On those occasions I'd like to do longer-term network path tests, be it for a new cable run, WiFi Access Point, an Ethernet over Powerline node, or what have you, it would be nice to have something small and economical I could place at the far end as a test target.

Desired characteristics:

• Would prefer it run a flavor of Linux
  
• Want to run iperf3 on it in server mode
  
• Need to be able to ping it
  
• Need to be able to collect/display link performance stats. (As in "ip -s <interface>" or "ifconfig <interface>".)
  
• Need to be able to ssh into it
  
• Need GigE and both 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi
  

It would be nice if whatever it was could run a good long time on battery, so I wouldn't always necessarily have to have an outlet nearby, but I could work around that if I had to.

Ideally it would be in a case/enclosure.

Would prefer something relatively economical. I'm not looking to spend hundreds-of-bucks on this thing

Recommendations?

take a look at the offerings from

https://www.hardkernel.com/

You mean like a cable tester?
Or it sound you want something more like making something that does more like Fluke or others but much cheaper as those devices can get quite spendy.

The Raspberry Pi 4 runs a variety of Linux distros, has gigabit Ethernet and both 2.4 GHz and 5GHz wifi. It is powered through a USB-C plug and needs a 5V/3A supply, so you could run it off a USB backup battery. It doesn't come with an enclosure but tons are available.

It may not actually be the best answer, but it is a cheap, easy answer with broad distribution and a lot of support.

Raspberry Pi was my first thought as well.
I've got a Pi4 at home, just haven't had a lot of time to play with it, apart from loading up a retro emulator.

Edit: Mine came with a case/enclosure & all peripherals (power, mouse, keyboard).

Also: saw this in my news feed this morning, for a UPS/battery power option on the Pi:
https://www.cnx-software.com/2...information-display/

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
You mean like a cable tester?

Depending upon one's definition of "cable tester": I already have one of those. But it only tests for all pairs being present and accounted-for, in the correct, or at least matching, order.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
Or it sound you want something more like making something that does more like Fluke or others but much cheaper as those devices can get quite spendy.

I would love to have a Fluke, but they're hideously expensive. Far more than I can even remotely justify, in my wildest dreams, for my use. And the Cheap Chinese Crap alternatives aren't to be trusted, from what I've seen. (I'm trying to avoid buying any more C³, anyway.)

This is meant to serve a somewhat different purpose, anyway: To test the (long-term) performance of any kind of network path. It will kind of replace the functionality of a Fluke cable tester in that, if an Ethernet node is getting consistent GigE speeds with a low or non-existent error rate, it's probably somewhat safe to assume the cable's good

Raspberry Pi was my first thought as well.

RPi3 might even work for your needs (although the Gigabit Ethernet maxes out at 300Mbps due to the hardware implementation). I think you can pick these up at Micro Center for $25.

If that's a no go, the RPi4 looks like it meets your specs.

ETA: As maladat said, you'll need to get a case and a power supply...

Any of the RaspPi's will work for your purposes, maybe even the PiZero. I am semi-temporarily using a Pi3 running FreeBSD as my home caching DNS server, getting ready to add Apache or Nginx and Xymon to do network monitoring. Of course, there are any number of Linux's that will work too. I lost a memory DIMM in my main server box, and threw up the Pi as an expedient, but I am enjoying the silence enough that I may learn to live without the server.

I don't know why I've never had the idea of building an "instant remote site monitor," but it would be perfect for that. I usually use a MacMini, or some other client-provided system for that sort of thing.

A cell phone "power bank" would make a perfect power supply for a Pi where there is no 110VAC handy. Of course, you'd get better battery life with a Pi3 than an Pi4, the latter are relatively hungry, and you'd have to power a case fan for cooling.

quote:

Originally posted by ShouldBFishin:
RPi3 might even work for your needs (although the Gigabit Ethernet maxes out at 300Mbps ...

If that's a no go, the RPi4 looks like it meets your specs.

Yeah, that'd be a non-starter. For this to be most useful for its intended purpose I need GigE.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
I don't know why I've never had the idea of building an "instant remote site monitor," but [an RPi] would be perfect for that.

I thought so

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
A cell phone "power bank" would make a perfect power supply for a Pi where there is no 110VAC handy.

Of course! Why didn't I think of that? I already have a large Anker power bank for our mobile devices.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
Of course, you'd get better battery life with a Pi3 than an Pi4, the latter are relatively hungry, and you'd have to power a case fan for cooling.

A fan? Even so very lightly-loaded?

Alternatively: It just occurred to me an Android phone with both 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi might do the trick, and I'd have WiFi Analyzer for analyzing WiFi networks. (I've sorely missed that ever since we switched to iPhones.) That, of course, would require I could run an Ethernet connection off its USB port. I don't recall if one can do that with an Android phone? (I'd definitely want it to be as native an Android install as possible.)

I do have LinSSID (?) on my laptop, and that works well, but that, of course, requires being able to run a GUI desktop. And there'd have to be a build for RPi.

quote:

that, of course, requires being able to run a GUI desktop

I am running Xvnc on my FreeBSD Pi w/o issues, also running a "regular" X server on an HDMI monitor.

