I am contemplating upgrading my Pi to a PI3 and at the same time change to wireless as I do not have a wired connection close to the TV. Would a 2.4GHz wireless connection be OK to stream media from TVHeadend?
Maybeā¦ Maybe notā¦ Have you seen the size of the WiFi antenna on a pi3? Most reports around here are that the pi3 WiFi is less than stellar in the performance category.
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OK. Let me elaborate: A wireless connection where the transmitter is less than 10m away behind a drywall wall. The wifi is not used for any other demanding trafficā¦
No one can answer that with any certainty. Too many variables.
The overall performance of the Pi3 is streets ahead of the Pi1, so the user experience is generally going to be better than on a Pi1 - though you donāt mention how the Pi1 is connected.
If the Pi3ās Wi-Fi doesnāt work to your liking through the drywall, another option is an external Wi-Fi dongle, such as this. Of course, the routerās wireless performance might also be less than stellar and your neighbourās microwave oven might be leaking RF energy big time. 2.4 GHz WiFi in towns can be a real lottery at the best of times, especially when your neighbours choose one of the apparently āfreeā channels that isnāt 1, 6 or 11.
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Yes. I am aware of all that and thanks for your feedback. The old Pi (B+ 512) is directly connected. I had it on powerline adapters for a while and it worked fine for a month, then started dropping out so I put i back on wired. I did scan my neighbours before installing wifi and selected an unused channel. Unfortunately does my Spectrum Analyzer only go up to 1GHz so I cannot scan for interference 
I have been contemplating a new Pi for a while, it is just 32ā¬ after all. Vero looks nice, but I already have a keyboard for the Pi and would rather not have yet another remoteā¦
You donāt need to use the remote thatās provided with the Vero 4K.
True, but but there is that small thing called cost? Do not get me wrong. I am sure that the Vero is worth it, question is whether I will notice any diference for that extra 100ā¬
I just upgraded from my Pi3 to a Vero4K, so thereās always the risk of confirmation bias in what I write. Nevertheless, a few things immediately come to mind:
- Power supply included in the price
- Radio remote included in the price
- IR remote control possible without an additional dongle.
- 2 GB of RAM
- A real ethernet port
- Much faster eMMC, rather than relying on an SD card
- Good built-in sound, without the need for a āhatā board.
- A choice of analogue or digital-optical audio output.
- x265/HEVC 10-bit supported in hardware
I could probably bore you with a few other points, but Iām sure you get the idea. The Vero 4K lacks the Piās GPIO pins but the Vero 4K is a media centre, and is not designed to be a general-purpose educational device. Plus Iāve discovered that the processor supports AES extended instructions, so using a VPN should be considerably faster than on the PI once the AES extensions are exploted.
The Vero 4K is roughly twice the price of the Pi3 but in a few years youāll probably have to buy a Pi4/5 if you want to play x265/HEVC - even assuming that the Pi4/5 supports it.
And Iām not on a commission, either.
Great. If I look at this, then for me:
Power supply included in the price - Already have
Radio remote included in the price - Already have
IR remote control possible without an additional dongle. - I use a small wireless keyboard
2 GB of RAM - That is nice?
A real ethernet port - āRealā as in???
Much faster eMMC, rather than relying on an SD card - Good point
Good built-in sound, without the need for a āhatā board. - I run the audio through HDMI
A choice of analogue or digital-optical audio output. - No need at this point
x265/HEVC 10-bit supported in hardware - Good to have, but not needed at this point
The vero4 is almost four times the price of the Pi
Hmmm. Iām in the UK.
Currently Ā£55.
If you search around you can get a promotion code for the Vero 4K.
Re the Vero 4Kās ārealā ethernet port:
I looked at the Vero 4K and thought, āyep, thatās worth going forā, even though I have a Pi 3. Others will have different needs and react differently in the same set of circumstances. Thereās no ārightā answer.
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Your b+ psu is likely not powerful enough for a 3.
On my network, the 3ās WiFi is useless for DVD.isoā¦ But the V4Kās plays DVD.iso flawlessly In the same location.
The V4Kās gui navigation, movie skipping/fast forward, etc is much faster than a 3ā¦ It is worth ditching a 3 for a V4K as the user experience is very very good.
Vero4K Review
I was in fact comparing the UK price ex vat to what Farnell charges for a Pi. Thanks for the clarification on the ethernet port. Was not aware of that. Currently running a B+ and do not see the GUI as sluggish.
OK. Good to know.
That would seem to be Ā£33.89, excluding VAT, or Ā£40.66 with VAT, just for the main board.
32,79ā¬ ex vat. and I just need the board as I have everything else. Interestingly enough does Farnell charge a lot more in the UK for the same unit? I have no idea what shipping for a Vero would be, but Farnell charges a flat fee of 11ā¬. I buy components there on a regular basis.
Edit: Apparently shipping is free - Nice!
The Irish Farnell wants ā¬39.79 for the board, plus VAT. Which price are you quoting?
If I recall correctly, the Pi 1 boxes are not normally compatible with the Pi 3 and the Pi 3 should really have a good 2.5A PSU.
Gui speed:
I ran a rpi1 1 b 256 with raspbmc and did not notice any real gui sluggishness (gs) until I had an rpi 2. At that point in time I would not desire to go back to any rpi 1 as the user experience was so much better on the 2 and going back to a 1 felt slow all around. My 1 (256), 1 (512), B+, and 2 were all overclocked (OC).
Then when I moved to 3, the gs was slightly better than the 2. The biggest benefit to the 3 over the 2 was that I could run with no OC and still have a slightly better experience. The 3 also is significantly better with my Dual boot image - recalbox for game emulation. Outside of recalbox, I would not suggest someone drop on a new 3 and a new psu for a 3 if they had a perfectly working 2.
The V4Kās experience above the 3 is like going from the Rpi1 to the rpi3. It is really fluid.
Not apples to applesā¦ But if I had to equate things:.
Rpi1 = vespa
Rpi3 = prius
V4K = tesla s
If all youāre used to is a Vespaā¦ Itāll get you where you want to go and feel really fast and smooth
Farnell Finland. I have a box full of wall-warts in my lab I checked Franell Germany as well and they also had the lower price. Interesing.
Iāve replaced my Pi3 TVH setup (two USB TV Tuners DVB-S2, DVB-T) with Vero 4K.
The difference is stunning. Of course everything already worked with Pi3, so I guess
I didnāt really need it. But when you move up to Vero 4K you wonāt want to go back.
Sometimes the Pi struggles. But with Vero 4K, Itās immediately obvious that the platform is much
more powerful and specially built for multimedia.
I can see your point of view. On paper, it looks like you donāt need Vero 4K.
But this situation kinda reminds me of my Blackberry a few years ago.
At the time, I didnāt see any real need for an iPhone, since it was āmore-or-lessā the same thing.
Of course, Iād never go back now ā¦ (even if I could).
If you try Vero 4K, you wonāt regret it.
And Iāve just ordered another one
Hope this helps.
Best regards,
Niall.