Will This WiFi Dongle Work?

Black Hole

Black Hole

May contain traces of nut
There are a number of existing (mostly outdated) threads discussing third-party (ie not the expensive Humax-branded) USB WiFi dongles, and I will add links to them below for reference. I believe not even Humax can supply a dongle suitable for HDR-FOX and HD-FOX these days.

The issue is that the driver built into the HD/HDR-FOX firmware will only work with the Ralink RT3070 WiFi chipset, so the only dongles which will work must be built with the RT3070 (or a clone), but the RT3070 has been superseded (typically by the RT5370).

It is still (or was until recently) possible to buy a RT3070 dongle on the likes of eBay, but it is also possible to buy a dongle advertised as RT3070 which turns out not to be. How do you tell? All you really know is the WiFi settings in Menu >> Settings >> System >> Internet Setting are greyed out and unavailable (make sure there is no Ethernet cable plugged in, otherwise that will take precedence).

With thanks to Ezra Pound for pointing this out, Custom Firmware users can diagnose whether a plugged-in WiFi dongle is indeed RT3070 (or not), regardless of whether the WiFi settings are enabled. On a Telnet or Webshell command line:

Ezra Pound said:
cat /proc/bus/usb/devices
Click to expand...
(I presume this command could actually be run on any Linux system.)

The output should be a spew of text, reporting parameters for all current USB-connected devices. If none of the lines prefixed P: look like this:
Code: 
P:  Vendor=148f ProdID=3070 Rev= 1.01
(ie does not contain "3070"; maybe "5370" or something else), then the dongle is not suitable... and if advertised as RT3070 it has been mis-sold.

In the absence of a suitable WiFi dongle, there are wired or wireless alternatives which work through the Ethernet port and will be seen by the HD/HDR-FOX as a wired network:
  • Ethernet cable direct to the home router.

  • HomePlug (AKA Powerline), which uses the home mains wiring as a carrier for networking. One adapter is plugged into the mains near your router (and connected to the router by an Ethernet cable), and then other adapters plugged into the mains around the house provide networking to your devices. See Devolo or TP-Link (to name but two).

  • WiFi-to-Ethernet adapter, such as a nano-router (eg TP-Link WR702N) used in client mode. Power it from the USB port and connect it to the Ethernet port to provide a WiFi connection without relying on a RT3070 dongle (the HD/HDR-FOX will treat it as a LAN connection rather than Wi-Fi).

References:
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I have a couple of 'good' dongles that have been redundant since I ran an Ethernet cable to the TV area some time back. They are slightly different models or makes, but were both working on the back of HDR-FOX boxes.
I've kept them for just-in-case, but if any of the regulars here are in need of one I can probably bear to part with them now.
 
Black Hole said:
  • HomePlug (AKA Powerline), which uses the home mains wiring as a carrier for networking. One adapter is plugged into the mains near your router (and connected to the router by an Ethernet cable), and then other adapters plugged into the mains around the house provide networking to your devices. See Devolo or TP-Link (to name but two).
Click to expand...
FWIW these work to common standards so both ends don't have to be the same brand - I've got a Devolo dLan 1200 Wifi+ that works perfectly with a slower Netgear one and gives decent speeds even with two consumer units being in the signal path. They're out on loan ATM but I'm sure I've given the speed here somewhere.
Black Hole said:
  • WiFi-to-Ethernet adapter,
Click to expand...
Sorted a TP-Link Wifi>ethernet bridge* for a neighbour whose 'smart' TV no longer recognised the built-in WiFi adaptor. Showed them how to set it up and left it working nicely. Some time later they mentioned it had stopped working a few weeks earlier after they'd "unplugged it and plugged it in again" so I had a look. Soon realised the SSID had been changed and eventually realised the router had been changed - that was what had been "unplugged and plugged in again". This instance of deliberate dissembling was the last in a long string of them and resulted in my no longer doing any IT stuff for them.

* Would have used Powerline but the only socket near the router was an integral USB charger one that completly killed the Poweline signals.
 
For reference: for the sake of £4, I bought one of these to test (more in hope than expectation, confirmed RT3070 dongles are now very thin on the ground):

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/195692828787

It works on my Linux PC, but not on the HDR-FOX. cat /proc/bus/usb/devices produces this (with the dongle plugged into a HDR-FOX):

Code: 
T:  Bus=01 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=01 Cnt=01 Dev#=  2 Spd=480 MxCh= 0
D:  Ver= 2.01 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=148f ProdID=7601 Rev= 0.00
S:  Manufacturer=??????????????????????????????MediaTek????????802.11 n WLAN
S:  Product=802.11 n WLAN
S:  SerialNumber=1.0
C:* #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=80 MxPwr=160mA
I:  If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 8 Cls=ff(vend.) Sub=ff Prot=ff Driver=(none)
E:  Ad=84(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
E:  Ad=85(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
E:  Ad=08(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
E:  Ad=04(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
E:  Ad=05(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
E:  Ad=06(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
E:  Ad=07(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
E:  Ad=09(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms

This obviously doesn't match the required ProdID code for HDR-FOX (no surprise), but the string of E-prefix messages concern me. As I said, it works on my Linux box but clearly isn't happy, and doesn't work if I put it on an extension lead to get a better signal. I would not recommend for any purpose.

Screenshot from 2023-07-19 12-56-37.jpg
 
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