Raspberry Pi 2, 3, 4 USB SSD or USB drive boot

Updated 2024-02-28 !

After having tested several methods creating a bootable USB SSD, or other USB drive, for Raspberry Pi(RPi) 3 and 4, I finished with this simple method

• Create the setup you want on a ordinary SD card(Or use existing)
• Make a bootable backup/clone of the SD card saving it to the USB SSD
• Remove the SD card and boot from the USB SSD

Having a RPi 4 ? Use this post on how to write the OS direct to the SSD.

 

Teltonika RUT 240 as source for Mesh Network or router

I have used the TP-link Deco M9 for quite a while and it have worked very well.

Since almost 2 years I have used mobile broadband as a source for the Mesh network, at home, via a Nokia Fastmile(NF) with no direct flaws.

Getting a very nice offer, half the monthly cost, for mobile Internet from our mobile phone operator it was time to test something new.

Since I probably will have to return the Nokia receiver quitting the old supplier I had to test the new provider with some other equipment. Running the Teltonika RUT 240(TR) in our yacht, in the summertime, it was available for testing.

Raspberry headless install with WiFi

Updated 2023-10-17 !

To make a headless, without monitor, keyboard and mouse, install of Raspberry Pi OS on a Raspberry Pi(RPi) with built in WiFi and no LAN cable connection, please follow the instructions below.

For example the RPi Zero and Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ don't have any LAN cable port so the setup is quite usable.

To make an active WiFi connection at first boot You have to use the "Advanced options" in Raspberry Pi Imager or create, old way, a configuration file called "wpa_supplicant.conf".

NetworkManager on Raspberry, easy start

Updated 2023-10-13 !

There is a "new kid in the block" called NetworkManager(NM), configuration of network interfaces, which in OS "Bookworm", Debian 12, is replacing the former used dhcpcd.

NM isn't really new since the first public release was made 2004.

In this post I will write down some NM hints for an easy start since I didn't find any myself.

TP-Link Deco M9 V2 Plus software update

Updated 2023-10-04 !

TP-link Deco M9(M9) is a nice Mesh solution but it could be that the software/firmware is dated 2019. This is an old one and you really shall update ! Probably you can't update via the TP-link Deco app and therefore you have to make some extra measures updating via a Mac/Windows program.

In a former post I gave some hints and links if you are using an ethernet backhaul, using access point mode, and please check below how to set up without a router and manage more than one network.

Post with Teltonika 4G router as receiver / bridge for the mesh network.

Teltonika router as security, burglar, alarm !

The use case was that we on our yacht have a security alarm which is using 2 G, service terminating during 2024 ?, so it was time to check for some other solution. 

Since several years we have used the very nice Teltonika RUT 240(TR) onboard which have served us very well. Knowing that this device have both a digital in and out I started to check if it could do the job ?? 

Googling didn't give any direct clues but the "Input/Output" handling together with "Profiles" changed with a SMS, "Mobile Utilities", is doing the job.

Please note that this setup could be done with any of the routers from Teltonika with I/O !!

Teltonika router as security, burglar, alarm

This post is made for test purposes and issues with Google indexing

The "real" post is found here !!

The use case was that we on our yacht have a security alarm which is using 2 G, service terminating during 2024 ?, so it was time to check for some other solution...........

Teltonika router RUT 240 quick setup

Updated 2023-06-01 !

My old boat/travel WiFi router didn't behave so I was forced to look for a new one with these must functions;

    Built in SIM 4G/LTE capabilities

    WAN failover

    Powered with 12V DC

    Bridge public WiFi:s, or my phone, to LAN

I did a lot of Googling and ended up with Teletonika RUT 240(TR).....

This post will cover a setup summary for the RUT 240 model, but it's useable for other Teltonika models too since they have a common firmware.

Check these posts ! Teltonika router as security, burglar, alarm !

                                Bridged Teltonika router as source for router or mesh network

Raspberry/Linux print server Windows/Apple, CUPS

Updated 2023-03-12 !

When we upgraded our WiFi to a Mesh solution, TP-link Deco M9, our old printer, WiFi connected, didn't want to "play" with us anymore. This was due to stronger encryption which wasn't supported. Since the printer just have WiFi or USB connection, no standard Ethernet, I was looking for another solution.

We have no computer running 24/7 except a Raspberry Pi, RPi, which is handling our home automation, Homebridge. So the solution was to use CUPS on that RPi.

On the web there are several posts/manuals how to install CUPS on a RPi so this post will refer to one of these and then some additional hints regarding, Apple AirPrint, Windows Network Printer, scanning....