WRT power requirements, the Pi4 is surprisingly greedy, requiring a full 3 amps (15W), perhaps more if you put an external host-powered drive or a HAT on it, or leave it in direct sunlight. Obviously, a solar panel feeding into a battery pack (and providing shade) is another power option. And it does run kind of hot. I have one as a media server and it definitely benefits from the fan, but I am sure there are passive heat sinks that are bigger than those shipped with the product. HA! I'm looking at my junk box which is overflowing with PC PS sporting labels of 750W, 1200W, etc. What a brave new world we live in!

Beaglebone Black sounds like a good fit aside from the battery nice-to-have.

These will all chew some watts if they have horsepower.

Power bank was a good suggestion, mebbe diy if yer handy. Grab some big lipos and an of the shelf charger/buck-boost board. Hell you can buy a dual 26650 sled and wire it a 5v reg, then you can pop em out and use a dual lipo charger to charge the batteries. Mebbe 3D print an enclosure...

Hmmm I should do that too.

Do you have PoE over the cable? You can get a PoE hat for the raspberry pi 4.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
Do you have PoE over the cable? You can get a PoE hat for the raspberry pi 4.

This would be for general use as kind of a piece of test equipment. No guarantee PoE would necessarily be available.

In fact, if I did this with an RPi, I'd probably do something like this: Raspberry Pi 7 Inch Touch Screen Display With SmartiPi Case

Only thing is, again: Would the apps I want be available for Raspberry Pi OS? I'd want an ssh server, iperf3, and LinSSID, at a minimum.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Only thing is, again: Would the apps I want be available for Raspberry Pi OS? I'd want an ssh server, iperf3, and LinSSID, at a minimum.

I can check LinSSID when I get home but I’m going to assume the answer is yes. I run ssh and I’m positive I’ve tried iperf on it before. You can just install Ubuntu server or any Debian so if it’s in the repository you can run it.

I was a bit skeptical of the pi before I picked one up. It’s surprisingly capable.

Oh, what about adding a PoE injector to the kit?

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
I can check LinSSID when I get home but I’m going to assume the answer is yes. I run ssh and I’m positive I’ve tried iperf on it before. You can just install Ubuntu server or any Debian so if it’s in the repository you can run it.

I think I have to run Raspberry Pi OS to get support for the 7 in. touchscreen display?

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
Oh, what about adding a PoE injector to the kit?

Now I'd be up to the cost of the PoE HAT + the PoE injector. Simpler and easier to use AC power or my existing power bank.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
I think I have to run Raspberry Pi OS to get support for the 7 in. touchscreen display?

I'm running Raspbian Buster. I believe that and Raspberry Pi OS are both just flavors of Debian. I'm like 82% sure that they use the same repository.

I just installed LinSSID but can't run it at the moment as it's headless. I also have iperf and ssh installed and working as expected.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Now I'd be up to the cost of the PoE HAT + the PoE injector. Simpler and easier to use AC power or my existing power bank.

Yeah, probably. That would probably be around $50 extra for a $35 machine.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Only thing is, again: Would the apps I want be available for Raspberry Pi OS? I'd want an ssh server, iperf3, and LinSSID, at a minimum.

For what you're doing I would recommend not going with the base Raspberry PI OS as it is still 32 bit (least it was the last time I looked).

Ubuntu has an install specific for the raspberry pi. This is what I have been using on my PIs for the past few months - and confirmed that all of the packages you mention above are available.

I suspect Fedora has an option as well (what I use daily). Just look for the aarch64 version.

If you wanted to get a bit more exotic, you could always run Kali Linux on it (used to be called Backtrack).

Raspberry Pi 4 will probably be your best bet - 4g or 8g model. They also have the PI4 compute module as well - but then you would need to find a board for that to go with, so probably best suited to just use a normal PI4. I don't remember if the standard pi allows for an external antenna or not.

Another hardware option would be an Asus Tinkerboard-S, but your OS image options are limited (arbian or the official asus tinkerOS image - both which aren't the most up to date).

quote:

Originally posted by cyanide357:
For what you're doing I would recommend not going with the base Raspberry PI OS as it is still 32 bit (least it was the last time I looked).

Ubuntu has an install specific for the raspberry pi. This is what I have been using on my PIs for the past few months - and confirmed that all of the packages you mention above are available.

Problem is I need support for that 7 in. touchscreen. Would the RPi Ubuntu install have that?

Here's what the product page for that touchscreen display says:

quote:

Touchscreen drivers with support for 10-finger touch and an on-screen keyboard will be integrated into the latest Raspberry Pi OS for full functionality without a physical keyboard or mouse.

Product page: Raspberry Pi Touch Display

I think maybe it's made by Cytron Technologies?

More info here: Raspberry Pi 7 Inch Touch Screen Display at Cytron Tech.

quote:

Originally posted by eyrich:
take a look at the offerings from

https://www.hardkernel.com/

Well, those look awesome. The one I want is out of stock though.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:

quote:

Originally posted by eyrich:
take a look at the offerings from

https://www.hardkernel.com/

Well, those look awesome. The one I want is out of stock though.

I just looked and these are back in stock in case anyone else was looking.