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raspiblitz / raspiblitz

Get your own Bitcoin & Lightning Node running - on a RaspberryPi with a nice LCD
MIT License
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Plug and play smart phone usb tethering for improved node uptime and stability. #2621

Open mackpackcheese opened 3 years ago

mackpackcheese commented 3 years ago

Any ideas appreciated Thanks

mackpackcheese commented 3 years ago

With a view to increasing the uptime and stability of the node especially for non-tech savvy users I propose (if possible) an update that allows both LAN and usb mobile tethering for internet access. Maybe a default selection so that both could be connected and if the default data becomes unavailable the device could auto switch to the other. This together with a UPS would enable portability with no downtime for location specific maintenance (electrical upgrade, painting a wall, moving house etc). Thanks in advance for consideration.

rootzoll commented 3 years ago

To have a fallback LAN internet connection I would recommend into a consumer style Load Balance Broadband Router like the TP-Link TL-R470T+ that is not that expensive https://www.amazon.de/TP-Link-TL-R470T-Broadband-LAN-Port-Speicher/dp/B004UC9V8Q

To add a USB Tether I have no experience on the RaspberryPi - maybe someone from the community can share experience? Anybody tried something like this: https://raspiproject.altervista.org/usb-and-bluetooth-tethering-with-raspberry-pi/

With USB it might need to be considered that the mobile phone also need power to charge itself on that USB port and I would also be very carefull in putting more power load on the RaspberryPi USB ports that might lead to power outages on the SSD/HDD which can result in data loss. Maybe Tether over USB as a fallback might then be the better option ... so the phone can load seperately on a USB charger while sharing internet per Bluetooth.

mackpackcheese commented 3 years ago

Thank you,

On your points:

1/ I currently have the pi LAN connected to a cheap $20 switch that is also shared by 2 pcs, in turn the switch goes back to the 4 port router. Perhaps i should consider a better load balancing router and go directly into the pi from it. (sometimes my nodes screen goes blue and displays syncing lightning 99.99% for a minute or 2, not sure if thats a bad sign or normal or a result of my setup with switch as described, couldn't find anything in the FAQ, its not happening very often but does give me pause because being online as I understand is paramount to running a routing node and perhaps critical to not losing funds?).

2/ Thank you for the reference to the article on tethering, very helpful.

3/ Also thank you for this important consideration. I didn't think about the potential problems for the node due to additional power draw. In this case, is it possible to use the phones Qi wirless charging for power so as to allow the usb cable to be dedicated data only? : reasoning that the cable data may be more stable than bluetooth (if anyone has specialisation input on that).

Thanks Rootzoll and All for your time