NTP server on Raspberry & Linux(Offline)

Uppdated 2023-02-01 !

The use case, creating an offline NTP, was that I'm on our boat sometimes don't have an Internet connection but always have a connected GPS. The GPS updates time on a Raspberry(RPi) running Signal K.

The actual issue is that there are other devices on the LAN that needs to be updated and then you need an NTP server.

Of course this setup is also valid for a RPi/server, with a RTC, acting as a NTP server in an isolated LAN.  

Speedtest LAN and Internet/WAN, iperf3

Updated 2022-11-06 !

Sometimes I'm a little confused if it's the local network that is the bottleneck or if the ISP, Internet Service Provider, is slow.

In a former post I used 2 applikations to get the information, from both the local LAN and Internet, but on the other hand it maybe hade been nice with a more lightweight approach. 

From this post I got inspiration and discovered a nice little application "iperf3" which is available for several OS.

Raspberry, restart network, or reboot, at ping failure

Using a Raspberry Pi Zero(RPi), with wifi, I sometimes have problem that the WiFi connection is lost. This is due to that, at our boat, we are using the Teltonika RUT 240 router. The router just have one receiver/transmitter, LAN and WAN WiFi are shared, and in some use cases the WiFi will temporarily be disconnected. To restart the WiFi quick the following solution is used.

This post will cover a solution, a bash script, with inspiration from this blogpost, but with some fine tuning. 😉
 

Another way could be using the watchdog function, described here, with reboot.

Raspberry and external storage/disk

There is a post, link will follow below, from the Raspberry Org site which is very informativ and handles how to connect your external hard disk, SSD, or USB stick to any of the USB ports on the Raspberry Pi(RPi), and "mount" the file system to access the data stored on it. 

So there is no need for a rewrite and this post will therefore continue with how to connect to a Windows server, (Other SMB or Samba servers will also work), both temporary and automagically at boot. 

Check this post RPi booting from an USB drive !

Speedtest vs ISP and at home

Updated 2020-11-30 !

Sometimes you are doubtful about the performance of your home network, or versus the ISP, and wonder, where is the bottleneck ?

After some Googling I found some favorite applications, implemented on a cable connected Raspberry PI(RPi), which do the job so You can start measure and stop guessing.

A speedtest, 

• checking Your ISP, with just a bash script
• for Your home network

HomeKit showing Humidity & Internetspeed

From AppleWatch

Strange mixture ? Humidity & Internetspeed ? 

With HomeKit You can't show Your measured Internet speed in a proper way,  X Mbit/s. So why not show it in % ? the measured speed compared to the one You purchased from Your ISP(Internet Service Provider) ? 

So now You see the point..... Humidity is also in % and can be displayed in the Home app. The only "if" is that the speed is displayed along with a "water drop"..... but maybe You can live with that ? 

Internet speed measure

Updated 2019-08-10 !

New to Node-Red(NR) and maybe start with a simple application You can benefit direct from ?

This application is measuring Your Internet connection at chosen intervals using Speedtest.net and showing the result in a graph. If the speed is under a set value it will send You an email.

New ! better version !

Homekit with broadband speed measure

Updated 2019-09-02 !

If you think it's ok that the broadband speed appears as temperature in Home apps this plugin is very nice.

The plugin, used with Homebridge(HB), measures Your broadband speed at chosen intervals. If You use the free app "Eve for Homekit", besides that it shows the last measured broad band speed, it also shows the speed history in a nice graph.

Other HomeKit posts on this Blogg

Router as WiFi extender

Extending Your WiFi via cable have the advantage, compared to extending via WFi, that You keep the bandwidth at max. Extending Your WiFi with products that use the same frequencies, as Your WiFi, will just put through 50% of the data flow.

One way to extend the WiFi is with a cheap router, or maybe an old router You don't use any more.

TP-Link Deco install with ethernet

TP-Link Deco is a smart Mesh system that extends Your WiFi.

It is pretty easy to install but there is no direct information in the install app, Apple or Android, about how to interconnect the Decos with ethernet. 

Especially if You must keep the old Router.

Connecting via ethernet is faster and more stable and also necessary if the Decos WiFi can't reach each other.

Another post with DECO:s in router mode.

Boat navigation network

In a former post a I presented our approach to mix a modern NMEA 2000(N2) network with the older Raymarine ST 1 network, installed 2006.

During the Years it has grown and been added with new functions. The pictures to the right is the actual layout.

The first add on was a N2 GPS described here.