART Mixed Interface".
Wouldn't that mean that there will only be SDIO radios (low power) on the module, and no PCIe radios (high performance). (The AP6536 can handle both.)

Yeah, if I understand right from when I was looking at the pinout on the schematic it's SDIO for the WiFi and UART for the Bluetooth. I see mention of SDIO being theoretically limited to 100Mbps, so if that is the case that would have the mean you're not going to be able to saturate that wifi link.

Which would also stop my quest for higher gain antennas. I hope that Luke still sees some increase in throughput or reach because of the new antennas. And if not, that he can still return his new antennas.

EDIT:@Luke That's good to hear. Do you find that they are better than the antennas shipped with the module ?

First of all, I only tested on android as I've been told by evilbunny (who is infinitely more competent than me) that the module is currently not stable in Linux. As for swamping out the antennas the speed did not improve (not necessarily the modules fault) but the range did improve quite a bit and quality of signal is clearly more stable. So yes, for a few quid thats a good upgrade.

I have to agree with you on that one. Reach and stability are also important. Maybe more important.
But I still do not understand how the antennas can work properly if the RockPro64's WiFi module is only SDIO. Unless that warning on Amazon is a typo, left over from a copy+paste from another product page.

(I do not expect much hardware to be (fully) cooperative in Linux at first. evilbunny is brave.)

[pfeerick]

First of all, I only tested on android as I've been told by evilbunny (who is infinitely more competent than me) that the module is currently not stable in Linux. As for swamping out the antennas the speed did not improve (not necessarily the modules fault) but the range did improve quite a bit and quality of signal is clearly more stable. So yes, for a few quid thats a good upgrade.

lol... How about non-existent by default... I'm sure I saw ayufan say only in the last two days he hasn't dont anything on the wifi / wifi not working.

Range should be the only improvement with the better antenna unless the QoS was that poor with the old ones (highly unlikely) it was dropping packets like gummy bears... I also had to get that type of antenna for my pine64... I found out the hard way the adhesive really doesn't want to let go of the 'pad'... damn thing tore in half when I tried to take the backing off, so my pine64 /w battery in ABS case got a rubber ducky antenna and it works a treat.

I'd love to know what actual difference it makes to the antennas if the module is SDIO or PCIe. It's not like the wavelength changes, and power won't increase, just rate the data is sent/received at. Half think it's nonsense text that sometimes makes it into listings...

[Luke]

First of all, I only tested on android as I've been told by evilbunny (who is infinitely more competent than me) that the module is currently not stable in Linux. As for swamping out the antennas the speed did not improve (not necessarily the modules fault) but the range did improve quite a bit and quality of signal is clearly more stable. So yes, for a few quid thats a good upgrade.

lol... How about non-existent by default... I'm sure I saw ayufan say only in the last two days he hasn't dont anything on the wifi / wifi not working.

Range should be the only improvement with the better antenna unless the QoS was that poor with the old ones (highly unlikely) it was dropping packets like gummy bears... I also had to get that type of antenna for my pine64... I found out the hard way the adhesive really doesn't want to let go of the 'pad'... damn thing tore in half when I tried to take the backing off, so my pine64 /w battery in ABS case got a rubber ducky antenna and it works a treat.

I'd love to know what actual difference it makes to the antennas if the module is SDIO or PCIe. It's not like the wavelength changes, and power won't increase, just rate the data is sent/received at. Half think it's nonsense text that sometimes makes it into listings...

I think evilbunny tried to get it working (and kinda did) because hes done work on his router / AP implementation.
Also, how can something be dropping like gummy bears ? that expression makes no sense