Wi-Fi signal quality is the limiting factor for framerate. Given a strong connection, it is definitely worth trying at 40+ fps to see what it looks like. It does increase net traffic though.
On external antennas, it is possible, but I wouldn’t unless you’re a very skilled solderer, and also feeling extra steady and confident on the day you try. I’m reasonably good with small electronics and have a 50% success rate doing this, where failure means that the Pixelblaze is ruined. It is very easy to overheat and destroy the antenna traces.
See this forum thread for more details and some tutorials:
Metal enclosures are just terrible for radio. The best thing to do would be to move the Pixelblaze out of the metal lamp base. Some of the things I’ve done when working with metal lamps:
- use wall-wart or enclosed brick-style power supplies rather than the metal frame, and have most of the lamp’s cable run carry D/C rather than A/C. That way, you can put the Pixelblaze in a small plastic enclosure on the cord and run 3 conductor cable (+5v, GND and Data) from the PB enclosure to the actual lamp.
- use a Pixelblaze Pico, which is more easily concealed in the upper, plastic portion of the lamp. (See picture below.)
- In one case, where the light was safe from being accidentally kicked by stray humans, I cut a small slot in the metal, insulated it with liquid vinyl and mounted the Pixelblaze so its antenna was sticking out through the slot.
