There are four ways you can connect the internet to a Raspberry Pi board. You can use a built-in WIFI, add a WIFI dongle, use an ethernet socket, or add one via USB. In this article we will take a look at each option, to investigate what is the fastest connection option for each board. The boards tested:
Raspberry Pi 3
Raspberry Pi 2
Raspberry Pi Zero
Raspberry Pi Zero W
Each board will be tested for speeds using:
built-in WIFI (if possible)
built-in ethernet (if possible)
USB (3.0) to ethernet adapter (1 Gb)
WIFI USB 2.0 dongle
Testing conditions of the Raspberry Pi network speed test
This should lead to some interesting results as it turned out. Each test is run with an iperf server running on the target device (I’d rather see some CPU action on the board itself) and the client (PC – Windows 10) is connected through a LAN cable (1Gb) to the Linksys WRT-1900ACS. The test will be run minimum 3 times in a short period of time. In few cases where results have been inconsistent, the additional tests have been done. The USB ethernet adapter is backward compatible and auto-negotiation will determine the correct link speed. I have verified the adapter on my PC with the test speeds in excess of 700Mbits/s.
Each board is tested with the same (latest at the time of writing Raspbian Pixel image) class 10 microSD card, the same power supply is used in all cases (an original adapter for indoor tests, and the battery bank for the range tests).
The wireless performance tests have been done at 1m, 5m (through walls), 10m, and 20m. As the board and adapter orientation do matter, I tried to orient the board and the adapter in a way that would allow for the best internet speeds. The orientation of the adapter has been consistent across the tests. This should cover the test environment setup, but feel free to ask me any questions about it.
Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Adafruit has the largest and best selection of Raspberry Pi accessories and all the code & tutorials to get you up and running in no time!
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
Python for Microcontrollers — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: CircuitPython 8.1.0 and 8.2.0-beta0 out and so much more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Adafruit has the largest and best selection of Raspberry Pi accessories and all the code & tutorials to get you up and running in no time!