Firmware for Scanner and Wifi Dongle

[plutonium233]

Good day all,

I have been troubleshooting a stuttering audio problem recently. I have been using my 536HP with a Wifi connection to Proscan for about three years with no problems; however, it started having this stuttering audio problem a couple weeks ago (hard to say exactly when). The severity comes and goes to the point where sometimes the recorded or loopback audio is almost unintelligible whereas other times it is fine.

After a week of troubleshooting and making upgrades to computer hardware, I came to the revelation that the one thing that has changed in my setup was that I did a firmware update via Sentinel back in late December (approximately). I don't know the exact previous version, but I think it was a circa 3rd quarter 2017 version that I had been running. I suspect that the recent update may be the cause of my problems.

The reason I think this is the case is that I just noticed that the packet loss numbers seem high, but I've never paid close attention before. I have been making observations and the number varies over time, but I have seen it as high as 9%. I've rebooted every device on the network (router, scanner, computer) to no avail. The Wifi dongle on the scanner is only about 12 feet from the router as it has always been. The signal strength displays shows full on the scanner. I can ping the scanner with no problem, but I see the latency vary more than I would expect. It will mostly be 1 or 2 ms, but I will see some outliers at anywhere from 6 to 14ms. No other device on my network does this; they are all <1ms. Also, while pinging, I observe the packet loss figure in Proscan to be increasing.

I also question the Wifi dongle firmware as the last time I updated it was when Siren was finally released (version 7.28 is what is on there now). The dongle never seemed particularly stable and lacked the ability to configure a static IP. So, I hope there's some update available which may help. I tried looking on Uniden's website, but it doesn't appear that there are any updates for the Wifi dongle.

Sorry for the long-winded post, but I wanted to provide as much detail as I could.

 

[plutonium233]

So, since my last post, I've done much more troubleshooting. I'll skip the details and explain what I found. By using Proscan to play a sine wave tone on the capture side, I attempted moving the Wifi dongle around to get better line of sight to the router. However, the signal only got worse until I started moving it behind the computer desk and behind my back. As I mentioned before, the dongle never seemed to be all that stable so I suspect that it doesn't behave well with strong signals and needed some attenuation. Interestingly enough, the signal strength indicator on the scanner seems to show I now have a relatively weak signal, but it is working well so I will leave it as is.

I found a good location that seems to eliminate most of my audio issues and reduces packet loss to <5%; however, I would like to know if there is a firmware update that may help with the root cause. I am running version 7.28, but it has been quite a long time since I've updated it (unless Sentinel does it in addition to the 536hp firmware?). Does anyone know the best/latest version and how to obtain it? The Uniden 536HP firmware page isn't clear as it lists a couple different versions that are acceptable, but it doesn't give any real specifics.

It would also be good if they have finally added the ability to set a static IP address. I wanted to do the work around using IP assignment based on MAC address, but the router doesn't support it and my ISP only supports this particular modem/router combo so I can't replace it.

Edited to add: I wanted to say that the reason this only recently became an issue is because a few weeks ago I remember moving the dongle a few inches from where it had been sitting which must have been enough to cause it to exhibit this problem as the new location actually had a slightly better "view" of the router's antenna. Before, it was upside down and directly behind the scanner so that may be why I didn't experience this before.

 

[rcool101]

7.28 is the latest and has been for a long time. I had a lot of problems when my 536 was new with my dongle. I installed and uninstalled for 2 weeks and it still wouldn't work. Took it to a friend and it didn't work in his 536 ether. Still under warranty I sent dongle back and they sent a new one. Worked in less than 60 seconds. My point is they can fail and mine did new. Mine has worked flawless ever since. I use it everyday with ProScan and never turn it off. If you know somebody with a 536 that can try it might help. They run about 40 dollars new. A little pricey if you don't need one

 

[Ubbe]

Do a simple check that there's no other WiFi transmitters on the same frequency that migh impact the prformance. There are apps for mobile phones that can be downloaded for free that show all WiFi transmitters and their signal strenghts.

/Ubbe

 

[plutonium233]

7.28 is the latest and has been for a long time. I had a lot of problems when my 536 was new with my dongle. I installed and uninstalled for 2 weeks and it still wouldn't work. Took it to a friend and it didn't work in his 536 ether. Still under warranty I sent dongle back and they sent a new one. Worked in less than 60 seconds. My point is they can fail and mine did new. Mine has worked flawless ever since. I use it everyday with ProScan and never turn it off. If you know somebody with a 536 that can try it might help. They run about 40 dollars new. A little pricey if you don't need one

Thanks for the information. I have a bad feeling as to what the answer to this question will be, but I'll ask.... Is there any reason I can't use another Wifi dongle instead? I have a couple lying around that I use for stuff like the Raspberry Pi. Yes, 40 dollars is a bit ridiculous for what it is... I don't know of anyone else with a 536HP, unfortunately.

