Hi
I would like to add a USB wi fi adaptor to my pi to improve reception in a fringe area of my house.
I think I would like one with an external aerial in order to achieve the best signal possible.
Is there a list of supported chipsets (or not too hard to install one) i.e. driver might already be in osmc?
The searches I’ve done so far indicate that buying the cheapest compatible device might not necessarily provide the best reception. Does anyone have any recommendations?
Cheers, Geoff.
RPi3+ / 4.4.27-2-os (2016-10-1)
You could try here https://osmc.tv/store/.
Or if you are set on one with an external antenna, the Realtek 8188 & 8192 are known to work as are the Ralink/Mediatek 7601 & 7610.
Our WiFi dongles are officially supported and remain supported across updates. Support for other devices sometimes changes as the Linux kernel is updated.
You shouldn’t find need for an external aerial (they very rarely improve things) with our products.
Sam
I had a similar problem when i had my pi1 in a storage room back in 2013.
I bought an Alpha wifi dongle (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alfa-USB-AWUS036NH-2000mW-USB-Adapter-150Mbps-Wireless-USB-Wifi-Network-Card-/112181771380?hash=item1a1e8dfc74) but the real deal came from this: 2.4ghz 10dbi Wireless WiFi Booster Antenna WLAN X8s2 for sale online | eBay
which is a 10dbi antenna. It might be illegal in the USA though, you’ll have to check…