The Pi 3 B+ is a great little embedded computer. It is very much like the Pi 3 B, but some small difference can bite you! It does have a better wired ethernet port and better Wi-Fi. It is a little faster, although I did not notice the speed improvement. So, here are the pitfalls: 1) it does not work with Raspbian Jessie. Unless your are a serious hacker, you need to run Raspbian Stretch (the newer version of the OS). Most people will not find that a problem, but if you wrote a custom embedded system it needs to be rebuilt under Stretch, 2) as with the newer OS you need drivers for the new ethernet devices. Fortunately, they come with the new OS, and 3) the RUN pins do not function the same as the Pi 3 B. The run pins are for those people who want a power-on pushbutton. On the Pi 3 B you short the pins together to start the boot. On the Pi 3 B+ you short the pin called "PEN" to ground. The most convenient ground pin is on the end of the long I/O header. As obscure as these three issues are for most people, they cost me a long day of research, rebuilding and debugging to build a system that works without any changes on a Pi 3 B. One star off for backward compatibility (although a half star would have been sufficient). Note: I am not a "verified buyer" because I had a friend order it with his Amazon Prime account.
I decided to setup Pi-Hole on my network. Pi-Hole is basically a DNS sinkhole (DNS "server") that blocks ads and tracking network wide without needing client side software. It can also improve the security/privacy of DNS requests.
For my setup I am using:
- Raspberry Pi 3 B+
- Samsung 64GB Evo Plus microSDXC card
- iUniker Raspberry Pi 3 B+ Case
- Mackertop 5.25V 3A Micro USB Wall Charger AC Adapter
The only problem I ran into was trying to use a charger I already had which was supposed to support 5V 3A but the RPi would constantly report low power, about every 2-5 seconds. It seems the RPi 3 B+ (especially) is picky about the power supply used. The one I listed above and the CanaKit 5V 2.5A supply both worked for me and had no issues delivering enough power. I chose the power adapter I am using as it fit better on my power strip and had some additional juice.
I installed:
- Raspbian Stretch Lite
- Pi-Hole
- cloudflared (for DNS-over-HTTPS aka DoH)
Once installed and configured, which didnt take too much effort or time, I had Pi-hole running of this RPi and not only blocking ads and tracking network wide across all of my devices but also encrypting my DNS requests using DoH.
I added all the ticked lists from Wally3k's site, increasing the number of domains to block from the out-of-the-box ~120k to almost 800k.
This RPi 3 B+ handles it with ease. CPU usage is so low that often I wonder if the readings are correct, usually sitting in the 0-2% range if I am not interacting with the web GUI too much. RAM usage was ~7% with the default ~120k domains to block, which went to ~12% with the now ~800k domains to block. CPU temps sit in the mid 40c, peaking at about 49c which is well under the thermal threshold for throttling (which is 70c I think).
Granted this is not being used on a corporate network, but I am amazed at the performance of such a low powered and cheap machine. Very glad I got it and would highly recommend both in general and for my specific intent, as a Pi-Hole server.
Item as described as delivered well packaged.
I used it to build a Retropie emulator gaming rig, and it's running flawlessly.
Wish i'd done this sooner!
Is this the cutest lil' thing or what....
Couple new projects in the wings, doing Solar Hot Water and will be using this in conjunction
with an Arduino Uno to monitor and control everything, it'll then be tasked to control
another Arduino Uno for my RV alarm and out door lighting.
Considering it will Bluetooth with them I'll be able to run a minimal amount of wiring
to do it all and be able to control it with the Raspberry or my cell.
Technology is great ain't it!
Excellent little do higgy that does computer stuff. Can be used for all kinds of different projects, but I am primarily using mine for a RetroPi setup. It is a much cheaper alternative than all the classic consoles you see in stores and is much more capable too. If you're willing to put in a little effort, this bite-sized computer can be a real treat!