 

[plutonium233]

Do a simple check that there's no other WiFi transmitters on the same frequency that migh impact the prformance. There are apps for mobile phones that can be downloaded for free that show all WiFi transmitters and their signal strenghts.

/Ubbe

I'll give that a shot! When you say transmitters, are you referring to access points or any device, including end user ones (like other dongles, computers, etc)? I ask because my router is the only wifi access point within at least half a mile of the house.

 

[Ubbe]

I was thinking of other AP's, or devices, that do not see your AP's transmissions and cannot sync to the busy flag it sends out to stop other devices from colliding their transmissions.

Those apps for the mobile phone often show signal/noise ratio as you move around and other things that might help, but it sounds more and more that the dongle itself are to blame.

What happens if you set the scanner to AP mode and run Siren on the phone and then open squelch and listen to the noise? Is it constant without any hickups and the range seems fair? For some reason my scanner always choose ch2, maybe it thinks it's the first free channel as my neighbours are mostly on ch1 and some less on ch12 and I'm on ch6 so if your wlan are on ch1 the dongle wont work satisfactory.

/Ubbe

 

[plutonium233]

I spent the afternoon experimenting with the Wifi analyzer app. I did find that I had a Roku device that uses a direct mode to connect to its remote, and it connects to an "infrastructure" access point simultaneously. After google research, I found that this does cause headaches for a lot of people. The ad-hoc network tends to follow the channel of the access point to which the device is also connected causing interference problems. I tried a few tricks to stop this, but I finally unplugged it and threw it in a drawer as it hasn't been used in years anyway since we have smart TVs now. It turns out that this wasn't the problem.

I also found that the Wifi printer also uses direct mode and broadcasts its own SSID. It was easy to turn this off in the settings; we don't need it anyway. This also did not solve the problem. I changed Wifi channels in my router a few times, but it was a fruitless effort since, by this time, there was no interference to avoid by doing this exercise.
As you suggested, I placed the scanner in AP mode and did a test. I should say that I haven't used the Siren app since I had an Iphone a few years ago. So, I downloaded it to my Galaxy S9 for this test. In the google play store, I saw a complaint about Siren crashing other apps and eventually crashing the phone.... that turned out to be very true. This is a first for me as none of my other apps have ever done this. This is a little disappointing that after all this time, they still haven't worked out the basic functionality...

The app did manage to run long enough to conduct my test, however. I was able to walk all the way to the other side of the house and maintain a good signal and good audio the entire time. I plan to test this more thoroughly tomorrow since it is possible that I was lucky enough to do this when the dongle was on its best behavior, so to speak.

On another note, the audio problems worsened again today even though the dongle was in the same "sweet spot". I moved it around some more and found a new location that seems to work well with ~0.5% packet loss and good audio.

 

[rjdj2000]

plutoniun23,

I have been running a 536 on wifi to ProScan for over 2 years, 24/7 and have not had any issues outside of the connection to Broadcastify go whacky at night and then had to restart ProScan in the morning. Then it would run fine all day and then the connection would go again at night. I had emailed Bob @ ProScan on it and he is coming out with a new version soon, 14.4 that addresses some issues but he had me uncheck the "BCD536HP - WiFi Keep Alive" in the options and that solved the constant disconnects at night. Not sure if that would help you with what is going on with yours or not.

I am very upset with Uniden as once they got the WiFi working and a "basic" app out, it seems that they have abandoned this portion of the scanner. They have released 4-6? new scanners, introduced DMR, NXDN etc. in the 436/536 line but there has been nothing new for the WiFi portion for almost 5 years!! We were supposed to be able to broadcast directly from the scanner to a server and be able to listen to it anywhere using Siren. The last information on it was from May of 2014 and was posted by UpMan here: https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/siren-update.291260/

So right now I am very thankful for Bob & ProScan, as his software has provided me to be able to at least listen to my scanner anywhere on any device.

 

[plutonium233]

plutoniun23,

...

Sorry for my delayed response. I checked that setting on mine and found it was already turned off. So I changed it to Method 1 to see what happens. Right now it sounds perfect, no stutter or chatter so I will monitor it today and see if it stays that way.

I agree with you about Uniden. I stayed silent and patently waited while reading all the threads about the delay in releasing the functionality... I was glad when it was finally released, but it was only very basic functionality. Like I mentioned, I can't even use the Siren app as it crashes things on my phone. I was able to sort of work around the lack of a static IP configuration by putting the router on a UPS, but I still get occasional IP changes that I have to go in and update in Proscan or explain over the phone since I am away from home for large chunks of time.

I too am thankful for Proscan. It is great piece of software for sure, and Bob does a good job supporting it. I never used it until I bought the 536HP and wanted to get it online. I was pleasantly surprised at all the other cool features that go along with it too.