Re: DR5000 - throttle apps compatible with its WiFi
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Jay,
Wow, sounds like you're dealing with quite the difficult crowd. Do these people have jobs? Jobs where they have to log into various computer systems? In terms of boot up time, I haven't timed it, but my Windows 10 PC has to be close to a minute, if not less, and it's a sub-$300 refurb from Amazon. Macs are really fast, but they are way overkill cost wise for running a JMRI server.
I think you've gotten really close on the RPi and YD7001+router. The RPi sounds like it's maxing out on the built-in Wi-Fi, which is terrible. I think it can handle a lot more clients with an Ethernet connection to the router. Handling the Wi-Fi connections in software is a huge drain on the RPi's computing power, whereas routers can handle that in hardware, and are designed for the task.
You can have multiple JMRI servers on the same LAN on different IPs, like one on the YD7001, and one on an RPi, albeit with a little bit more confusing interface on the UWTs, as they don't lay out the IP address right in front of you like WiThrottle and Engine Driver do. Interesting, the F2 thing must be a bug in the YD7001's WiThrottle server, I've never seen that in WiThrottle.
What issues have you had with WiThrottle server? The only wonkiness I've had are with the ProtoThrottle bridge, which is usually pretty good but occasionally requires restarting something to get it to connect. Right now I'm using a TCS CS-105 with LCC over Wi-Fi, so WiThrottle server bridges the ProtoThrottle bridge with the CS-105.
Alex
-- Alexander Wood Hartford-New Haven, CT Modeling the modern era freelanced G&W Connecticut Northern in HO TCS CS-105 - JMRI - ProtoThrottle - TCS UWT-100, UWT-50p, LT-50
Alexander
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Nice to hear from you again.? Yes, I personally agree that having 6 LNWIs is probably not the correct solution, if I was the only one involved in making the decision.? I have a large number of other club members who want a solution that consistently lets them run trains 1 minute after turning on the power to the layout.
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The view point of other members is as soon as we involve a computer they are reliant on it always 'coming up' cleanly.? Unfortunately, given the number of members who come on operations nights, this means a PC, probably running Windows.? We have had 14 members actively running trains on an operations night, and we have 2 new members to add to this load.
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I have tested a Raspberry PI 3B+ running JMRI and it tops out at about 6 or 7 connected throttles.? I have also tried out the YD7001 native WiFi / WiThrottle support and we got to about 8 or 9 active throttles, before this configuration 'maxed out'.? I set up a router and turned off the native WiFi support in the YD7001 and we got to about 12 active throttles.? I disconnected the LNWIs for these three tests.
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We are setup this way right now:
- 6 LNWIs connected via the LocoNet T port on the YD7001. Each members throttle assigned to a specific LNWI.? There are a few members who have 2 throttles, so they take up two slots on the 6 LNWIs.? Assigning throttles to LNWIs does not make efficient use of them, but this does provide very predictable and consistent connections so you can run trains within a minute of power on.? I acknowledge that is someone does not come on an operations night we are wasting an LNWI slot.
- There is a router connected to our club LAN, which gives WiFi access to the YD7001 without going through the LNWIs.? I personally use this, as does one other member.? If we have guests from other clubs show up, we connect them via the router/LAN.? There is one minor annoyance with going through this method - F2 is latching, which means that the loco horn continues to sound until you press F2 again.?
Members come to run trains, not debug problems.? Reliability and quick power on a keys to happy club members.
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Jay Lennox
York Railway Modellers - Toronto
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PS. I run JMRI on a Windows PC connected to my train room Lan/WiFi at home to allow my 2 TCS throttles and one cell phone to be used on my layout.? My granddaughters find that this setup works great because I am always there to trouble shoot any problems, and we do have glitches.
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