Feature Product
- 1.4GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU (BCM2837B0), 1 GB RAM
- Dual band 2.4GHz and 5GHz IEEE 802.11.b/g/n/ac wireless LAN
- Bluetooth 4.2, Bluetooth Low Energy
- PoE HAT support, Camera interface (CSI), Display interface (DSI), 40 GPIO Pins
- Made by RS Components and comes in RS Components packaging
Description
The RS Components Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ is the latest product in the Raspberry Pi 3 range, featuring a 64-bit quad core processor running at 1.4GHz, dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless LAN, Bluetooth 4.2/BLE, faster Ethernet, and PoE capability via a separate PoE HAT.
This product is made by RS Components and comes in RS Components packaging.
Required for Operation (Not Included)
2.5A MicroUSB Power Supply (Recommended)
Class 10 MicroSD Card pre-loaded with Pi 3 B+ compatible software
USB or Bluetooth keyboard/mouse (Optional)
HDMI or DSI Display (Optional)
I bought this for my son as a Christmas present and he loves it . To be honest even though I am a decently tech savvy person I wasn't really sure what a Pi is used for . My son on the other the other hand had a half a dozen ideas for what to do with it before we had even finished Christmas dinner . He said that his flatmate uses one as a "brain" for a robot he is building and another friend at school has one that serves as a multimedia streaming and gaming device that he mounted on the back of a TV . So , I would call this the perfect gift for that smart kid that you have trouble buying presents for . I have seen a multitude of accessories and gadgets here on Amazon that are specifically designed to be used with a Pi for all sorts of projects . I know that there are many companies out there make a similar tiny motherboards but according to my son this the one to buy .
I use this pi more than the rest of mine for some reason. Probably because it was more expensive than the others. All of mine are 3B+'s, but this one seems to handle things a little better. A couple of things to consider if you're going to toss the extra bucks down, would be cooling solutions. It doesn't run hot, but if you're going to push the hardware, I think you'd be more bang for your buck getting a cheaper 3B+ (there are many) and a good cooling solution, like an all in one heatsink package, or just some heatsinks and a fan. If the cost isn't a concern (and it probably isn't when we're talking about dollars) I'd snag this, with a good case that provides some cooling, and you'll be very happy.
I just received this today. It came in a new box, sealed, but no anti-static bag. ??? I added a chip and plugged it in and it works. It complains about low voltage. I tested the voltage on a Raspberry PI GPIO Extension board and get a reading of 4.97 volts from the 5 volt pin to the ground next to it. I also get 3.27 volts on the 3.3 volt pin.
Seriously?!!?? It's tolerance is less than 1%??? It's no wonder pretty much every power supply sold for the device has negative reviews about "low voltage".
As for using it, I did find one USB cable that could not hold up to the boot of the RPi. The rest work, but the Pi complains on all but one. It's a short cable that came with my WD Passport and it's much thicker than all my others. It works and I don't get voltage complaints.
The system boots up 2018-11-13-raspbian-stretch just fine. It asked for the WiFi user name and password and did the updates. It took a while to update, so I fixed supper and it was done when I got back.
It appears to be doing well. I have tried two tutorials, both of which start by having me use "git" to install software for the tutorial. Both time, Git could not find the packages. I suspect that the tutorials are a little old, so I'll keep plugging at it tomorrow.
I used it on an Ethernet direct connection and on WiFi. I turn off my WiFi when on the Cat-5 because I don't know what it does with it when it's also wired.
When I bought the PI, I thought it was another micro-controller like my Arduino. I didn't realize it's a full computer running Linux. I see it is good for Ham Operators (that's me! ;) so I'm sure I'll find something to put it to the test with.
So far, other than the low voltage, which I seemed to have overcome with the low-loss USB wire, I don't have any complaints. I'm looking forward to playing with it and hopefully, running a little SDR.
Using this with HiFiBerry DAC Pro + and Volumio software as a streaming audio source for my old Hafler Stereo Gear. Very nice.
This little thing really cooks for the power and money. I bought it for doing a 4k slideshow knowing ahead of time that it could NOT support over 24hz at 4k. Turns out that application was a bust as my 4k monitor couldn't operate that slowly. However, it works great playing videos at 1080. It plays Blu-ray images flawlessly. I can't wait to find a new application for this little devil.
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