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Adding a Wifi Microcontroller for a Raspberry Pi CMIO

lordtyrion

I'm trying to add WiFi to a Compute Module, but don't want to use a USB Dongle, because I need the WiFi to be permanent. Does anyone have any suggestions on what model WiFi module I should use and which communication protocol I should connect it with? If anyone has done this kind of interfacing, any help would be appreciated.

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  • You're probably better off integrating a USB Wi-Fi Chipset entirely into your design. If you still need the USB port, then integrate a USB Hub + a USB Wi-Fi Chipset. Of course, to do this will require that you also integrate the antenna and matching components which can be somewhat troublesome.

     

    Of the chipsets available, the older 802.11n Atheros chipsets generally give the best range in my experience - something like the Atheros AR9271L is pretty much supported out of the box as the drivers are in the kernel already. Otherwise, the older 802.11n Ralink chipsets (e.g. RT2501, RT5201, RT2573, RT2671) might also be good choices. The Realtek devices mostly seem to need you to build your own kernel module and are a little flakey.

     

    There are some companies which do make modules based on these chipsets for integration, still using the USB bus. Some of these (e.g. WUBA-171GN - 802.11b/g/n High-Power USB Module, Atheros AR9271, 1T1R (5-pin pin header) - SparkLAN ) are just the USB dongle without the USB connector. Others (mainly from China) are more designed for integration (e.g. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/AR9271-module-wireless-network-card-module-USB-wireless-network-card-module-haihua-AW-NU… ).

     

    Short of this, you might be able to get a chipset that might interface over SPI or SDIO, but it's not going to be out of the box support. Other buses will be likely too slow for your desires.

     

    - Gough

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  • You're probably better off integrating a USB Wi-Fi Chipset entirely into your design. If you still need the USB port, then integrate a USB Hub + a USB Wi-Fi Chipset. Of course, to do this will require that you also integrate the antenna and matching components which can be somewhat troublesome.

     

    Of the chipsets available, the older 802.11n Atheros chipsets generally give the best range in my experience - something like the Atheros AR9271L is pretty much supported out of the box as the drivers are in the kernel already. Otherwise, the older 802.11n Ralink chipsets (e.g. RT2501, RT5201, RT2573, RT2671) might also be good choices. The Realtek devices mostly seem to need you to build your own kernel module and are a little flakey.

     

    There are some companies which do make modules based on these chipsets for integration, still using the USB bus. Some of these (e.g. WUBA-171GN - 802.11b/g/n High-Power USB Module, Atheros AR9271, 1T1R (5-pin pin header) - SparkLAN ) are just the USB dongle without the USB connector. Others (mainly from China) are more designed for integration (e.g. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/AR9271-module-wireless-network-card-module-USB-wireless-network-card-module-haihua-AW-NU… ).

     

    Short of this, you might be able to get a chipset that might interface over SPI or SDIO, but it's not going to be out of the box support. Other buses will be likely too slow for your desires.

     

    - Gough

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