Major issues with Raspberry Pi 4

[James_Aslett]

I have just purchased this dongle for use with my Raspberry Pi4, as my Pi is in a metal case so needed an external dongle. I’m using it with two different 8bitdo controllers. I’ve stuck the dongle underneath my TV so that I can get line of sight and I’m sitting less than 3 metres away, but I’m getting major issues with input lag at this distance, and often inputs just won’t register at all, or catch up once I’ve moved slightly. Could I have a defective adapter? I’m running the adapter on a 0.3m USB extension cable and the Pi itself is behind the TV. I have disabled the onboard Bluetooth and WiFi so not sure what else could be causing interference apart from perhaps my wife and I’s mobile phones, but even with those off the issue is still there.

I should note that I have a USB 3.0 SSD drive hooked up to the Pi and have read things about USB 3.0 causing Bluetooth interference. Could this be the issue?

[Connor_Thompson]

Hi James,

The Raspberry Pi 4 has a build-in Bluetooth module, as you know, and it will use that by default for any connections unless configured otherwise.

I’d recommend making sure your Pi is configured to be using the Plugable Adapter specifically, and those steps are as follows:

1. If you don’t have it installed already, install the graphical Bluetooth software blueman with sudo apt install blueman.

2. To select the adapter, navigate to the top menu bar of the application where there will be an “Adapter” drop down menu.

3. Please select the Plugable Bluetooth adapter, which by default, will be named what your computers host name is with a #2 tacked onto the end.

The controllers will then need to be paired again, and they should hopefully functioning normally.

Best wishes,

Connor
Plugable Technologies

[James_Aslett]

I solved it! It was my USB 3.0 caddy for my SSD drive - apparently cheaper caddies do not have adequate shielding and so can cause interference with Bluetooth. I swapped it out for a different (powered) one and it works beautifully! So I guess it could either be USB 3.0 interference OR too much power drain from the SSD which is now being powered independently.

[Connor_Thompson]

Glad to hear got it working! If you have any questions later, feel free to reach out to us again.