# balena hotspot 8 maximum connections rpi4

**URL:** <https://forums.balena.io/t/balena-hotspot-8-maximum-connections-rpi4/267477>\
**Category:** Product support\
**Tags:** hotspot, raspberrypi4\
**Created:** [March 9, 2021, 1:26am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/balena-hotspot-8-maximum-connections-rpi4/267477 "2021-03-09T01:26:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rcalderon1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c5a1d2/32.png) [@rcalderon1](https://forums.balena.io/u/rcalderon1)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2021, 1:26am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/balena-hotspot-8-maximum-connections-rpi4/267477/1 "2021-03-09T01:26:09Z")

</div>

using Raspberry Pi 4 (using 64bit OS)  
[balenaOS 2.56.0+rev1]

Issue:  
I’m unable to connect more than 8 wireless AP clients on balena-hotspot. This issue might stem from RPI [build](https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/issues/3010#issuecomment-788323744) but I wanted to see if anyone has a solution or has experienced this issue.

My next step is to try an WiFi adaptor dongle instead of the native WiFi chipset.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![majorz](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/majorz/32/639_2.png) [@majorz](https://forums.balena.io/u/majorz)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 1:03pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/balena-hotspot-8-maximum-connections-rpi4/267477/4 "2021-03-10T13:03:57Z")

</div>

The only solution for this unfortunately is to use a dongle. As the RPi kernel maintainer explained the vulnerability fixes to the WiFi chip firmware take up its available state memory, so they have to limit more and more the amount of allowed AP clients. Not the smartest of designs from the looks of it unfortunately…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rcalderon1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c5a1d2/32.png) [@rcalderon1](https://forums.balena.io/u/rcalderon1)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 7:41pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/balena-hotspot-8-maximum-connections-rpi4/267477/6 "2021-03-10T19:41:40Z")

</div>

thank you for the clarification. I’ll try a wifi adaptor

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rcalderon1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c5a1d2/32.png) [@rcalderon1](https://forums.balena.io/u/rcalderon1)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 4:48pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/balena-hotspot-8-maximum-connections-rpi4/267477/8 "2021-03-22T16:48:38Z")

</div>

Tested Wifi dongle: **The Panda Ultra Wireless-N Adapter (PAU03)**  
Successfully connected 18 clients (did not test to MAX connection limit).  
The only software change was to configure _/mnt/boot/system-connections/balena-hotspot_ with appropriate USB wifi interface. In my case this is wlp1s0u1u1. Use _nmcli d_ with dongle connected to check your interface name.  
_[connection]_  
_id=balena-hotspot_  
_uuid=36060c57-aebd-4ccf-aba4-ef75121b5f77_  
_type=wifi_  
_autoconnect=true_  
_interface-name=wlp1s0u1u1_  
_permissions=_  
_secondaries=_

Balena:  
balenaOS 2.56.0+rev1  
Supervisor v11.14.0  
Hardware:  
Raspberry Pi 4 (2GB)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![srlowe](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/srlowe/32/2638_2.png) [@srlowe](https://forums.balena.io/u/srlowe)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 9:41am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/balena-hotspot-8-maximum-connections-rpi4/267477/9 "2021-03-24T09:41:44Z")

</div>

Glad it’s working!